Paradise and the Peri

Paradise and the Peri, in German Das Paradies und die Peri, is a cantata for soloists, chorus, and orchestra by Robert Schumann. Completed in 1843, the work was published as Schumann's Op. 50.

The work is based on a German translation (by Schumann and his friend Emil Flechsig) of a tale from Lalla-Rookh by Thomas Moore. The peri, a creature from Persian and Islamic mythology, is the focus of the story, having been expelled from Paradise and trying to regain entrance by giving the gift that is most dear to heaven. Eventually the peri is admitted after bringing a tear from the cheek of a repentant old sinner who has seen a child praying.

Peter Ostwald in his biography Schumann: The Inner Voices of a Musical Genius records that Schumann "confided to a friend that 'while writing Paradise and the Peri a voice occasionally whispered to me "what you are doing is not done completely in vain," and that even Richard Wagner praised this work. On the negative side, reports Ostwald, "The Germans even used the Peri's more warlike interludes to stir up patriotic fervor during World War II"—but of course this propaganda usage by the Nazi regime cannot reasonably be held against Schumann or his work. The cantata is generally held to be a significant achievement by Schumann, and it perhaps appeals less than it might otherwise to modern audiences due to the flowery, Eastern-inspired verbiage of the libretto, which represents a vogue for orientalism that was in full swing in the 19th century but has receded considerably today.

References in popular culture

In the BBC television series Doctor Who, a character by the name of Peri Brown appears alongside the lead character, the Doctor. In the 1984 Doctor Who serial The Twin Dilemma, the Doctor, played by Colin Baker, upon suffering a mental breakdown after regenerating, turns on his friend and travelling companion, Peri. The Doctor quotes Paradise and the Peri:

One morn, a Peri, at the gate of Eden stood - disconsolate

The Doctor goes on to state, in relation to Peris:

Who wrote that? You don't even know what a Peri is - do you, Peri? I'll tell you. A Peri is a good and beautiful fairy in Persian mythology. But the interesting thing is that before it became good - it was evil! And that's what you are - thoroughly EVIL!

Sources

• Peter Ostwald, Schumann: The Inner Voices of a Musical Genius (Boston: Northeast University Press, 1985). ISBN 1-55553-014-1. Pp. 182-3.
• John Daverio, "Expressing The Highest Through Chorus and Orchestra"--Liner notes to the recording Das Paradies und die Peri as performed by the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantiques under the direction of John Eliot Gardiner (Archiv Production 289 457 660-2, released in 1999).
• Paradise and the Peri: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.