We are supposed to be impressed by quality, not quantity, or so the axiom goes. But sometimes sheer quantity can be impressive, remarkable, even revealing. Casually looking at a manuscript in the Berlin Staatsbibliothek, for example, I eventually realised I was leafing for page after page through a single aria, in which fortissimos, tempo changes, key changes, horn signals, trumpet and timpani entrances accumulated over the course of 271 bars to a conspicuous excess. The aria in question hails from Berlin Kapellmeister Bernhard Anselm Weber’s Sulmalle (Berlin, 1802), described as both a ‘lyrisches Duodrama mit Chören’ (1802 libretto) and a ‘lÿrisches Melodrama’ (1810 manuscript score). While a sung rather than spoken melodrama was unusual, the work’s Ossianic subject was certainly à la mode. Carl Herklots’s libretto focuses on Sulmalle’s love for Kathmor, an Irish warrior who had promised to marry her after defeating an enemy in battle. Sulmalle’s arrival at the agreed rendezvous – the cave of the druid Klonmal – is the event that starts the melodrama. What ensues is somewhat short of incident, as a string of Berlin reviewers noted: Sulmalle followed Georg Benda’s melodramas Ariadne auf Naxos and Medea in prioritising the portrayal of one woman’s extremes of feeling over action. Sulmalle tells her story to Klonmal in a series of arias and recitatives that flicker constantly between hope and fear, past and present, imaginary and real, while the sounds of Kathmor’s battle (military rhythms, timpani and brass) repeatedly intrude upon her narration. ‘Ich bin geliebt’, comes just after Sulmalle relates her lover’s recent offer of marriage: the opening line refers both to her past joy and her present – precarious – state. Over the course of forty-six lines of verse (and those 271 bars), Sulmalle’s desperate confidence in Kathmor’s survival turns to fear – and eventually

中文翻译：

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叙事历史学伯恩哈德·安塞尔姆·韦伯，《艾希·本·吉利伯特》（萨尔马尔），萨尔马尔

我们应该对质量印象深刻，而不是对数量印象深刻，所以公理就行了。但是有时候，纯粹的数量可能令人印象深刻，引人注目甚至揭示。例如，不经意地看着柏林国家图书馆的手稿，我最终意识到我要一页一页地翻阅一个咏叹调，其中在整个过程中，Fortissimos，速度变化，键变化，喇叭信号，小号和定音鼓入口不断积累。显着超出271个小节。有问题的咏叹调来自柏林Kapellmeister Bernhard Anselm Weber的Sulmalle（柏林，1802年），被描述为“ Durisram mitChören爵士舞曲”（1802年libretto）和“lèrischesMelodrama书法曲”（1810年手稿得分）。虽然演唱而不是口语的旋律是不寻常的，但该作品的奥赛尼主题无疑是“单调”的模式。卡尔·赫克洛茨（Carl Herklots）的随想曲集中在萨尔马尔（Sulmalle）对凯特莫尔（Kathmor）的爱上。Sulmalle到达了约定的会合点-德鲁伊Klonmal的洞穴-这是开始情节剧的事件。一连串的柏林评论家指出，随后发生的事件有点不足：萨尔马尔（Sulmalle）跟随乔治·本达（Georg Benda）的情节剧《阿里亚德涅·奥夫·纳克索斯（Ariadne auf Naxos）和美狄亚（Medea）》，优先考虑了一名女性极端行为的刻画。Sulmalle用一系列咏叹调和朗诵向Klonmal讲述她的故事，在希望与恐惧之间，在过去与现在之间，在虚构与真实之间不断闪烁，而Kathmor的战斗之声（军事节奏，定音鼓和铜管）反复地影响着她的叙述。苏奇马勒（Sulmalle）提出爱人最近的求婚消息后，立即发出“ Ich bin geliebt”的字样：开场白既指她过去的喜悦，也指她现在的–可危状态。在四十六行经文（以及这271个小节）的过程中，萨尔玛勒对凯思摩生存的绝望信心变成了恐惧-最终