Our Myth (Anne Pedersdotter Part 2)
A play, an opera, a film, three witches... and Benito Mussolini. Today, we examine why three twentieth-century works, Hans Wiers-Jenssen's Anne Pedersdotter, Ottorino Respighi's La Fiamma, and Carl Theodore Dreyer's Day of Wrath, were inspired by the life and witch trials of Anne Pedersdotter and why they all got her story so, so wrong.
Researched, written, and produced by Thomas Ignatius and Corinne Wieben, featuring the voice talents of Joshua Summit and Sarah Tomei with original music by Purple Planet.
Media
Hans Wiers-Jenssen’s Anne Pedersdotter: A Drama in Four Acts
“Il sogno che tʼinnamora” from Ottorino Respighi's La Fiamma
Trailer for Carl Theodore Dreyer's Day of Wrath
Music
Purple Planet - Swaying Daisies
Purple Planet - Possessed Doll
Ottorino Respighi - La Fiamma: “Il sogno che tʼinnamora” - Performed by Anna Moffo & Mara Coleva
Purple Planet - Outcast
Purple Planet - Harbinger of Doom
Purple Planet - Sense of Loss
Purple Planet - Shadowlands
Sources
Barrow, Lee G. Ottorino Respighi (1879–1936): An Annotated Bibliography. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2004.
Bernardoni, Virgilio. “La Fiamma.” In Dizionario dell’Opera. Edited by Piero Gelli and Filippo Poletti, 274–275. Milan: Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2007.
Cohen, Steve. “AVA’s La Fiamma (2nd review): The Good Old Days of Witchcraft.” BroadStreetReview.com. February 03, 2009.
Day of Wrath. Film. Directed by Carl Theodore Dreyer. Denmark: Palladium Productions, 1948.
Lintelman, Joy K. “Day of Wrath.” Reel Norden: Nordic Film & History. April 30, 2017.
Mallett, R. “Fascism as the Expression of a Spiritual Revolution in Italy.” In The Sacred in Twentieth-Century Politics, Edited by R. Griffin, R. Mallett, and J. Tortorice. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
Rosenbaum, Jonathan. “Day of Wrath.” Chicago Reader. Accessed March 29, 2021.
Rosenbaum, Jonathan. “Figuring out Day of Wrath.” Criterion Collection Accessed March 29, 2021.
Wiers-Jenssen, Hans. Anne Pedersdotter: A Drama in Four Acts. English version by John Masefield. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1917.
