Sin, Punishment and “A Nemzethalál” in Ferenc Erkel’s “Bátori Mária” (1840)
Sin, Punishment and “A Nemzethalál” in Ferenc Erkel’s “Bátori Mária” (1840)

Summary/Abstract: In late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Hungary, an insistence that historical ‘sins’ resulted in foreign oppression developed in literary endeavours. Relating the past to contemporary strife in this period frequently involved interpreting historical narratives as episodes in a sequence of earthly sin and divine punishment. The libretto for Erkel’s first opera, derived from the 1793 historical play of the same title, alters the original conclusion to suggest the futility of atonement amidst contemporary discord in nation building efforts. Discourse preoccupied with the future nation apparently lies at the heart of the very self-perpetuating nature of ‘sin and punishment’ frequently cited as the cause of contemporary subjugation within the Habsburg Empire. This opera presents ‘the nation’ as a cyclic entity in which contemporary suffering results from national ‘sins’ originating in, and remaining un-atoned for, since the medieval age.This paper, then, argues that Bátori Mária responds to this cyclic understanding of suffering through a ‘musical hauntology’, or, Erkel’s musical narrative. Material related to the heroine (and her broader symbolic representation) acts as an omnipresent omen amidst the various power struggles between protagonists as the plot unfolds. Projecting contemporary fears onto various factions of power facilitates considering the past, present, and future of Hungary in a simultaneous, multi-layered narrative. The inability to break the cycle suggested in this work, however, demonstrates an important divergence from other prominent contemporary uses of national history in opera. Rather than ‘learning from’ the past, or presenting allegorical consolation for contemporary strife, Bátori Mária suggests fears in the context of an apparently unresolvable state of punishment.

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