Original courtroom drama: Kepler’s witch trial becomes an opera

The trial in which the famous astronomer, Johannes Kepler, defended his mother from accusations of witchcraft has been turned into an opera, following new research into the original 17th Century legal proceedings.

You’ve heard about his laws of planetary motion - now, prepare to experience the libretto. Drawing on fresh historical research, the 17th Century trial in which the famed astronomer, Johannes Kepler, defended his mother against accusations of witchcraft has become the subject of a brand new opera.

Born in 1571, Johannes Kepler is still one of the most admired astronomers who ever lived. He came from an ordinary family, but became a major figure in the scientific revolution, who defended Copernicus’ idea that the sun was at the centre of the universe, and defined three laws of planetary motion.

Less well-known is the fact that in 1615, at the height of his powers, he abandoned his research to defend his elderly mother, Katharina, from charges of witchcraft. This took place at the height of Europe’s infamous “witch-craze”, during which thousands of people - mostly women - were executed for supposed dealings in the occult, and families were torn apart in a climate of paranoia and distrust.

Now, the remarkable tale of Katharina’s six-year ordeal, and her son’s dogged, and ultimately successful, defence, is being brought to the stage in operatic form. Kepler’s Trial has been developed over the past year by a team of artists and researchers, and will receive its premiere on October 28 and 29 as part of the University of Cambridge’s annual Festival Of Ideas.

The opera project was conceived by Professor Ulinka Rublack, a Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge, whose acclaimed book, The Astronomer And The Witch, is the first to provide a full account of the case.

Perhaps surprisingly, however, it is not the first time that aspects of Johannes Kepler’s life have been given the operatic treatment. Philip Glass’ Kepler focused on the astronomer’s life and work, but overlooked the trial completely. In 1957, the German composer, Paul Hindemith, composed Die Harmonie der Welt (Harmony Of The World, also the title of one of Kepler’s most famous works.) Like many other accounts of Kepler’s story, which either unwittingly swallow the 17th-Century prosecution’s character assassination of Katharina, or reproduce it for dramatic effect, this presented Kepler’s mother as crazed and witchlike.

Rublack sees the new opera as a response, in particular, to Hindemith’s work. “When I finished the book, I thought, there really has got to be a new opera about the subject now,” she said. “Hindemith depicts Katharina as a crazed, old crone. I wanted to put together a team to develop new perspectives and create a new way to tell the story.”

Drawing on Rublack's  research and supporting contributions from a host of interdisciplinary scholars and academics, who regularly met to discuss the project, the libretto was written by Tim Watts, a composer who teaches music at St John’s College and lectures in the University’s Faculty of Music. The performance also features video sequences by the artist Aura Satz, based at the Royal College of Art, which are designed to amplify its presiding themes - darkness and light, sight and illusion, and competing depictions of an ageing and vulnerable woman.

“About 25,000 people were executed for witchcraft in the 16th and 17th Centuries,” Rublack said. “When Katharina was accused in 1615, she was actually at a point in her life when things were going very well. This came as completely unexpected for her and the family, and turned into something profoundly disturbing.”

Although she was ultimately acquitted thanks to her son’s defence (as well as helpful connections in the upper echelons of the justice system), the trial had devastating consequences. Katharina was disowned by two of her other children and spent 14 months of the trial period living in a prison cell, attached to the floor with an iron chain. She emerged both physically and emotionally exhausted, and died just six months later.

The opera makes use of musical styles from the time, drawing inspiration from the likes of Claudio Monteverdi as well as found materials such as contemporary drinking songs. It will be performed using instruments that would have been popular during the period, such as cornets, sackbuts, and harpsichord. The premiere will be in the atmospheric surroundings of the Chapel of St John’s College. The six violinists playing at the event will also all be from St John's; they include the College's Musician in Residence, Margaret Faultless, as well as five students.

The trial papers are still preserved in regional archives in Stuttgart, and the libretto itself draws on the actual words of both Katharina and Johannes Kepler as they were recorded. Fragments of Katharina’s voice come through in prayers and her response to cross-examination, taken from the transcripts.

“In a way, it’s been easier to invent a voice for Katharina than it has been to define one for her son,” Watts reflected. “So many of his words exist already and we know a large amount about the kind of man he was, so there’s a lot more to filter.”

“The way that we’re telling the story offers a huge range for potential identification with characters and elements. There is a sense of worlds and generations colliding; it’s my hope that the piece involves such a range of character and generation that it will appeal to an equally wide range of people.”

Kepler’s Trial, the opera, will be performed in the Chapel of St John’s College, Cambridge, on 28 and 29 October as part of the Cambridge Festival of Ideas. All Festival events are open for booking on September 26 via the website: http://www.festivalofideas.cam.ac.uk/

Further information about the opera may be found at: http://keplers-trial.com/