Misplaced Pages

#51948

99-513: Der Ring des Nibelungen ( The Ring of the Nibelung ), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend , namely Norse legendary sagas and the Nibelungenlied . The composer termed the cycle a " Bühnenfestspiel " (stage festival play), structured in three days preceded by

198-521: A Vorabend ("preliminary evening"). It is often referred to as the Ring cycle , Wagner's Ring , or simply The Ring . Wagner wrote the libretto and music over the course of about twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874. The four parts that constitute the Ring cycle are, in sequence: Individual works of the sequence are often performed separately, and indeed the operas contain dialogues that mention events in

297-587: A giant ) sea god Ægir has nine daughters . The name of one of these means "wave" ( Welle in German) and is a possible source for Wellgunde's name. Wagner's operas do not reveal where the Rhinemaidens came from, or whether they have any connection to other characters. Whereas most of the characters in the cycle are inter-related, through birth, marriage, or sometimes both, the Rhinemaidens are seemingly independent. The identity of their father who entrusted them with

396-402: A prelude . Wagner called Das Rheingold a Vorabend or "Preliminary Evening", and Die Walküre , Siegfried and Götterdämmerung were subtitled First Day, Second Day and Third Day, respectively, of the trilogy proper. The scale and scope of the story is epic. It follows the struggles of gods , heroes , and several mythical creatures over the eponymous magic ring that grants domination over

495-446: A tenor drum , as well as five onstage horns and four onstage steerhorns, one of them to be blown by Hagen. Much of the Ring , especially from Siegfried act 3 onwards, cannot be said to be in traditional, clearly defined keys for long stretches, but rather in 'key regions', each of which flows smoothly into the following. This fluidity avoided the musical equivalent of clearly defined musical paragraphs and assisted Wagner in building

594-422: A better hearing". Siegfried is not aware that it is to Brünnhilde that they refer. They swim off, leaving a puzzled Siegfried to ponder their words and to admit to himself that he could happily have seduced any one of them. In her final soliloquy, Brünnhilde thanks the Rhinemaidens for their "good advice". They have apparently told her the full story of Siegfried's ensnarement and betrayal, and advised that only

693-510: A chorus only relatively briefly, in acts 2 and 3 of Götterdämmerung , and then mostly of men with just a few women. He eventually had a purpose-built theatre constructed, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus , in which to perform this work. The theatre has a special stage that blends the huge orchestra with the singers' voices, allowing them to sing at a natural volume. The result was that the singers did not have to strain themselves vocally during

792-650: A commercial recording on compact disc and on iTunes. In 2003 the first production of the cycle in Russia in modern times was conducted by Valery Gergiev at the Mariinsky Opera , Saint Petersburg, designed by George Tsypin . The production drew parallels with Ossetian mythology. The Royal Danish Opera performed a complete Ring cycle in May 2006 in its new waterfront home, the Copenhagen Opera House . This version of

891-499: A concerted cadenza ; plunge on from that to a magnificent love duet...The work which follows, entitled Night Falls on the Gods [Shaw's translation of Götterdämmerung ], is a thorough grand opera. As a significant element in the Ring and his subsequent works, Wagner adopted the use of leitmotifs , which are recurring themes or harmonic progressions. They musically denote an action, object, emotion, character, or other subject mentioned in

990-427: A corner of the stage. The 1951 Festival production, by Siegfried's and Winifred's son Wieland , broke with tradition and featured an austere staging which replaced scenery and props with skilful lighting effects. The Rhinemaidens, along with all the other characters, were plainly dressed in simple robes, and sang their roles without histrionics. Thus the music and the words became the main focus of attention. Wieland

1089-712: A double slide. He also developed the "Wagner bell", enabling the bassoon to reach the low A-natural, whereas normally B-flat is the instrument's lowest note. If such a bell is not to be used, then a contrabassoon should be employed. All four parts have a very similar instrumentation. The core ensemble of instruments are one piccolo , three flutes (third doubling second piccolo ), three oboes , cor anglais (doubling fourth oboe), three soprano clarinets , one bass clarinet , three bassoons ; eight horns (fifth through eighth doubling Wagner tubas ), three trumpets , one bass trumpet, three tenor trombones , one contrabass trombone (doubling bass trombone ), one contrabass tuba ;

SECTION 10

#1732849023052

1188-460: A figure which recurs in many musical motives throughout the Ring . The melody itself is reprised during Fricka's denunciation of the Rhinemaidens in Das Rheingold , Scene 2 and, dramatically, at the end of Götterdämmerung when, after Brünnhilde's immolation, the Rhinemaidens rise from the river to claim the ring from Siegfried's funeral pyre. Its first five notes, with an altered rhythm, become

1287-524: A form of disguised malevolence. Wagner drew widely and loosely from those legends when compiling his Ring narrative, and the probable origin of his Rhinemaidens is in the German Nibelungenlied . In one part of the Nibelungenlied narrative Hagen and Gunther encounter certain mermaids or water sprites (Middle High German: merwîp ; mod. Ger.: Meerweib ) bathing themselves in the waters of

