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Part of
Opera in Translation: Unity and diversity
Edited by Adriana Şerban and Kelly Kar Yue Chan
[Benjamins Translation Library 153] 2020
► pp. 219–241

The intertwined nature of music, language and culture in Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle

| Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Hungary

Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle is characterized by a unique approach to the relationship between language and music: the latter endeavours to follow the natural flow of the Hungarian language, making the interpretation of its multi-layered meaning easier for the Hungarian audience but nearly incomprehensible for speakers of other languages. The nature of storytelling also follows ancient Hungarian traditions, rendering the translator’s task even more challenging.

The paper investigates a number of contextual and musical aspects of opera translation through a case study of five English translations of Bartók’s classic. It discusses the multiple layers where music, language and culture are intertwined in this specific genre, and calls attention to often neglected musical and linguistic aspects of opera translation.

Keywords: opera, translation, Bartók, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle , singability, linguistic and cultural embeddedness
Article outline
  • 1.Bluebeard in a nutshell
  • 2.The libretto
  • 3.The music
  • 4.Comparative analysis of the translations
  • 5.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 29 October 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.153.11boz
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