The Blank and the Opportunity in the History of German Opera: A Survey of the Early Romanticism of The Drink of Immortality by Julius von Soden and E.T.A. Hoffmann

Around 1800, German composers attempted to establish an operatic style that differed from Italian and French operas. However, they could not achieve it, as authentic German librettos hardly existed then. These composers gradually developed their style in early nineteenth century by applying the subject matter of romantic opera to their work, finally creating a history of German opera. Representative works include E.T.A Hoffmann’s Undine (1816) and Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischutz (1821), both of which enjoyed a successful premiere.

Prior to the representative and more renowned works, a large number of operas contributed to the transition to and making of the German opera history in this era. In this article, I will use Julius von Soden’s The Drink of Immortality – Romantic Opera in Four Acts (1806) as my primary case study. My major source is the manuscript of libretto of this work. I will focus on the romantic essence of the narrative, which will be examined hand in hand with Hoffmann’s romantic opera aesthetic. I will also consider its dramaturgical structure and Hoffmann’s compositional strategy to situate early romantic opera in the context of German opera’s development in the 19th century.