1386-404: A lengthy Prelude (Vorspiel). ... At a specially-appointed Festival, I propose, some future time, to produce those three Dramas with their Prelude, in the course of three days and a fore-evening . The object of this production I shall consider thoroughly attained, if I and my artistic comrades, the actual performers, shall within these four evenings succeed in artistically conveying my purpose to

1485-450: A letter to Nietzsche dated 12 June 1872, Wagner explained that he had derived Weiawaga from old German and that it was related to Weihwasser , meaning holy water. Other words were intended as parallels to those found in German nursery lullabies ('Eia Poppeia', 'Heija Poppeia' and 'Aia Bubbeie' are common forms). Thus Woglinde's lines portray both the childish innocence of the Rhinemaidens and

1584-547: A location in the Bavarian town of Bayreuth . In 1872, he moved to Bayreuth and the foundation stone was laid. Wagner would spend the next two years attempting to raise capital for the construction, with scant success; King Ludwig finally rescued the project in 1874 by donating the needed funds. The Bayreuth Festspielhaus opened in 1876 with the first complete performance of the Ring , which took place from 13 to 17 August. In 1882, London impresario Alfred Schulz-Curtius organized

1683-597: A means of artistic expression. He expressed this clearly in his essay " A Communication to My Friends " (1851), in which he condemned the majority of modern artists, in painting and in music, as "feminine ... the world of art close fenced from Life, in which Art plays with herself.' Where however the impressions of Life produce an overwhelming 'poetic force', we find the 'masculine, the generative path of Art'. Wagner unfortunately found that his audiences were not willing to follow where he led them: The public, by their enthusiastic reception of Rienzi and their cooler welcome of

1782-399: A natural innocence; their joy in the gold they guard derives from its beauty alone, even though they know its latent power. The veneer of childlike simplicity is misleading; aside from proving themselves irresponsible as guardians, they are also provocative, sarcastic and cruel in their interaction with Alberich. When the demigod Loge reports that the Rhinemaidens need Wotan's help to regain

1881-756: A new cycle in 2006 directed by Francesca Zambello . The production uses imagery from various eras of American history and has a feminist and environmentalist viewpoint. Recent performances of this production took place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. in April/May 2016, featuring Catherine Foster and Nina Stemme as Brünnhilde, Daniel Brenna as Siegfried and Alan Held as Wotan. Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis The Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis ( Catalogue of Wagner's Works ), abbreviated WWV ,

1980-504: A percussion section with 4 timpani (requiring two players), triangle , cymbals , tam-tam ; six harps and a string section consisting of 16 first and 16 second violins , 12 violas , 12 cellos and 8 double basses . Das Rheingold , one offstage harp and 18 offstage anvils . Die Walküre requires one snare drum , one D clarinet (played by the third clarinettist) and an on-stage steerhorn . Siegfried requires one onstage cor anglais and one onstage horn. Götterdämmerung requires

2079-571: A range of sophisticated emotions, including some that are far from guileless. Seductive and elusive, they have no relationship to any of the other characters, and no indication is given as to how they came into existence, beyond occasional references to an unspecified "father". The various musical themes associated with the Rhinemaidens are regarded as among the most lyrical in the entire Ring cycle, bringing to it rare instances of comparative relaxation and charm. The music contains important melodies and phrases which are reprised and developed elsewhere in

SECTION 20

#1732849023052

2178-589: A series of articles in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik , inviting composers to write a 'national opera' based on the Nibelungenlied , a 12th-century High German poem which, since its rediscovery in 1755, had been hailed by the German Romantics as the "German national epic ". Siegfrieds Tod dealt with the death of Siegfried, the central heroic figure of the Nibelungenlied. The idea had occurred to others –

2277-400: A shadow falls across the music as it descends into the minor key of the "servitude" motive. Newman describes the Rhinemaidens' scene with Siegfried": Frau Sonne..." and "Weilalala leia..." ( Götterdämmerung , Act 3 Scene 1), as a "gracious woodland idyll". The musical elements associated with the Rhinemaidens in this scene have not previously been heard; Holman describes them as alluding to

2376-487: A test of ingenuity and imagination, since Wagner's stage directions include much swimming and diving and other aquatic gymnastics. Traditionally, therefore, much use has been made of backdrops and lighting to achieve the necessary watery effects. Until the Second World War , under the influence of Cosima Wagner and her (and Wagner's) son Siegfried , a policy of "stifling conservatism" was applied to Bayreuth stagings of

2475-571: A unity, with a composite yet elusive personality. Apart from Flosshilde's implied seniority, demonstrated by occasional light rebukes and illustrated musically by awarding the role to a deeper-voiced contralto or mezzo , their characters are undifferentiated. In The Perfect Wagnerite , his 1886 analysis of the Ring drama as political allegory, George Bernard Shaw describes the Rhinemaidens as "thoughtless, elemental, only half-real things, very much like modern young ladies". The attributes most apparent initially are charm and playfulness, combined with

