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Chapter 24: Romantic Opera: Germany

Chapter 24: Romantic Opera: Germany. 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)

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Chapter 24: Romantic Opera: 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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