The Music of Richard Wagner

Eng 258Fall 2012

Hailey Hirst

You’ll probably all recognize…

Ride of the Valkries http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V92OBNsQg

xU&list=LP8n51vlXWW6I&index=1&feature=plcp

Richard Wagner

(Champfleury, 19)

• Born 1813 Germany, died 1883 Italy• German dramatic composer and theorist, whose operas and music had a revolutionary influence on the course of Western music• Major works include• The Flying Dutchman

(1843)• Tannhauser (1845)• Lohengrin (1850)• Tristan and Isolde (1865)• And his great tetralogy The

Ring of the Nibelung (1869-76) • Ride of the Valkries is in

the 2nd of the 4 operas

(Encyclopedia Britannica)

“It lies in the nature of music to be, not the

aim, but the means of expression.”

- Richard Wagner

Characterization of Wagner’s Music

Absence of melodies

Strange orchestrations

Bizarre combinations of instruments with clashing timbres

Remarkable melodies suddenly interrupted as if by a malicious gnome

Comparable to the religious feeling experienced while silently crossing a dense forest

Not imitative music like Hadyn’s Four Seasons that imitated the passing of winter to spring. Wagner created orchestral experiences that included characters and drama, all through music and dance

Champfleury

More than just a musician…

Wagner was a thinker and writer

He announced himself a reformer of music, but he really was a reformer of the opera because he worked cross genre to create a compound art form

(Gryanowski)

Realism in the Arts

In the line of successful 19th century German composers (Felix Mendelssohn, Schumann, Johannes Brahms) Richard Wagner created a revolutionary new form of musical drama grounded in complicated psychological, religious, and philosophical symbolism

He worked to create a more unified presentation of poetry, music, dance, and scenery in historical & mythical operas

Along the lines of a unified presentation, Wagner’s compositions are considered consistent with the period of Realism because of his attempt to genuinely convey events and life experiences by abstract emotion-rich form rather than through strictly formal imitation

(Encyclopedia Britannica)

Among the great composers for the theater, Richard Wagner was the only one who

created plot, characters, text, and symbolism as well as the music. He raised the melodic and harmonic style of German

music to its highest emotional intensity, changing the course of Western music by either the extension of his methods or the

reaction against them.

(Encyclopedia Britannica)

Some critics HATED Wagner

Some musical and theatrical critics thought he was too different compared to previous composers

The word realism and label music of the future were used as clubs to beat him down

Audiences, however, loved the experience of Wagner operas

(Champfleury)

More music

Siegfried Funeral March from Gotterdammerung http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8wHteSOw

W4 You’ll notice minor keys, powerful emotions that

are not necessarily pleasant

Tannhauser Overture http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRmCEGHt-

Qk&feature=related

Politics

Wagner was exiled from Germany for 12 years because of political events

He was a Socialist, banned from Germany until 1861

While in Paris and Zurich, he wrote much music, and prose.

King Ludwig II of Bavaria paid Wagner’s debts and essentially rescued and popularized his work again after exile, funding his latter work

His involvement with left-wing politics, Socialism, and Anti-Semitist overtones, cast him in a poor light civically due to implications of Nazism

(Berry)

Legacy & Reputation

Wagner described himself as the “embodiment of German spirit”

He fashioned himself as the German composer, establishing a unique profile for himself even before his brand of national opera was established

Though heavily criticized, he inspired a new kind of opera that stretched beyond Germany and Europe

His influence trickled over to many disciplines including literature, visual arts, theater, film, and philosophy

English-American poet W.H. Auden calls Wagner, “Perhaps the greatest genius that ever lived.”

(Vazsonyi)

Works Cited

Berry, Mark. Richard Wagner and the Politics of Music-Drama The Historical Journal , Vol. 47, No. 3 (Sep., 2004), pp. 663-683

Champfleury and Palomba Paves-Yashinsky. "Richard Wagner" and "After the Battle” 19th-Century Music , Vol. 13, No. 1 (Summer, 1989), pp. 18-27

Gryzanowski, E. Richard Wagner's Theories of Music Oper und Drama by Richard Wagner Review by: The North American Review , Vol. 124, No. 254 (Jan., 1877), pp. 53-81

Millington, Barry (Ed.) (1992) The Wagner Compendium: A Guide to Wagner's Life and Music. Thames and Hudson Ltd., London.

"Richard Wagner." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 07 Oct. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/633925/Richard-Wagner>.

Vazsonyi, Nicholas. Marketing German Identity: Richard Wagner's "Enterprise”German Studies Review , Vol. 28, No. 2 (May, 2005), pp. 327-346