History Theatre / DerFreischuetz

* ManlyMenCanHunt: The "Hunter's Chorus" is a bunch of men singing in celebration of hunting.

''Der Freischütz'' — literally, "The Free-shooter," ''i.e.,'' a marksman who uses magic bullets — is an 1821 ''Singspiel'' (an opera with spoken sections rather than recitative) by German composer Carl Maria von Weber, to a libretto by Friedrich Kind, based on the tale of the same name from August Apel and Friedrich Laun's ''Gespensterbuch'' ("The Book of Specters'", 1810). The opera is one of the most important works of the German Early Romantic movement (it is often considered the musical equivalent of the paintings of German master [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspar_David_Friedrich Caspar David Friedrich]]), and soon gained widespread popularity throughout the Germanys, as well as abroad, with productions in England and America within five years of its premiere. The score is notable for its early use of {{Leitmotif}}, including the famous "Samiel diminished seventh" and of Agathe's aria, „''Leise, leise, fromme Weise''" to characterize the forces of Evil and Good, respectively. It was almost certainly a source of inspiration to the young Music/RichardWagner, who adored Weber[[note]]and who, as ''Kapellmeister'' of Dresden, presided over the ceremony welcoming the return of Weber's body from London, where he died, to Germany[[/note]]. Wagner on the other hand was rather scathing in his review of an 1841 reworking of ''[[GratuitousGerman Le Freischutz]]'' into a French-style opera by Pacini, for which Music/HectorBerlioz scored recitatives (to replace the spoken passages) and an orchestral version of Weber's ''Aufforderung zum Tanz'' ("Invitation to the Dance") for the indispensible ballet number.

A RockOpera adaptation of Apel's and Laun's tale, entitled ''Music/TheBlackRider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets'', was created through the collaboration of theatre director Robert Wilson, musician Music/TomWaits, and writer Creator/WilliamSBurroughs in 1990; this version is closer to the original story than Weber's opera. A number of younger fans have learned of ''Der Freischütz'' through the use of its music in the anime ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'',[[note]]where the [[ImprobableAimingSkills impossible marksman]] vampiress Rip Van Winkle constantly references the opera[[/note]] or possibly through the use of its translated Japanese title for the character Xigbar in ''Franchise/KingdomHearts''.

* RatedMForManly: The "Hunter's Chorus" is a bunch of men singing about how ManlyMenCanHunt.
-->To fell the bloody wolf, and the boar\\
who greedily roots through the green crops,\\
Is joy for a prince, is real man's desire,\\
It strengthens your limbs and spices your food.

* SilverBullet: The seven magic bullets were cast from silver.

* TakeThat: In an uncharacteristically snarky move, dramatist and Austrian national bard Franz Grillparzer (1791-1872) wrote a brief parody of the Wolf's Glen scene, which struck him as unduly hamfisted and crude. Subtitled "a romantic opera", ''Der Wilde Jäger'' (The Wild Huntsman, 1822) takes some of ''Der Freischütz'''s more visceral elements and turns them up to eleven, while also sending up the slapstick theatre that was wildly popular with Viennese audiences at the time. Its only speaking character, Sirocco, expresses himself largely through inarticulate grunts and random cries of "Murder! Death! Poison!" between stage directions calling for frequent "dreadful" thunderclaps as he vainly tries to summon his demonic master and live bulls stampede across the stage. [[UpToEleven The ending takes it up a notch:]]

* TheLostWoods: The Wolf's Glen.

* MusicOfNote: Several of the musical numbers (perhaps most notably the Huntsmen's Chorus) took on life as "folksongs," while the Overture became one of the commonest war-horses of the concert-house.