[3] The opera was first performed in Berlin at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden on 10 December 1928 conducted by Erich Kleiber with Delia Reinhardt and Fritz Wolff in the leading roles.
[2] Other theatres, including Breslau, Prague, Munich and Frankfurt, abandoned their plans to stage the work and only two further productions took place during the composers lifetime: in Wiesbaden (1929) and Stettin (1930).
Act II Amandus is tormented by his inability to complete the organ begun by his father and rejects Kaleidos's encouragement.
At night, the pagan priestess Alardis and her followers perform a ritual, mocking the Christian message.
Amandus rallies the monks and envisions the organ's beautiful tones as pacifying the pagan horde and uniting the warring factions.
A pilgrim visits him wanting help repairing a small organ, but as soon as Amandus sees the instrument, it only reminds him of his own fatal failure.
offstage: 2 flutes (doubling piccolos), E flat clarinet, bassoon, 2 horns, trumpet, tuba, percussion, organ, regal, bells An excerpt from the Bielefeld production was issued on the CD accompanying the book Franz Schreker: Grenzgänge, Grenzklänge (Hailey and Haas; Mandelbaum, 2004).