2574-619: A vision of nature – and as soon as someone appears they hastily throw on some clothes to protect their modesty." While Warner relies on lighting to achieve an underwater effect, Hall used a Pepper's ghost illusion: mirrors at a 45° angle made the Rhinemaidens appear to swim vertically when the performers were in fact swimming horizontally in a shallow basin. Although the roles of the Rhinemaidens are relatively small, they have been sung by notable singers better known for performing major roles in Wagnerian and other repertoire. The first person to sing

2673-512: Is a triumphant greeting song based on two elements, which are developed and transformed later in the Ring and put to many uses. For example, the joyful "heiajaheia" cries are converted, in Rheingold Scene 2, into a dark minor version as Loge reports the theft of the gold to the gods and the consequent rising power of the Nibelungen. The "Rheingold!" repetition is sung by the Rhinemaidens to

2772-402: Is a major undertaking for any opera company: staging four interlinked operas requires a huge commitment both artistically and financially; hence, in most opera houses, production of a new Ring cycle will happen over a number of years, with one or two operas in the cycle being added each year. The Bayreuth Festival , where the complete cycle is performed most years, is unusual in that a new cycle

2871-458: Is all that rejoices up there". In the final Götterdämmerung scene they show ruthlessness as, having recovered the ring, they drag the hapless Hagen down into the waters of the Rhine. The Rhinemaidens are the only prominent characters seen definitely alive at the end of the drama; the fates of a few others are ambiguous, but most have certainly perished. Despite the relative brevity of their roles in

2970-459: Is almost always created within a single year. Early productions of the Ring cycle stayed close to Wagner's original Bayreuth staging. Trends set at Bayreuth have continued to be influential. Following the closure of the Festspielhaus during the Second World War , the 1950s saw productions by Wagner's grandsons Wieland and Wolfgang Wagner (known as the 'New Bayreuth' style), which emphasised

3069-458: Is an index and musicological guide to the 113 musical compositions and works for the stage by Richard Wagner . It includes guidance on editions of the published works and explanations of historical performance practices. John Deathridge , Martin Geck , and Egon Voss compiled the catalogue. In compiling the catalogue, the authors studied Wagner's writings and examined drafts, sketches, and scores of

Der Ring des Nibelungen - Misplaced Pages Continue

3168-486: Is eventually betrayed and slain as a result of the intrigues of Alberich's son Hagen, who wants the ring for himself. Finally, the Valkyrie Brünnhilde – Siegfried's lover and Wotan's daughter who lost her immortality for defying her father in an attempt to save Siegfried's father Sigmund – returns the ring to the Rhine maidens as she commits suicide on Siegfried's funeral pyre. Hagen is drowned as he attempts to recover

3267-433: Is forced to hand it over to the giants Fafner and Fasolt in payment for building the home of the gods, Valhalla , or they will take Freia, who provides the gods with the golden apples that keep them young. Wotan's schemes to regain the ring, spanning generations, drive much of the action in the story. His grandson, the mortal Siegfried, wins the ring by slaying Fafner (who slew Fasolt for the ring) – as Wotan intended – but

3366-421: Is misplaced; in his humiliation Alberich decides that world mastery is more desirable than love. As the maidens continue to jeer his antics he scrambles up the rock and, uttering a curse on love, seizes the gold and disappears, leaving the Rhinemaidens to dive after him bewailing their loss. As Wotan, Fricka and the other gods start to cross the rainbow bridge leading to Valhalla, they hear a melancholy song from

3465-492: Is quite taken in until she suddenly tears away to join the others in a mocking song. Tormented with lust, Alberich furiously chases the maidens over the rocks, slipping and sliding as they elude him, before he sinks down in impotent rage. At this point the mood changes: as a sudden brightness penetrates the depths, a magical golden light reveals, for the first time, the Rhinegold on its rock. The maidens sing their ecstatic greeting to

3564-687: The Flying Dutchman , had plainly shown me what I must set before them if I sought to please. I completely undeceived their expectations; they left the theatre, after the first performance of Tannhäuser , [1845] in a confused and discontented mood. – The feeling of utter loneliness in which I now found myself, quite unmanned me... My Tannhäuser had appealed to a handful of intimate friends alone. Finally Wagner announces: I shall never write an Opera more. As I have no wish to invent an arbitrary title for my works, I will call them Dramas ... I propose to produce my myth in three complete dramas, preceded by

3663-533: The Danube . Hagen steals their clothes, and seeking their return, the mermaid called Hadeburg gives false prophecy that Hagen and Gunther will find honor and glory when they enter Etzel 's kingdom. But afterwards another mermaid, Sigelinde (a name Wagner would adopt again for use elsewhere), tells Hagen her aunt has lied. If they go to Etzel's land, they will die there. The placement of this scene has several possibilities, but according to Þiðrekssaga , it occurred at

