Der Kuhreigen — Ranz des Vaches
Music-drama in three acts; music by Wilhelm Kienzl; poem by Richard Batka.
Characters
| The King | Bass |
| Marquis Massimelle, commandant | Bass |
| Blanchefleur, his wife | Soprano |
| Cleo, their lady at court | Mezzo-Soprano |
| Captain Brayole | Tenor |
| Primus Thallus | Tenor |
| Dursel (Bass) and under officers in a Swiss regiment | |
| Favart, under-officer of Chasseurs | Baritone |
| Doris, daughter of the keeper of a canteen in the St. Honoré barracks | Soprano |
Time—1792-3.
Place—Paris and Versailles.
Act I. Barracks of St. Honoré. Under penalty of death the Swiss soldiers have been forbidden to sing their native songs especially the Kuhreigen or “Ranz des Vaches,” because songs of their native land always awakened homesickness and had led to desertions. But a quarrel between Primus Thallus, of the Swiss, and Favart, of the Chasseurs, excites the Swiss and they sing “In the fort at Strassburg” (Zu Strassburg auf der Schanz) the song of the Swiss who became a deserter through homesickness, the song which was forbidden by such a severe decree, especially because it introduced the Kuhreigen or “Ranz des Vaches.” Then Favart believed the moment had come to be able to avenge himself. He quickly called an officer to hear the forbidden song. The officer first wants to arrest all the Swiss, but Primus Thallus takes all the blame on himself; he is glad to prevent the others being imprisoned.
Act II. In the King’s bedroom at Versailles the ceremony of the royal levee is taking place. This medley of laughable ceremonial and the practice of the highest refinement makes a sharp contrast with the wild ferment and discontent among the people, of which, however, no one hears anything in these rooms and will know nothing. So the commandant Massimelle is among those waiting because he has to lay before the King the death sentence on the unsubdued Swiss. Naturally the King thinks nothing about bringing an obsolete law into force again, and leaves the decision to Massimelle’s wife, Blanchefleur. She begs Thallus’s life for herself and wants to learn the fellow manners in her service. Silly as are the thoughts of this whole company, so also are those of Blanchefleur. Through a whim she has obtained the release of the young Swiss, now she wants as a reward to have diversion with him. The high authorities already are glad to play shepherds and shepherdesses; what would happen if they could have a real Swiss as a shepherd! Cleo, the court lady, is perfectly delighted with the idea and awaits with enjoyment the play in which Primus Thallus shall appear with Blanchefleur. But the play takes a serious turn, Primus Thallus sees no joke in the thing. To him, Blanchefleur appears as the image of his dreams, and yet he knows that this dream never can be a reality, at least not for a man to whom, as to this Swiss, love is not merely a form of amusement in life. So Blanchefleur has to give up her shepherd’s dream and let Primus Thallus withdraw.
Act III. The earnest man is very quickly drawn in. In the ruined dining-hall of the palace of Massimelle, the sans-culottes are lodged. Favart, under whose direction the castle has been stormed, is vexed at his report for which Doris, his sweetheart, and the others with their wild drinking and quarrelling scarcely leave him the possibility. By chance the half-drunken men discover a secret door. They go down into the passage and drag out Blanchefleur who had concealed herself there. Favart wants her to play for the men, but he cannot prevail upon her to do it. With her graceful, distinguished air she refuses to have anything to do with the dirty, uncivilized men and smilingly allows herself to be condemned to death and led away to the frightful prison of the Temple. Hardly has she gone than Primus Thallus enters. He has been promoted by the Directory to be a captain as a reward because he has often been threatened with death by the royalists. His great courage certainly makes an impression on these savage troops, but as Massimelle outside is being led to the scaffold and he learns of the arrest of Blanchefleur only one thought rules him—to save the beautiful woman.
The scene changes to the underground prison of the Temple. One can hardly recognize the figure of Primus Thallus who presents himself here, but one must admit of these aristocrats that while they know how to live laughingly they also know how to die with a smile. While without the guillotine is fulfilling its awful task uninterruptedly, they are dancing and playing here underneath as though these were still the gayest days of the King’s delights at Versailles. In vain Primus Thallus uses all his eloquence to persuade Blanchefleur to flee or to give him her hand because then he could obtain a pardon. She has only one reward for his faithfulness: a dance. Then when her name is called she dances with a light minuet step to the scaffold.