Post on 20-Dec-2015
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