Pedro Calderón de la Barca

Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riano (* January 17, 1600 in Madrid, † May 25, 1681 ) was a Spanish poet.

Biography

Calderón came from a Spanish noble family. His father held the office of treasurer at the Spanish court. However, he lost his parents at a relatively early stage: his mother, who came from the Spanish Netherlands from Mons / Hainaut (hence the suffix Henao ), died in 1610, his father wide only five years later.. Calderón attended from 1614 the Jesuit College in Madrid with the aim of becoming a priest. During this time he began to occupy themselves with literature. He continued his education by studying law at the University of Alcalá de Henares and the University of Salamanca, but broke it off in 1620 to become a soldier in the Marines.

He took from 1620 to 1622 with success in a literary contest, which was held in honor of St. Isidore in Madrid. Lope de Vega, who was the organizer of this competition, wrote: "A prize was awarded to Don Pedro Calderon, who wins laurels at his age, which tends to give only graying hair that time. "

Over the following years in Calderón's life there are two different versions:

• According to his biographer Vera Tassis he served from 1625 to 1635 in the Spanish army and was a soldier in Flanders and Italy.

• However, there are various records and documents which can prove that Calderón has actually lived during this time in Madrid. 1629 his brother Diego was stabbed. The offender took refuge in the convent of the Holy Trinity. Calderón came together with friends in the monastery and tried to capture the perpetrators. This injury of holy ground was the famous priest Hortensio Félix Paravicino during a sermon reported to the Spanish King Philip IV. Calderón defended himself then with Scripture El Príncipe constante against the accusations of the priest, but was still imprisoned. However, he remained only a short time in prison and won in the following years quickly reputation as an outstanding playwright.

After the death of Lope de Vega in 1635 he took over his job as Hofdramatiker. He was recognized as the best playwright of his time. A volume of his pieces, which his brother José published in 1636, contained the at that time celebrated works such as La Vida es sueño ( Life is a Dream ), El Purgatorio de San Patricio ( The Purgatory of St. Patricius ), La devoción de la Cruz, La Dama duende ( Dame Kobold ) and peor que está estaba. 1636-1637 Calderón of Philip IV was made a Knight of the Order of Santiago, who had been a number of pieces for the royal theater in the Buen Retiro in order. He was in the audience as popular as Lope de Vega at the height of his fame.

Despite this position, he resigned on May 28, 1640 at a unit of mounted cuirassiers, which was compiled by the Spanish commander Olivares. He participated in the Spanish campaign against the renegade Catalonia and distinguished himself especially by his gallantry in the city of Tarragona. When his health was severely damaged (some biographers speak of an injury ), he joined in November 1642 out of the Spanish army. Three years later he received a pension for his services.

The story of his life during the next few years is largely in the dark. It seems that he had caused to struggle through the death of his wife, in the years 1648 and 1649 with severe personal problems and then turned back to the church. In 1650 he entered the Franciscan Order and realized his original intention to exercise a ministry. 1651, he was ordained a priest and became a municipality in the San Salvador in Madrid. He had the intention never again to write a piece for the theater. He stuck to this vow, until he was chaplain in 1653 in Toledo. He then began a large part of his time with the creation of cars sacramentales to spend, allegorical pieces in which the mystery of the Christian Lord's Supper has been dramatically illustrated. They were performed with great expenditure of Corpus Christi and the following weeks. 1662 two of Calderón's autos ( órdenes Las militares and Mística y real Babilonia ) the subject of an investigation by the Spanish Inquisition. They censored the first of the two pieces and confiscated the manuscripts. 1671 but the decision was rescinded.

1663 appointed the Spanish King Philip IV Calderón chaplain. This office he retained even after 1665 made ​​the throne of Charles II at the age of 81 years he wrote his last secular play, Hado y Divisa de Leonido y Marfisa in honor of the marriage of Charles II to Marie- Louise of Bourbon. Despite his position at court he spent his last years in poverty.

