Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner, genius of the music drama, was born in Leipzig, Germany, on May 22, 1813. In his academic studies (at the Kreuzschule in Dresden, the Nikolaischule in Leipzig, and the University of Leipzig) he was an indifferent, lazy, and irresponsible student. But his intensity and seriousness of purpose where music was concerned were evident from the beginning. He studied theory by memorizing a textbook and then by receiving some formal instruction from Theodor Weinlig. In short order he completed an overture and a symphony that received performances between 1832 and 1833; in 1834 he completed his first opera, Die Feen, never performed in his lifetime. In 1834 he was appointed conductor of the Magdeburg Opera where, two years later, his second opera, Das Liebesverbot, was introduced. Between 1837 and 1838 he conducted opera in Riga. Involvement in debts caused his dismissal from this post and compelled him to flee to Paris, where he arrived in 1839. There he lived for three years in extreme poverty, completing two important operas, Rienzi in 1840, and The Flying Dutchman in 1841. His first major successes came with the first of these operas, introduced at the Dresden Opera on October 20, 1842. This triumph brought Wagner in 1843 an appointment as Kapellmeister of the Dresden Opera which he held with considerable esteem for six years. During this period he completed two more operas: Tannhaeuser, introduced in Dresden in 1845, and Lohengrin, first performed in Weimar under Liszt’s direction, in 1850.
As a member of a radical political organization, the Vaterlandsverein, Wagner became involved in the revolutionary movements that swept across Europe in 1848-1849. To avoid arrest, he had to flee from Saxony. He came to Weimar where he was warmly welcomed by Liszt who from then on became one of his staunchest champions. After that Wagner set up a permanent abode in Zurich. He now began to clarify and expound his new theories on opera. He saw opera as a drama with music, a synthesis of many arts; he was impatient with the old clichés and formulas to which opera had so long been enslaved, such as formal ballets, recitatives and arias, production scenes, and so forth. And he put his theories into practice with a monumental project embracing four dramas, collectively entitled The Nibelung Ring (Der Ring des Nibelungen) for which, as had always been his practice, he wrote the text as well as the music; the four dramas were entitled The Rhinegold (Das Rheingold), The Valkyries (Die Walkuere), Siegfried, and The Twilight of the Gods (Goetterdaemmerung). It took him a quarter of a century to complete this epic. But during this period he was able to complete several other important music dramas, including Tristan and Isolde in 1859 and The Mastersingers (Die Meistersinger) in 1867.
In 1862, Wagner was pardoned for his radical activities of 1849 and permitted to return to Saxony. There he found a powerful patron in Ludwig II, king of Bavaria, under whose auspices premières of Wagner’s mighty music dramas were given in Munich beginning with Tristan and Isolde in 1865. In 1876 there came into being one of Wagner’s most cherished dreams, a festival theater built in Bayreuth, Bavaria, according to his own specifications, where his music dramas could be presented in the style and manner Wagner dictated. This festival opened in August 1876 with the first performance anywhere of the entire Ring cycle. Since then Bayreuth has been a shrine of Wagnerian music drama to which music lovers of the world congregate during the summer months. Wagner’s last music drama was the religious consecrational play, Parsifal, first performed in Bayreuth on July 26, 1882. Wagner died in Venice on February 13, 1883, and was buried in the garden of his home, Wahnfried, in Bayreuth.
Of his turbulent personal life which involved him in numerous and often complex love affairs, mention need here be made only of his relations with Cosima, daughter of Liszt, and wife of Hans von Buelow. Wagner and Cosima fell in love while the latter was still von Buelow’s wife. They had two illegitimate children before they set up a home of their own at Lake Lucerne; and one more (Siegfried) before they were married on August 25, 1870.
Wagner’s creative career divides itself into two phases. In the first he was the composer of operas in more or less a traditional style. To the accepted formulas of operatic writing, however, he brought a new dimension—immense musical and dramatic power and invention. In the second phase he was the prophet of a new order in music, the creator of the music drama. It is from the works of his first phase that salon or pop orchestras derive selections that have become universal favorites—sometimes overtures, sometimes excerpts. For these earlier works abound with such a wonderful fund of melody, emotion, expressiveness and dramatic interest that they have become popular even with those operagoers to whose tastes the later Wagner is perhaps too subtle, complex, elusive, or garrulous.
From The Flying Dutchman (Der fliegende Hollaender) comes a dramatic overture. This opera—text by the composer based on an old legend adapted by Heinrich Heine—was first performed at the Dresden Opera on January 2, 1843. “The Flying Dutchman” is a ship on which the Dutchman must sail until he achieves redemption through the love of a faithful woman. Only once in every seven years is he permitted to go ashore to find that love. He finally achieves his redemption through Senta. They both meet their final doom together in a raging sea which swallows up the ship.
