Ecstatic, transcendent experience:

sensual, mysterious,

quasi-religiousbeyond words

A. German Romantic Operas (=early)•The Flying Dutchman•Tannhaüser•Lohengrin

Emphasis on Solo Singing (few duets, trios, ensembles)

Musical Features/Differences from Italian Opera

Distinction between recitative and aria blurred

Continuous dramatic flow rather than recit/aria alternation

A. German Romantic Operas (=early)•The Flying Dutchman•Tannhaüser•Lohengrin

B. Music Dramas (=Wagner’s mature operas)

•Das Rheingold•Die Walküre

•Siegfried•Götterdämerung (The Twilight of the Gods)

•Tristan und Isolde•Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

The Ring of the Nibelung (“The Ring Cycle”)

•Parsifal C. Wagnerian Topics (told through myth):

Greed vs. Compassion/Redeeming Power of Love/Heroism & Striving

Musical Features/Differences from Italian Opera

A. Leitmotif

B. Infinite Melody

C. Gesamtkunstwerk

D. Wagnerian Harmony (e.g., “Tristan Chord”)

E. The Wagnerian Orchestra

F. Wagnerian Singers

G. Wagner the Poet and Stabreim

H. Wagnerian Characters

A. LeitmotifsA. LeitmotifsLove-DeathLove-Death

Transendent Transendent BlissBliss

EcstasyEcstasy

DesireDesire

The “Liebestod” from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde