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Wagner's Romantic Opera Revolution in Germany

Discover how Richard Wagner's operas revitalized German culture by drawing inspiration from medieval tales and implementing innovative techniques, such as the use of leitmotifs and the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk.

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Wagner's Romantic Opera Revolution in Germany

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  1. Chapter 24:Romantic Opera: Germany

  2. Germany • Looked back to the Middle Ages for inspiration • Medieval sagas and epic poems • Tales of dark castles, fair maidens, heroic princes, and fire-breathing dragons • Rediscovery and publication of “lost” epics • German Song of the Nibelungs (1820) • Anglo-Saxon Beowulf (1815) • Finnish Kalevala

  3. Richard Wagner (1813-1883) • Poet, philosopher, politician, propagandist, visionary who believe his operas would revolutionize society • Controversial composer • Inspired extreme reactions • Exerted enormous influence • A determined, ruthless visionary • Largely self-taught • First big success with the opera Rienzi (1842) • Der fliegende Holländer (1844), Tannhäuser (1845), Lohengrin (1848) • Forced to leave Germany in 1848 for political reasons • Spent exile on Switzerland INSERT FIG 24-1 from LM7e

  4. Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelungens) • Wagner’s magnum opus • Cycle of four operas: Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung • Found a patron in King Ludwig II of Bavaria • Special theatre built in Bayreuth, Germany, for his operas • First Bayreuth Festival in 1876 with the entire Ring cycle

  5. Wagner’s Music Dramas • Wagner intended his operas to be radically different • Gesamtkunstwerk: “Total Art Work;” Artistic union of all the arts • “Endless Melody”- Seamless flow of undifferentiated solo singing and declamation • Removed ensemble singing • Avoids melodic repetition, symmetry, and regular cadences • Greater importance of the orchestra • Leitmotif: A distinctive unit of music designed to represent a character, object, or idea

  6. Wagner’s Ring and Die Walküre (1856, first performed 1870) • Ring cycle a timeless fantasy adventure and a timely allegory for 19th-century German society • Explores power, greed, heroism, race • Germany rapidly industrializing and striving to become a unified nation • “The Ride of the Valkyries” from Die Walküre • Most famous music from the Ring

  7. Important Leitmotifs from Die Walküre • Slumber • Magic Fire • Renunciation of love

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