Klibengajtis, Tomasz

A radio play

Speak, My Daughter is a poetic, religious tale about the hardships of following one’s inner voice. The author based his play on a medieval genre called “The Lives of The Saints”. The language (the introduction and the verses of prayers) is modelled upon the melody and rhythm of the medieval works. The dialogues reveal the biography of a German nun, a philosopher and creator Hildegarda von Bingen. The scenes from her childhood and the novitiate in St. Benedict’s order intersperse with the pictures of 43-year-old Hildegarda who confesses her divine visions before Father Gotfrid. Hildegarda has always been attracted by solitary retreat and silence; however, due to her mystical experience she breaks the habit of silent prayer, shares with others her divine visions and benefits them with her presence. 
The innermost voice tells her to write down and preach what she has seen and heard inside her mind. Although Father Gotfrid is not sure about the nature of the visions, he advises the Reverend Mother Hildegarda to write them down. Having been followed by her inner, secret insight, Hildegarda establishes in Bingen the community of nuns. During the next 40 years she tries to fulfil God’s instructions, preaching Salvation and Divine Kingdom. She receives the gift of healing. Her death is accompanied by many miraculous events. Eventually, her name and the story of her life reach Rome.

A radio play

The play is based on Frank Walker’s “Hugo Wolf. Eine Biographie”. The author uses Wolf’s music and the letters to his family as the illustrative elements for the scenes. A mixed time perspective gives an engaging and interesting insight into Wolf’s passionate life. We see him struggling with professors, he is being expelled from the Conservatoire, and we witness his childhood, unsuccessful attempts of publishing his music and the bitter lonely years of unrecognized genius. Eventually, due to the benefactor’s help Wolf manages to release his compositions. The audiences of Munich, Mannheim and Berlin applaud his concerts. At the same time Wolf becomes more and more unstable. The premiere of his opera doesn’t bring him success; however, he becomes well known because of his scandalous behaviour. His promotion for a director of the Opera in Vienna is the last stage in his career. When he is locked up in a hospital, the doctors recognize the final stadium of syphilis. 
Having known the composer’s biography, we come across many questions about the nature of his talent. Was Hugo Wolf really an underestimated genius, or maybe a second rate follower of Schubert, Schumann and Wagner? What we know for sure is Hugo’s unquestionable passion for music, his mania for grandiose, self-destructive actions and rapid changes of mood that finally lead him into a mental asylum.