Turbulent music, intended to describe a storm at sea, opens the overture. We then hear the theme of the Dutchman in the horns and bassoons. The stormy music returns and subsides as a motive from Senta’s beautiful second-act ballad, “Traft ihr das Schiff” is presented. This motive brings up the image of Senta herself. A vigorous sailors’ chorus is followed by a return of the Senta motive in full orchestra.
Three selections from The Flying Dutchman are of particular appeal: Senta’s spinning song, “Summ und brumm” and her famous ballad, both from the second act; and the chorus of the sailors in the third act, a rousing chantey, “Steuermann! lass die Wacht.”
Lohengrin was Wagner’s last “opera.” After that he confined himself to music dramas. He completed it in 1848. After its première in Weimar on August 28, 1850 it became one of the most successful operas in Germany of that period. The text, by the composer, was adapted from medieval legends. Lohengrin is a knight of the Holy Grail who becomes Elsa’s champion against Telramund when Elsa is unjustly accused of having murdered Gottfried. Lohengrin arrives on a swan and extracts from Elsa the promise that she must never try to uncover his true identity. After defeating Telramund, Lohengrin marries Elsa who, provoked by Telramund’s wife, cannot stifle her curiosity about her husband’s background and source. He finally must reveal to her that he is a knight of the Holy Grail. Having made that revelation he must leave her forever.
The two familiar orchestral preludes, from the first and third acts, are opposites in mood, texture, and dynamics. The Prelude to Act 1 has spiritual content, a portrait of a heavenly vision wherein the Holy Grail is carried by angels. The main theme is heard quietly in the upper registers of the violins, then repeated by other instruments. This theme is developed into a crescendo and culminates in an exultant statement by trumpets and trombones. Now the theme is given in a decrescendo, and the prelude ebbs away pianissimo, once again in the strings in the upper register.
The Prelude to Act 3 is more robust in character, since it depicts the joy of Elsa and Lohengrin on the eve of their wedding. A forceful melody is pronounced by the full orchestra, succeeded by a second strong theme for the cellos, horns, bassoons in unison; a march-like episode for the wind instruments follows.
What is probably the most famous wedding march ever written comes out of Lohengrin. Its strains are heard after the rise of the curtain for Act 3, Scene 1, as a procession enters the bridal chamber. The chorus hymns a blessing to the marriage couple (“Treulich gefuert”). From one side ladies conduct Elsa, while from the other the King and his men lead Lohengrin. The two processions then meet midstage and Elsa joins Lohengrin to be blessed by the King. The two columns of the procession then refile and march out of the two sides of the stage.
The Mastersingers (Die Meistersinger), while written after Wagner had set forth on his operatic revolution, is the only one of his music dramas with a recognizable operatic ritual: big arias, huge production numbers, even dances. For The Mastersingers is a comedy, the only one Wagner ever wrote. For purposes of comedy some of the traditions of opera still prove useful to Wagner, even if fused with techniques, approaches and esthetics of the music drama. Wagner completed The Mastersingers in 1867—eight years after Tristan and Isolde and more than a decade following the first two dramas of the Ring cycle. The first performance took place in Munich on June 21, 1868. The libretto, by the composer, was set in Nuremberg in the middle 16th century, and its plot revolves around a song contest conducted by the Mastersingers, its winner to receive the hand of lovely Eva, daughter of the cobbler-philosopher, Hans Sachs. Walther von Stolzing, a knight, and Beckmesser, a contemptible town clerk, are the main rivals for Eva. At a magnificent ceremony at the banks of the Pognitz River the contestants sing their offerings. It is Walther’s eloquent “Prize Song” that emerges victorious.
This “Prize Song” (“Morgenlich leuchtend”) is one of Wagner’s most famous melodies, the pivot upon which the entire opera gravitates. It is first heard in the first scene of the third act, where Walther comes to tell Hans Sachs of a song come to him in a dream. The song is repeated in the closing scene of the opera during the actual contest. This “Prize Song” is used by Wagner symbolically. Its victory over the dull and stilted creation of Beckmesser represents the triumph of inspiration and freedom of expression over hackneyed rules and procedures. August Wilhelmj made a famous transcription of the “Prize Song” for violin and piano.
Rienzi, an early Wagner opera, is today remembered primarily for its overture. But in its own day it was extremely popular. Immediately after its première performance in Dresden on October 20, 1842, Rienzi made Wagner’s name known throughout all of Germany for the first time, appearing in the repertory of virtually every major German opera house at the time. The novel from which the composer derived his libretto is that of Bulwer-Lytton. The central character, Rienzi, is a Roman ruler of the 14th century who meets his destruction at the hands of his enemies who set the Capitol aflame in which Rienzi perishes. Trumpet calls in the opening measures of the overture lead to a slow section in which is prominent an affecting melody for strings, Rienzi’s prayer for the Roman people. In the main section of the overture, the first main theme is the battle hymn of the first act (in the brass) set against Rienzi’s prayer-melody. The opening slow section returns and is succeeded by the stirring music from the first act finale. In the coda, the battle-hymn music is powerfully projected for the last time.