Assessment of his literary work

Calderón is the culmination of the Spanish theater. Compared with the more popular and often more original Lope de Vega ( Vega Carpio ), he embodies the stricter art paired with profound philosophy. From Calderón about 120 plays (so-called Comedies ), 80 Corpus Christi plays (cars sacramentales ) are obtained. He also wrote several short sequences of scenes ( zarzuela ).

In the 17th century Calderón was regarded as the unquestioned king of the Spanish theater; only the German Classical and Romantic rediscovered him. For example, ETA Hoffmann, as he stayed in Bamberg 1806-1813, the texts by Calderón translated into German. Even today, in July the known Calderón Festival in the Old Court of Bamberg as an open air theater instead. They are aligned by the present ETA Hoffmann Theatre.

Schopenhauer called Calderón's work, La vida es sueño philosophical spectacle par excellence.

Works

• La cisma de Inglaterra, Historical Drama in 1627 (Eng. The schism of England, 1875)
• Casa con dos puertas mala es de guardar, verse drama 1629 (Eng. A house that has two inputs is to preserve hard, 1753)
• La dama duende, swashbuckling comedy 1629 (Eng. Dame Kobold, 1822); Musical settings: Joachim Raff, opera 1870; Felix von Weingartner, Vienna 1916; Gerhard Wimberger, opera 1964
• La banda y la flor, drama 1632 (Eng. The Sash and Flower, 1803); Setting: E.T.A. Hoffmann: love and jealousy, opera
• La cena del rey Baltasar, auto sacramental 1632 (Eng. The supper of Balthazar, 1846 Translation: Joseph von Eichendorff ); Editing: Reinhold Schneider: The Game from the people Belshazzar, 1949
• La devoción de la cruz, drama 1634 (Eng. The Devotion of the Cross, 1803; translation: August Wilhelm von Schlegel ); Editing: Albert Camus, La dévotion de la croix, 1953
• A secreto agravio secreta venganza, Drama 1636 ( German for secret insult secret revenge, 1844)
• El príncipe constante, verse drama in 1636 (Eng. The Steadfast Prince, 1809; translation: August Wilhelm von Schlegel )
• La vida es sueño, verse drama 1636 ( German Life is a Dream, 1816); Arrangements: Franz Grillparzer, The dream lives, 1840; Hugo von Hofmannsthal, The Tower, 1925; Setting: GF Malipiero, La vita è sogno, opera 1943
• El mayor monstruo del mundo, drama 1637 (German Herod, the child killer, 1645 ); Edits: Friedrich Rückert, 1844; Friedrich Hebbel, 1850
• El médico de su honra, verse drama in 1637 (Eng. The physician of his honor, 1840)
• Los dos amantes del cielo, Religious Drama in 1640 (Eng. Chrysanthus and Daria, 1845)
• El Purgatorio de San Patricio, drama 1640 ( German Purgatory of St. Patricius, 1824; translation: Alois Jeitteles
• " El secreto a voces " comedia palatina 1642 (Eng. " The loud mystery ," 1817; translation: Johann Diederich Gries )
• El pintor de su deshonra, verse drama 1650 ( German painter of his disgrace, 1827)
• El alcalde de Zalamea, verse drama in 1651 (Eng. The judge of Zalamea, 1822); Filmed: Germany 1920 ( Director: Ludwig Berger); Spain, 1954 ( Director: José Gutiérrez Maesso ); DDR 1956 ( Director: Martin Hellberg ); Spain 1972 ( Director: Mario Camus )
• La hija del aire, drama 1653 (Eng. The daughter of the air, 1821)
• El gran teatro del mundo, allegorical religious play ( auto sacramental ), 1655 (Eng. The Great World Theatre, 1846 Translation: Joseph von Eichendorff ); Editing: Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Salzburg The Great Theatre of the World, 1922
• Guardate del agua mansa, Verskomödie 1657 (Eng. Beware of still water, 1824)
• Eco y Narciso, Drama about 1661 (German Echo and Narcissus, 1819-25 )
• El mágico prodigioso, drama 1663 (Eng. The miraculous Magus, 1816); Setting: Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger, incidental music 1864
• La niña de Gómez Arias, verse drama in 1672 (Eng. The daughter of the Gómez Arias, 1840)