Chapter 17:Romantic Opera

Wagner and “Music Drama”

Key Terms

Music dramaGesamtkunstwerkLeitmotivThematic transformationPreludeDeceptive cadence

Wagner and “Music Drama”

The most influential Romantic composer after BeethovenHis innovations revolutionized opera and orchestral music•“Complete artwork” concept•“Guiding motive” (leitmotiv) technique

Elaborate theories on art, music, opera•Opera had degenerated from original serious

drama to “concert in costume”•Arias hopelessly artificial – always interrupting

dramatic flow for a song

Richard Wagner (1)(1813-1883)

Intellectual pursuits as a youth•Literature, music, philosophy, mythology,

religionBegan career as an opera conductorEarly works influenced by Weber•Early German Romantic opera style•Flying Dutchman, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin

Exiled after revolution of 1848-49•Formulated principles for “music drama”•Began work on The Ring of the Nibelung

Richard Wagner (2)(1813-1883)

Bavarian King Ludwig II a Wagner fanatic•Sponsored 1st productions of Ring operas

His 2nd wife was Liszt’s daughter Cosima•She left Wagner conductor von Bülow for him

He built his own opera house in Bayreuth•Annual festival still performs only Wagner

Wagner stirred enormous controversy•Half visionary & half con man•Highly influential in music & the other arts•The most important Romantic composer (?)

The “Total Work of Art” (1)

New kind of opera – the “music drama”•Powerful new concept – Music shares honors

with poetry, drama, & philosophy•Called a “total work of art” (Gesamtkunstwerk)

Wagner had total artistic control•He was not merely the composer—also writer,

director, producer, designer, & conductorBased on old German myths & legends•They present weighty philosophical issues•Use of myth as embodiment of deepest

unconscious truths anticipates Freud

The “Total Work of Art” (2)

New intensity of emotional expression•Slow tempos suggest timelessness of myth

Orchestra given new importance in opera•Larger than ever – new instruments added•Brass section now equal to other sections•Superb orchestration provided exciting,

intoxicating new tone colorsOrchestra now carried the opera along•No more recitatives, arias, ensembles, etc.•One long orchestral web woven with singing

Leitmotivs (1)

Leitmotiv = guiding, or leading, motive•Motives associated with some person, thing,

idea, or symbol in the dramaThey give thematic continuity to the unbroken orchestral web•Modeled after motivic development in

Beethoven’s symphoniesWagner skillful in thematic transformation•A Romantic variation-like technique•Pioneered by Liszt in his symphonic poems

Leitmotivs (2)

With leitmotivs & their transformations –•Wagner’s orchestra can now guide the listener

through the story• It can tell us what the hero thinks or feels when

he is saying something else• It can show a person or idea changing as

drama progressesLeitmotivs used widely since Wagner’s day•John Williams in Star Wars or Indiana Jones

Wagner, Tristan und Isolde Background (1)

Two major inspirations•Discovered philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer•Love affair with Mathilde Wesendonck, wife of

a wealthy patronFor Schopenhauer, all human existence consists of “Will” or “Appearance”•Will = emotions & drives•Appearance = ideas, morals, & reason•Will always dominates Appearance•Will is sensed directly only through music

Wagner, Tristan und Isolde Background (2)

Schopenhauer echoed Wagner’s beliefs•Music was especially suited for emotional

expression•The deepest truths could be plumbed in music

Tristan und Isolde is not just a love story•Wagner chose sexual love to exemplify Will•He presents love as the dominant force in life•This love transcends all worldly Appearance

Wagner’s affair ended when Mathilde’s husband found out & put his foot down

Story (1)

Wagner’s story draws on medieval legendStory shows ever-growing power of loveAct I takes place on shipboard•Tristan escorts Isolde (a vanquished king’s

daughter) to Cornwall to marry his king• Isolde tries to poison Tristan, her father’s killer•Her maid brings a love potion by mistake•Tristan & Isolde fall hopelessly in love

Story (2)

Act II takes place in Cornwall•Their love (Will) sweeps all obstacles away• It overpowers Isolde’s fierce pride, her scorn

for Tristan, & her marriage vows to the king• It dissolves Tristan’s perfectly chivalry & his

loyalty to the king, his uncleTristan & Isolde meet under cover of night•Longest unconsummated love scene in opera•Through treachery, their tryst is discovered•Tristan is mortally wounded and escapes