Tannhaeuser boasts many popular selections beyond its very famous overture. The opera was first performed in Dresden on October 19, 1845. The libretto is by the composer. Tannhaeuser is a minstrel-knight who has grown weary of the carnal delights on the Hill of Venus and longs for his own world. By invoking the name of the Virgin Mary, in whom he places his trust, Tannhaeuser is transported to a valley near the Wartburg Castle, where he is recognized and welcomed back by Wolfram, a companion minstrel-knight. Joyously, Tannhaeuser returns with Wolfram to the Hall of the Minstrels in the Wartburg Castle to find that his beloved Elisabeth is still in love with him. But only he who can come out triumphant in a song contest on the subject of love can win Elisabeth. The song Tannhaeuser presents, glorifying sensual pleasure, horrifies the audience. Contrite, Tannhaeuser offers to atone for his sins by joining pilgrims to Rome and seeking absolution from the Pope. Elisabeth promises to pray for his soul. After several months have passed, Elisabeth is awaiting the return of the Roman pilgrims, and Wolfram beseeches heaven to guide Elisabeth and protect her. Suddenly Tannhaeuser—haggard and decrepit—makes his appearance. He confesses to Wolfram that his soul will not be redeemed until the staff in the Pope’s hands sprouts leaves. Only after Elisabeth has died of grief in despair of ever seeing Tannhaeuser again, do the tidings come from Rome that the Pope’s staff has, indeed, blossomed with foliage.
The Overture is built from some of the principal melodies of the opera; in a sense it traces the main events of the story. The religious chant of the Pilgrims (in clarinets, bassoons and horns) is heard at once. This is followed by music suggesting Tannhaeuser’s repentance, a touching melody for strings. After both these ideas have been discussed we hear in the strings the voluptuous music of Venusberg, a picture of the carnal life led by Tannhaeuser with Venus on Venus Hill. The music is brought to a compelling climax with a loud statement of Tannhaeuser’s passionate hymn to carnal love with which he so horrified the minstrel-knights at Wartburg Castle. The chant of the pilgrims, which had opened the overture, also brings it to conclusion.
The Prelude to Act 3 is solemn music that bears the title, “Tannhaeuser’s Pilgrimage.” Two themes are set forth at once, that of Tannhaeuser’s repentance, and that suggesting Elisabeth’s intercession. Tannhaeuser’s suffering is then portrayed by a poignant melody for strings. Suggestions of the Pilgrim’s Chorus and a motive known as “Heavenly Grace” are then offered. The prelude ends quietly and sensitively, as Tannhaeuser at long last achieves salvation.
The sensual, even lascivious, music of the Bacchanale in the opening scene (recreating the revelry enjoyed by Tannhaeuser and Venus on Venus Hill) is often performed in conjunction with the Overture, sometimes independently. Another orchestral episode extremely popular is the stately March of the second act with which the minstrel-knights of the Wartburg file into the Castle, followed by the nobles, ladies, and attendants, as they chant the strains of “Freudig begruessen wir die edle Halle.”
The most popular vocal excerpt from Tannhaeuser is Wolfram’s “Ode to the Evening Star” (“O du mein holder Abendstern”) in the last act. This atmospheric music, a hymn to the mystery and beauty of the night, is Wolfram’s prayer to the evening star that it guide and protect Elisabeth. Elisabeth’s second-act song of praise to the Hall of Wartburg Castle in which she speaks of her joy in learning of Tannhaeuser’s return (“Dich, teure Halle”) and her eloquent third-act prayer for Tannhaeuser’s forgiveness (“Allmaecht’ge Jungfrau”) are also deservedly celebrated for their affecting lyricism.
Wagner did not write much music not intended for the stage. Of this meager repertory one or two items deserve attention in the semi-classical repertory. One is “Traeume” (“Dreams”) a song often heard in transcriptions, particularly for orchestra. This is one of five poems by Mathilde Wesendonck which Wagner set to music in 1857-1858, and it appears as the last song of the cycle. This gentle nocturne derives some of its melody from the famous love-duet of the second act of Tristan and Isolde (“O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe”) but the overall effect of the song is one of gentle revery rather than sensual love. Wagner himself arranged “Traeume” for small orchestra. On Mathilde Wesendonck’s birthday on December 23, 1857, he conducted eighteen musicians in a performance of the song under Mathilde’s window.
The Kaiser March was another of Wagner’s compositions not intended for the stage. He wrote it in 1871 to celebrate Germany’s victory over France. A proud, exultant theme is first offered by the full orchestra. A transition in the brasses and timpani brings on a second theme of contrasting character in the woodwind. There follows a brief statement of Martin Luther’s famous chorale, “Ein feste Burg.” After dramatic music depicting the fever of battle, the Luther chorale is repeated triumphantly by the brasses. The first theme returns loudly in full orchestra after a fanfare to end the march.