3762-537: The National Theatre in Munich , before the rest of the Ring . Thus, Das Rheingold premiered on 22 September 1869 and Die Walküre on 26 June 1870. Wagner subsequently delayed announcing his completion of Siegfried to prevent this work also being premiered against his wishes. Wagner had long desired to have a special festival opera house, designed by himself, for the performance of the Ring . In 1871, he decided on

3861-592: The Ring operas. Although there had been some innovation in productions staged elsewhere, it was not until the postwar revival of the Festival in 1951 that there were any significant changes in Bayreuth's presentation of the Ring operas. Since 1976, in particular, innovation at the Festival and elsewhere has been substantial and imaginative. In the original 1876 production, the Rhinemaidens were wheeled around on stands behind semi-transparent screens. The stage machinery and

3960-456: The Ring tells the story from the viewpoint of Brünnhilde and has a distinct feminist angle. For example, in a key scene in Die Walküre , it is Sieglinde and not Siegmund who manages to pull the sword Nothung out of a tree. At the end of the cycle, Brünnhilde does not die, but instead gives birth to Siegfried's child. San Francisco Opera and Washington National Opera began a co-production of

4059-405: The Ring were originally conceived by Wagner to be free of the traditional operatic concepts of aria and operatic chorus . The Wagner scholar Curt von Westernhagen identified three important problems discussed in "Opera and Drama" which were particularly relevant to the Ring cycle: the problem of unifying verse stress with melody; the disjunctions caused by formal arias in dramatic structure and

Der Ring des Nibelungen - Misplaced Pages Continue

4158-526: The (non-existent) confluence of the Danube and the Rhine. Möringen, where the doomed warriors subsequently ferried across may be Möhringen an der Donau , although Großmehring which is much further east has also been suggested. This story, itself unrelated to the Ring drama, is echoed by Wagner both in the opening Das Rheingold scene and in the first scene in Act III of Götterdämmerung . Wagner first adapted

4257-560: The Bayreuth Festival until the end of the Second World War. Similar techniques have been used in more modern productions. In the 1996 Lyric Opera of Chicago Ring cycle, repeated in 2004–05, the Rhinemaidens were suspended on bungee cords anchored in the fly space above the stage, enabling them to dive up and down, as intended by Wagner. The Rhinemaidens were played on-stage by gymnasts, mouthing words sung by singers standing in

4356-831: The Eddur, the Völsunga saga and Thidrekssaga . The final Götterdämmerung draws from the 12th-century German poem, the Nibelungenlied , which appears to have been the original inspiration for the Ring . The Ring has been the subject of myriad interpretations. For example, George Bernard Shaw , in The Perfect Wagnerite , argues for a view of The Ring as an essentially socialist critique of industrial society and its abuses. Robert Donington in Wagner's Ring And Its Symbols interprets it in terms of Jungian psychology , as an account of

4455-667: The Nibelung dwarf Alberich who calls out to them: "I'd like to draw near if you would be kind to me". The wary Flosshilde cries: "Guard the gold! Father warned us of such a foe". When Alberich begins his rough wooing the maidens relax: "Now I laugh at my fears, our enemy is in love", says Flosshilde, and a cruel teasing game ensues. First, Woglinde pretends to respond to the dwarf's advances but swims away as he tries to embrace her. Then Wellgunde takes over, and Alberich's hopes rise until her sharp retort: "Ugh, you hairy hunchbacked clown!" Flosshilde pretends to chastise her sisters for their cruelty and feigns her own courtship, by which Alberich

4554-466: The Oceanids and the "austerity" (including the willingness to drown people) of the daughters of Ægir. The first lines sung by Woglinde in the Ring are dominated by wordless vocalisations. Weia! Waga! ... Wagala weia! Wallala weiala weia! This attracted comment both at the 1869 premiere of Rheingold and the 1876 premiere of the entire Ring , with Wagner's work being dismissed as "Wigalaweia-Musik". In

4653-438: The Rhine overflows its banks the Rhinemaidens appear, making for the ring. Hagen, who covets the ring, shouts to them "Get back from the ring!" ( Zurück vom Ring! ), the last words of the drama. He is seized by Woglinde and Wellgunde and dragged into the Rhine's depths, as Flosshilde grabs the ring, holds it aloft, and joins her sisters swimming in circles as the waters of the Rhine gradually subside. The music associated with

4752-537: The Rhinemaidens has been portrayed by the Wagner commentator James Holman as "some of the seminal music in the Ring "; other descriptions have noted its relative charm and relaxation. In Woglinde's opening song to the Rhine: "Weia! Waga! Woge, du Welle,..." ( Das Rheingold , Scene 1) the melody is pentatonic , using the notes E flat, F, A flat, B flat and C. The song begins with a two-note falling step (F followed by E flat),