Story (3)

Act III takes place on a desolate coast•Tristan refuses to die until Isolde comes to him•Long soliloquy probes Tristan’s psychological

struggles to accept all that has happened•When she arrives he dies in her arms• Isolde sinks down in rapture & expires in an

ecstatic, mystical vision of love beyond death•The two move in a realm where reality, morals,

reason, even life & death, have lost their power•Love as ultimate transcendent experience

Prelude to Tristan und Isolde (1)

Magnificent depiction of romantic love•Especially its endless, sensual yearning•Full of unresolved, deceptive cadences•Music restlessly, ceaselessly surges forward

Introduces several important leitmotivs•Begins with threefold Love-Death motive

Prelude to Tristan und Isolde (2)

•Death motive & other new motives emerge (or transformations of earlier themes?)

•Death motive

•Overall gradual crescendo climaxes with ff return of threefold Love-Death motive

•Broods & dies away without any cadence

Tristan und Isolde“Philter” Scene (1)

Captive on Tristan’s ship, Isolde & her maid Brangaene discuss their situation•Brangaene suggests Isolde repay King Mark

with a potion to bind him in chains of love•But Isolde pulls out a poison philter (potion)•She plans to kill Tristan & drink the rest herself•Sailors’ chantey tells that land is near•Kurwenal enters to escort Isolde to Tristan so

they can prepare for landing

Tristan und Isolde“Philter” Scene (2)

Singing style neither aria nor recitative•Ranges freely between the two•Singers vital as actors, bearers of the words•But musically each is just another voice in the

orchestra’s rich contrapuntal web

Tristan und Isolde“Philter” Scene (3)

No let-up in drama’s forward momentum•Orchestra paints each character & their

changing emotions with great accuracy•Music moves seamlessly from maid’s song to

dialogue to sea chantey to Kurvenal’s song

Tristan und Isolde“Philter” Scene (4)

Leitmotivs from the Prelude reappear•Threefold Love-Death motive accompanies

dialogue about a love potion

Tristan und Isolde“Philter” Scene (5)

•Death motive used ominously at the mere thought (not even the mention!) of death

•When Isolde actually seizes the death philter, the orchestra explodes

In the end, Brangaene switches philters•Tristan & Isolde drink an aphrodisiac instead

Ring of the Nibelung (1)

Four-opera cycle took 27 years to finish•Towering artwork comparable to the Taj Mahal,

the Iliad, the Odyssey, or the Sistine ChapelWagner’s story based on Norse myths•Epic tale spans several generations•With gods, dwarves, giants, dragons, water

nymphs, humans, & a ring of power•Tolkien drew on the same myths in writing

Lord of the Rings

Ring of the Nibelung (2)

Wotan, king of the gods, attains absolute power through deception & theft•But he loses the Ring that will doom his family,

his enemies, & his empireMusic of enormous expressive range•Depicts innocence, spite, rage, regret, love at

first sight, passion, exuberance, & wonderRich, vast web of leitmotivs•Matched flexibly with people & events•Paved the way for today’s film composers

Verdi vs. Wagner (1)

Italian passionDrawn from popular plays or novelsFeatures princes, prostitutes, poets, & peasantsRecitative, chorus, aria, & ensembleTuneful melodiesRegular phrases

German philosophyDrawn from German legends & mythFeatures knights, princesses, gods, giants, & dwarvesEach act a long symphonic poem“Infinite” melodyIrregular phrases

Verdi vs. Wagner (2)

Functional harmony with decorative chromaticismHomophonic• Vocal melody with

orchestral accompaniment

Fast-paced, razor-edged dramaSingers carry the show

Extreme chromaticism destabilizes tonalityPolyphonic • Elaborate web of

vocal and orchestral lines

Deliberately slow but inexorableOrchestra tells the story with leitmotivs

Verdi vs. Wagner (3)

Verdi at his bestFast-paced, nonstop dramaPowerful expression of emotionsRealistic story & charactersGlorious vocal music

Wagner at his bestGripping, psychological dramaProfound revelationsTimelessness of mythGlorious orchestral music