Chapter 17: Romantic Opera

1. Chapter 17:Romantic Opera Wagner and “Music Drama”

2. Music drama Gesamtkunstwerk Leitmotiv Thematic transformation Prelude Deceptive cadence Key Terms

3. Wagner and “Music Drama” • The most influential Romantic composer after Beethoven • His 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

4. Richard Wagner (1)(1813-1883) • Intellectual pursuits as a youth • Literature, music, philosophy, mythology, religion • Began career as an opera conductor • Early 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

5. 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 (?)

6. 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, & conductor • Based on old German myths & legends • They present weighty philosophical issues • Use of myth as embodiment of deepest unconscious truths anticipates Freud

7. 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 colors • Orchestra now carried the opera along • No more recitatives, arias, ensembles, etc. • One long orchestral web woven with singing

8. Leitmotivs (1) • Leitmotiv = guiding, or leading, motive • Motives associated with some person, thing, idea, or symbol in the drama • They give thematic continuity to the unbroken orchestral web • Modeled after motivic development in Beethoven’s symphonies • Wagner skillful in thematic transformation • A Romantic variation-like technique • Pioneered by Liszt in his symphonic poems

9. 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 progresses • Leitmotivs used widely since Wagner’s day • John Williams in Star Wars or Indiana Jones

10. Wagner, Tristan und IsoldeBackground (1) • Two major inspirations • Discovered philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer • Love affair with Mathilde Wesendonck, wife of a wealthy patron • For 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

11. Wagner, Tristan und IsoldeBackground (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

12. Story (1) • Wagner’s story draws on medieval legend • Story shows ever-growing power of love • Act 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

13. 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 uncle • Tristan & Isolde meet under cover of night • Longest unconsummated love scene in opera • Through treachery, their tryst is discovered • Tristan is mortally wounded and escapes

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. Tristan und Isolde“Philter” Scene (4) • Leitmotivs from the Prelude reappear • Threefold Love-Death motive accompanies dialogue about a love potion

21. 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

22. 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 Chapel • Wagner’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

23. 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 empire • Music of enormous expressive range • Depicts innocence, spite, rage, regret, love at first sight, passion, exuberance, & wonder • Rich, vast web of leitmotivs • Matched flexibly with people & events • Paved the way for today’s film composers

24. Italian passion Drawn from popular plays or novels Features princes, prostitutes, poets, & peasants Recitative, chorus, aria, & ensemble Tuneful melodies Regular phrases German philosophy Drawn from German legends & myth Features knights, princesses, gods, giants, & dwarves Each act a long symphonic poem “Infinite” melody Irregular phrases Verdi vs. Wagner (1)

25. Functional harmony with decorative chromaticism Homophonic Vocal melody with orchestral accompaniment Fast-paced, razor-edged drama Singers carry the show Extreme chromaticism destabilizes tonality Polyphonic Elaborate web of vocal and orchestral lines Deliberately slow but inexorable Orchestra tells the story with leitmotivs Verdi vs. Wagner (2)

26. Verdi at his best Fast-paced, nonstop drama Powerful expression of emotions Realistic story & characters Glorious vocal music Wagner at his best Gripping, psychological drama Profound revelations Timelessness of myth Glorious orchestral music Verdi vs. Wagner (3)