4851-408: The Rhinemaidens' care in the waters of the Rhine will lift the curse on it. Hence, the return of the stolen property provides a unifying thematic consistency to Wagner's complex story. As the musical prelude climaxes, Woglinde and Wellgunde are seen at play in the depths of the Rhine. Flosshilde joins them after a gentle reminder of their responsibilities as guardians of the gold. They are observed by

4950-873: The action in a world of nineteenth-century theatricality; it was initially controversial in 1985, it sold out its final performances in 1995. Conductors included Armin Jordan ( Die Walküre in 1985), Manuel Rosenthal (1986) and Hermann Michael (1987, 1991 and 1995). Ring 3 , 2000–2013: the production, which became known as the "Green" Ring , was in part inspired by the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest . Directed by Stephen Wadsworth, set designer Thomas Lynch, costume designer Martin Pakledinaz , lighting designer Peter Kaczorowski ; Armin Jordan conducted in 2000, Franz Vote in 2001 and Robert Spano in 2005 and 2009. The 2013 performances, conducted by Asher Fisch , were released as

5049-421: The basis of an organising principle in music. In summer 1848 Wagner wrote The Nibelung Myth as Sketch for a Drama , combining the medieval sources previously mentioned into a single narrative, very similar to the plot of the eventual Ring cycle, but nevertheless with substantial differences. Later that year he began writing a libretto entitled Siegfrieds Tod ("Siegfried's Death"). He was possibly stimulated by

SECTION 50

#1732849023052

5148-433: The composition draft of Das Rheingold . Unlike the verses, which were written as it were in reverse order, the music would be composed in the same order as the narrative. Composition proceeded until 1857, when the final score up to the end of act 2 of Siegfried was completed. Wagner then laid the work aside for twelve years, during which he wrote Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg . By 1869, Wagner

5247-468: The compositions. For the full list, see List of compositions by Richard Wagner . Rhine maidens The key concepts associated with the Rhinemaidens in the Ring operas—their flawed guardianship of the Rhine gold, and the condition (the renunciation of love) through which the gold could be stolen from them and then transformed into a means of obtaining world power—are wholly Wagner's own invention, and are

5346-405: The context of the four-opera cycle, they are key figures; their careless guardianship of the gold and their provocation of Alberich are the factors which determine all that follows. Wagner himself devised the "renunciation of love" provision whereby the gold could be stolen and then used to forge a ring with power to rule the world. Since the ring is made from the stolen gold, only its restoration to

5445-448: The correspondence of Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn in 1840/41 reveals that they were both outlining scenarios on the subject: Fanny wrote 'The hunt with Siegfried's death provides a splendid finale to the second act'. By 1850, Wagner had completed a musical sketch (which he abandoned) for Siegfrieds Tod . He now felt that he needed a preliminary opera, Der junge Siegfried ("The Young Siegfried", later renamed to "Siegfried"), to explain

5544-582: The cycle takes place over four nights at the opera, with a total playing time of about 15 hours, depending on the conductor's pacing. The first and shortest work, Das Rheingold , has no interval and is one continuous piece of music typically lasting around two and a half hours, while the final and longest, Götterdämmerung , takes up to five hours, excluding intervals. The cycle is modelled after ancient Greek dramas that were presented as three tragedies and one satyr play . The Ring proper begins with Die Walküre and ends with Götterdämmerung , with Rheingold as

5643-474: The depths of the Rhine—the maidens, mourning the loss of the gold. Embarrassed and irritated, Wotan tells Loge to silence the maidens, but as the gods continue across the bridge the lament rises again, now with bitter words of reproach to the gods for their heartlessness. Some time has passed (at least two generations). In a remote wooded valley where the Rhine flows, the ageless Rhinemaidens continue to mourn for

5742-457: The development of unconscious archetypes in the mind, leading towards individuation . In his earlier operas (up to and including Lohengrin ) Wagner's style had been based, rather than on the Italian style of opera, on the German style as developed by Carl Maria von Weber , with elements of the grand opera style of Giacomo Meyerbeer . However he came to be dissatisfied with such a format as

5841-409: The elements that initiate and propel the entire drama. The Rhinemaidens are the first and the last characters seen in the four-opera cycle, appearing both in the opening scene of Das Rheingold , and in the final climactic spectacle of Götterdämmerung , when they rise from the Rhine waters to reclaim the ring from Brünnhilde 's ashes. They have been described as morally innocent, yet they display

5940-571: The end of Rheingold played on a gramophone by Loge. Peter Hall directed the Bayreuth Ring after Chéreau. His version, staged 1983–86, portrayed the natural innocence of the Rhinemaidens in the simplest of ways; they were naked. Keith Warner adapted this feature in his Ring production for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden , first staged 2004–06. A Covent Garden spokesman explained "The maidens are children of innocence,

6039-463: The entire world. The drama and intrigue continue through three generations of protagonists, until the final cataclysm at the end of Götterdämmerung . The music of the cycle is thick and richly textured, and grows in complexity as the cycle proceeds. Wagner wrote for an orchestra of gargantuan proportions, including a greatly enlarged brass section with new instruments such as the Wagner tuba , bass trumpet and contrabass trombone . Remarkably, he uses

SECTION 60

#1732849023052

6138-568: The events in Siegfrieds Tod and his verse draft of this was completed in May 1851. By October, he had made the momentous decision to embark on a cycle of four operas, to be played over four nights: Das Rheingold , Die Walküre , Der Junge Siegfried and Siegfrieds Tod ; the text for all four parts was completed in December 1852 and privately published in February 1853. In November 1853, Wagner began

6237-459: The famous illustrations by Arthur Rackham . It was performed twice each summer, once in German, once in Andrew Porter's English adaptation. Henry Holt conducted all performances. Ring 2 , 1985–1995: Directed by Francois Rochaix, with sets and costumes designed by Robert Israel, lighting by Joan Sullivan and supertitles (the first ever created for the Ring ) by Sonya Friedman . The production set

6336-779: The first staging in the United Kingdom of the Ring cycle, conducted by Anton Seidl and directed by Angelo Neumann . The first production of the Ring in Italy was in Venice (the place where Wagner died), just two months after his 1883 death, at La Fenice . The first Australian Ring (and The Mastersingers of Nuremberg ) was presented in an English-language production by the British travelling Quinlan Opera Company, in conjunction with J. C. Williamson's , in Melbourne and Sydney in 1913. The Ring

6435-409: The gold, Fricka , the goddess of marriage, calls them a "watery brood" ( Wassergezücht ) and complains about the many men they have lured away with their "treacherous bathing". They are beguiling and flirtatious with Siegfried, but finally wise as revealed by the undisclosed counsel which they give to Brünnhilde. Sabor sees the personality of the Rhinemaidens as a blend of the "good hearted nature" of

6534-438: The gold, pleading with the " Sun-woman " to send them a champion who will return the gold to them. Siegfried's horn is heard, and he soon appears, having lost his way while hunting. The maidens greet him with their old playfulness and offer to help him, for the price of the ring on his finger. After a flirtatious exchange, Siegfried offers, apparently sincerely, to give them the ring. But instead of wisely simply accepting his offer,

6633-416: The gold, which rouses Alberich's curiosity. In response to his question Woglinde and Wellgunde reveal the gold's secret: measureless power would belong to the one who could forge a ring from it. Flosshilde scolds them for giving this secret away, but her concerns are dismissed—only someone who has forsworn love can obtain the gold, and Alberich is clearly so besotted as to present no danger. But their confidence

6732-624: The guardianship of the gold is not given in the text. Some Wagnerian scholars have suggested that he may be a "Supreme Being" who is the father of Wotan and all the gods—indeed, of all creation. Others take the German Rheintöchter literally and say that they are the daughters of the Rhine River. The Rhinemaidens have been described as the drama's "most seductive but most elusive characters", and in one analysis as representatives of "seduction by infantile fantasy". They act essentially as

6831-469: The high-water mark of our art form, the most massive challenge any opera company can undertake." Wagner's title is most literally rendered in English as The Ring of the Nibelung . The Nibelung of the title is the dwarf Alberich, and the ring in question is the one he fashions from the Rhinegold. The title therefore denotes "Alberich's Ring". The cycle is a work of extraordinary scale. A full performance of

6930-430: The holiness of Nature. The Rhinemaidens' sorrow in the loss of the gold is deep and heartfelt. As the gods are crossing the rainbow bridge into Valhalla at the end of Das Rheingold , Loge ironically suggests that, in the absence of the gold, the maidens should "bask in the gods' new-found radiance". The maidens' lament then becomes a stern reproof: "Tender and true are only the depths", they sing; "False and cowardly

7029-564: The human aspects of the drama in a more abstract setting. Perhaps the most famous modern production was the centennial production of 1976, the Jahrhundertring , directed by Patrice Chéreau and conducted by Pierre Boulez . Set in the Industrial Revolution , it replaced the depths of the Rhine with a hydroelectric power dam and featured grimy sets populated by men and gods in 19th and 20th century business suits. This drew heavily on

7128-563: The initial impulses for a reform of operatic stagings which led quite logically to the 'New Bayreuth' style." The innovative centenary Bayreuth Ring , directed by Patrice Chéreau , did away altogether with the underwater concept by setting the Rhinemaiden scenes in the lee of a large hydro-electric dam, as part of a 19th-century Industrial Revolution setting for the operas. For the scene with Siegfried in Götterdämmerung , Chéreau altered

7227-399: The lighting effects were designed by Carl Brandt, who was the foremost stage technician of the time. One innovation which Cosima did eventually approve was the replacement of the wheeled stands with giant, invisible "fishing rods" on which the Rhinemaidens were dangled. Wires continued to be used in the Bayreuth productions of Siegfried Wagner and, later, those of his widow Winifred , who ran

7326-454: The long performances. Wälsungs Neidings Gibichungs Rhinemaidens Giants Nibelungs The plot revolves around a magic ring that grants the power to rule the world, forged by the Nibelung dwarf Alberich from gold he stole from the Rhine maidens in the river Rhine . With the assistance of the god Loge, Wotan – the chief of the gods – steals the ring from Alberich, but

7425-511: The lovelorn young maiden who drowns herself in the river and becomes a siren, luring fishermen onto the rocks by her singing. Further possible sources lie in Greek mythology and literature. Similarities exist between the maiden guardians in the Hesperides myth and the Rhinemaidens of Das Rheingold ; three females guard a highly desired golden treasure that is stolen in the telling of each tale. Wagner

7524-513: The maidens' seductive nature, as well as conveying a sense of nostalgia and detachment, as the drama approaches its conclusion. From the first complete production of the Ring , at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in 1876, it was established that the Rhinemaidens should be depicted in conventional human form, rather than as mermaids or with other supernatural features, notwithstanding Alberich's insult to Wellgunde: "Frigid bony fish!" ( Kalter, grätiger Fisch! ). The staging of their scenes has always been

7623-494: The mood of the naive, formerly flirtatious Rhinemaidens suddenly becomes solemn: they warn Siegfried he will be killed that very day unless he delivers the ring to them. But brave Siegfried will never submit to any such implied threat and declares: "By threatening my life and limb, even if it weren't worth as much as a finger, you won't get the ring from me!" The maidens are scornful of his folly: "Farewell, Siegfried. A proud woman will today become your heir, scoundrel! She'll give us

7722-451: The more optimistic originally planned ending. Wagner also decided to show onstage the events of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre , which had hitherto only been presented as back-narration in the other two parts. These changes resulted in some discrepancies in the cycle, but these do not diminish the value of the work. On King Ludwig's insistence, and over Wagner's objections, "special previews" of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre were given at

7821-617: The motive of the sleeping Brünnhilde in Die Walküre , Act 3. A variant of the tune becomes the Woodbird's greeting "Hei! Siegfried" in Act 2 of Siegfried . The Rhinemaidens and the Woodbird, in Deryck Cooke 's analysis, are related through nature, as "fundamentally innocent allies of the natural world". The "Rhinemaidens' joy and greeting to the gold": "Heiajaheia, Heiajaheia! Wallalallalala leiajahei! Rheingold! Rheingold!..." ( Das Rheingold Scene 1)

7920-625: The operas to characterise other individuals and circumstances, and to relate plot developments to the source of the narrative. It is reported that Wagner played the Rhinemaidens' lament at the piano, on the night before he died in Venice, in 1883. Alone of the Ring's characters, the Rhinemaidens do not originate from the Poetic Edda or Prose Edda , the Icelandic sources for most of Norse mythology. Water-sprites (German: Nixen ) appear in many European myths and legends, often but not invariably in

8019-460: The orchestral fortissimo that ends the opera. A slow version of the lament is played on the horns in Siegfried , Act 2, as Siegfried enters Fafner 's cave to claim the gold—the lament, says Cooke, serves to remind us of the gold's true ownership. The lament is played spiritedly during the Götterdämmerung prologue, as part of the orchestral interlude known as Siegfried's Rhine Journey , before

8118-471: The perpetual youth aspect of the Rhine Maidens by depicting them as "no longer young girls merrily disporting themselves; they have become tired, grey, careworn, and ungainly". Since this production "the assumption of unrestricted interpretive license has become the norm". For example, Nikolaus Lehnhoff, in his 1987 Bayerische Staatsoper production, placed the Rhinemaidens in a salon and had their lament at

8217-445: The previous operas, so that a viewer could watch any of them without having watched the previous parts and still understand the plot. However, Wagner intended them to be performed in series. The first performance as a cycle opened the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876, beginning with Das Rheingold on 13 August and ending with Götterdämmerung on 17 August. Opera stage director Anthony Freud stated that Der Ring des Nibelungen "marks

8316-502: The reading of the Ring as a revolutionary drama and critique of the modern world, famously expounded by George Bernard Shaw in The Perfect Wagnerite . Early performances were booed but the audience of 1980 gave it a 45-minute ovation in its final year. Seattle Opera has created three different productions of the tetralogy: Ring 1 , 1975 to 1984: Originally directed by George London , with designs by John Naccarato following

8415-408: The return of the ring to the waters of the Rhine can lift its curse. Brünnhilde sings: "What you desire I will give you: from my ashes take it to yourselves. The fire...will cleanse the curse from the ring". She exhorts the Rhinemaidens to "carefully guard it" in the future, then leaps into the flames of Siegfried's pyre. The fire blazes up to fill the stage, representing the destruction of the gods. As

8514-480: The ring. In the process, the gods and Valhalla are destroyed. Details of the storylines can be found in the articles on each music drama. Wagner created the story of the Ring by fusing elements from many German and Scandinavian myths and folk-tales. The Old Norse Edda supplied much of the material for Das Rheingold , while Die Walküre was largely based on the Völsunga saga . Siegfried contains elements from

8613-505: The same falling step that marked the start of Woglinde's song. This figure recurs constantly in the later stages of the drama; in Das Rheingold Scene 3 a minor key version is used as a motive for the evil power of the ring that Alberich has forged from the gold. It comes to represent the theme of servitude to the ring; in Götterdämmerung , enslaved to the ring by his desire for it, Hagen utters his "Hoi-ho" call to his vassals using

8712-468: The same minor two-note figure. The lament "Rheingold! Rheingold! Reines Gold!..." ( Das Rheingold Scene 4) is sung by the maidens at the end of Das Rheingold , as the gods begin to cross the Rainbow Bridge into Valhalla. It begins with the music from the greeting, but develops into what Ernest Newman describes as a "haunting song of loss", which becomes increasingly poignant before it is drowned by

8811-503: The story for use in his early libretto of Siegfried's Death (which eventually became Götterdämmerung ), introducing three unnamed water-maids ( Wasserjungfrauen ), and locating them in the Rhine , where they warn Siegfried of his impending death. Later these water-maids became Rhinemaidens ( Rheintöchter ), and were given individual names: Flosshilde, Wellgunde, and Bronnlinde. As Wagner continued working on his reverse chronology from Siegfried's death, he arrived at what he determined

8910-402: The text or presented onstage. Wagner referred to them in "Opera and Drama" as "guides-to-feeling", describing how they could be used to inform the listener of a musical or dramatic subtext to the action onstage in the same way as a Greek chorus did for the theatre of ancient Greece . Wagner made significant innovations in orchestration in this work. He wrote for a very large orchestra, using

9009-520: The true Emotional (not the Critical) Understanding of spectators who shall have gathered together expressly to learn it. This is his first public announcement of the form of what would become the Ring cycle. In accordance with the ideas expressed in his essays of the period 1849–51 (including the "Communication" but also " Opera and Drama " and " The Artwork of the Future "), the four parts of

9108-411: The way in which opera music could be organised on a different basis of organic growth and modulation ; and the function of musical motifs in linking elements of the plot whose connections might otherwise be inexplicit. This became known as the leitmotif technique (see below), although Wagner himself did not use this word. However, Wagner relaxed some aspects of his self-imposed restrictions somewhat as

9207-412: The whole range of instruments used singly or in combination to express the great range of emotion and events of the drama. Wagner even commissioned the production of new instruments, including the Wagner tuba , invented to fill a gap he found between the tone qualities of the horn and the trombone , as well as variations of existing instruments, such as the bass trumpet and a contrabass trombone with

9306-400: The work progressed. As George Bernard Shaw sardonically (and slightly unfairly) noted of the last opera Götterdämmerung : And now, O Nibelungen Spectator, pluck up; for all allegories come to an end somewhere... The rest of what you are going to see is opera and nothing but opera. Before many bars have been played, Siegfried and the wakened Brynhild, newly become tenor and soprano, will sing

9405-484: The work's huge structures. Tonal indeterminacy was heightened by the increased freedom with which he used dissonance and chromaticism . Chromatically altered chords are used very liberally in the Ring and this feature, which is also prominent in Tristan und Isolde , is often cited as a milestone on the way to Arnold Schoenberg 's revolutionary break with the traditional concept of key and his dissolution of consonance as

9504-580: Was an enthusiastic reader of Aeschylus , including his Prometheus Bound which has a chorus of Oceanids or water nymphs. One author, Rudolph Sabor, sees a link between the Oceanids' treatment of Prometheus and the Rhinemaidens' initial tolerance of Alberich. Just as in Greek myth the Oceanids are the daughters of the titan sea god Oceanus , in Norse mythology —specifically the Poetic Edda —the jötunn (similar to

9603-399: Was influenced by Adolphe Appia , whose Notes sur l'Anneau du Nibelungen (1924–25) had been dismissed by Cosima: "Appia seems to be unaware that the Ring was performed here in 1876. It follows that the staging is definitive and sacrosanct." Wieland and his brother Wolfgang praised Appia: "the stylised stage, inspired by the music and the realisation of three-dimensional space – constitute

9702-413: Was living at Tribschen on Lake Lucerne , sponsored by King Ludwig II of Bavaria . He returned to Siegfried and, remarkably, was able to pick up where he left off. In October, he completed the final work in the cycle. He chose the title Götterdämmerung instead of Siegfrieds Tod . In the completed work the gods are destroyed in accordance with the new pessimistic thrust of the cycle, not redeemed as in

9801-501: Was the initial act of the drama— Alberich 's theft of the Rhine gold. Believing that a simple abduction of the unguarded gold would lack dramatic force, Wagner made the Rhinemaidens the guardians of the gold, and he introduced the "renunciation of love" condition. Bronnlinde became Woglinde, probably to avoid confusion with Brünnhilde . Wagner may also have been influenced by the Rhine River-based German legend of Lorelei ,

#51948