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Romantic movement is expressed best by Wagner’s music
Music Dramas
Saw himself as a hero
Everything he conceived was larger than life
Lived extravagantly
Made many enemies
One of the most innovative artists of the era
One of the most brilliant and original musicians of the time
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Born1813 in Leipzig, Germany
Wrote the words and the music for his operas (the libertti)
First opera, "Die Feen", composed at age 20
Worked as a conductor with a traveling opera troop
Married Minna, an actress
Paris - piano and band arrangements of popular operatic tunes by
other composers
Spent time in debtor's prison
First masterpiece, "The Flying Dutchman", was produced in 1843
Moved to Dresden where the “Dutchman” was produced and where
he composed "Tannhauser" and "Lohengrin"
Wagner’s
Birthplace
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Left Dresden for Switzerland where he lived in exile
Sketched out a cycle of 4 operas, "The Ring of the Nibeling"
His wife leaves him
Falls in love with Mathilde Wesendonck
1856-1859 he composes "Tristan"
Moves to Vienna in 1860
Flees in 1864 due to debt
Ludwig II offers him money
Wagner's spending bankrupt the country; Ludwig forced to exile the
composer
Becomes romantically involved with Cosima von Bulow (Liszt’s daughter)
Begins building a festival theater in Bayreuth - first production in 1882 with
the "Ring" cycle
Composed his final opera, "Parsifal"
Died in Venice, 1882
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Wagner believed that art and opera must be more than a diversion
His idea is called Gesamtkunstwerk (Total Work)
Totally revolutionized Harmony by completely avoiding resolution
with known, stable chords
Orchestra is important now, and has an equal part in the opera with
the singers.
Constructed scores with a symphonic sound in mind
The singing becomes an instrument in the overall effect
Expanded the size of the orchestra
Invented new instruments (the Wagner tuba)
Wagner regarded himself as "the most German of men” and
"the German spirit“
He composed 13 operas and numerous other compositions
He has been classified as an anarchist, a socialist, a protofascist, a nationalist, a vegetarian and an anti-Semite.
His name appeared in connection with almost all major trends
in German history of the 19th and 20th centuries!
He wrote books and articles and around 10,000 letters on
various aspects of German life and nationalism.
He often was seen to be an “extremist” and very passionate in
the belief of German Nationalism.
Tubas are the largest brass instruments.
The first tuba was made in Germany by
a composer named Richard Wagner.
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Gesamtkunstwerk
Bayreuth
Endless melody
Leitmotifs
Chromatic harmony
Der Fliegende Hollander, Wagner's scenario is that the Dutchman has earned
his septennial year reprieve and has taken shelter from a storm in a port
in Norway.
The Dutchman befriends the captain of a neighboring vessel, who becomes
so taken with him and his apparent wealth that he offers the Dutchman
his daughter's hand in marriage.
Richard Wagner believed that opera did not have to have anything to do with
reality; anyway it's a fairy tale. Up at the home of the Norwegian
Captain, his daughter Senta sits and stares at a picture of the mythical
Flying Dutchman and her handsome Captain that just happens to be
hanging on a wall in their house. She sings a romantic ballad about how
she'd love to be the one to break the curse. Lo and behold, Daddy brings
the guy from the picture home for dinner — and her hand in marriage.
The poetry and rich musical textures of the heroine's ballad, the lovers'
contrapuntal duet, and the "moment of truth" culminated in the
protagonists' transfiguration through love, a theme that was to become
central to Wagner's work.
The Ride of the Valkyrie, which takes around eight minutes, begins in the prelude
to the Act, building up successive layers of accompaniment until the curtain
rises to reveal a mountain peak where four of the eight Valkyrie sisters of
Brünnhilde have gathered in preparation for the transportation of fallen
heroes to Valhalla. As they are joined by the other four, the familiar tune is
carried by the orchestra, while, above it, the Valkyries greet each other and
sing their battle-cry.
Apart from the song of the Rhinemaidens in Das Rheingold, it is the only
ensemble piece in the first three operas of Wagner’s Ring cycle. Wagner
relied heavily on the version of the legends found in The Saga of the
Volsungs. Unlike the music drama, the saga meanders through many
generations of Volsungs before reaching Sigurd.
In the saga, Sigurd's half brother Sinfjotli is of incestuous birth; Wagner transfers
this motif, and the dramatic story that surrounds it, to his principal hero,
Siegfried (Sigurd). The wisdom imparted to the hero by the Valkyrie
Brunnehilde (the Norse Brynhild), whom Wagner makes a daughter of
Wotan, is an important element in Siegfried's maturation process and one
that is most fully described in the Norse material.
Wagner's Wedding March is one of the most popular and familiar melodies and
the traditional wedding theme. It is the standard wedding march played as
the bride walks down the aisle at weddings. It came from Wagner's opera
Lohengrin, where it was used in a wedding scene between the characters
Elsa and Lohengrin. In the opera, the marriage is doomed to fail. This is
usually played on an organ with no vocal accompaniment, but in Wagner's
opera, there were words that went along with it. It is sung by the bridal party
after the wedding. Wagner was notoriously anti-Semitic. As a result, the song
is rarely played at Jewish weddings.
I would say that Wagner's wedding march is one that in not only my opinion, but
in that of many others, portrays all the grandness of a wedding ceremony; as
it slowly and regally captures all the majestic mood of a lovely bride making
her way to the alter with attire to match a queen. Having said this as truth I
do however, find it strange that so many would play it at their weddings. This
being the case since the wedding ceremony that was to be did not take place
and the story of Elsa and Lohengrin is one which I imagine most couples
would like to avoid yet despite everything; Wagner's wedding march is
played throughout most of the world.
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History of Opera Music. Opera Glasses, 2011. Web. 11 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.operaglasses.com/opera-glasses/historyoperamusicarticle.cfm>.
Italian Baroque Opera Alcina by Handel – Story of Sorcery, Magic and Heroes. Opera Genius, 2011.
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Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Web 13 Sept 2011.
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Millington, Barry (Ed.) (1992) The Wagner Compendium: A Guide to Wagner's Life and Music.
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Oxford Music Online. Oxforn University Press, 2011. Web. 11 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/public/page/operatimeline>.
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Romantic Era-Richard Wagner. Music History, 2011. Web. 13 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.ipl.org/div/mushist/rom/wagner.html>.