Teacher's Guide Cambridge Pre-U MUSIC Available for teaching ...

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Cambridge Pre-U Teacher Guide
himself conducted the final scene of Act III. The stage sets were partly based on specific places that
Wagner had visited during an extended stay in Italy in 1880: the Grail temple in Acts I and III was
modelled in the interior of Siena Cathedral, and Klingsor’s magic garden in Act II on the gardens of
Villa Rufolo at Ravello.
Wagner’s objection to Hermann Levi as the conductor of Parsifal raises again the issue of anti-
Semitism. One common interpretation of Parsifal sees the Knights of the Grail as a master race,
resisting contamination by Klingsor. There are certain similarities (musical as well as dramatic)
between Klingsor, Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger and Alberich in the Ring, and all three have been
seen as rather crude portrayals of a particular Jewish stereotype. Some of Wagner’s writings from
the late 1870s address the question of racial purity, and the fact that these date from the time he was
working on Parsifal tends to support such an interpretation and to strengthen the connection between
his work and the formation of Nazi ideology. This remains the biggest single obstacle to a universal
acceptance of his work, in spite of his extraordinary achievements as a composer. There are many
examples of great artists who were flawed human beings, but in Wagner’s case the most distasteful
aspects of his view of society permeate his music dramas to the point where it is very difficult to have
an unqualified admiration of them.
Whatever reservations there may be about Wagner’s opinions, it is equally difficult to resist the music
on its own terms. Wagner developed an almost unprecedented expressive range, from thrilling
climaxes to gentle, intimate moments, and his ability to write descriptive music was second to none.
The sheer length of his music dramas is nevertheless an obstacle for many people, and finding a way
of approaching even a single act can be very taxing. This is especially true of the Ring: Das Rheingold
lasts for approximately two hours and a half, and the first act of Götterdämmerung alone is not much
shorter. In addition, there are quite long stretches where the musical and dramatic point is not readily
understood until the leitmotifs are sufficiently well known to be instantly recognisable and Wagner’s
argument can be followed on several levels (musical, verbal and dramatic) simultaneously. As a
generalisation, however, each act contains a number of more readily accessible passages, several of
which are the musical high points of the entire tetralogy. Many people who come to the Ring for the
first time find that their best plan is to begin by getting to know some of these sections, and to work
outwards from them – building up familiarity with an entire act or a whole music drama in stages –
rather than by trying to appreciate it from beginning to end in one go. The following suggestions may
therefore be useful as starting points, besides acting as a general introduction to the rich diversity of
Wagner’s musical language:
Das Rheingold
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The Prelude and the beginning of Scene 1 up to the ‘Rheingold’ motif (stopping just before
Alberich’s ‘Was ist’s ihr Glatten, das dort so glänzt und gleisst?’)
The end of the Transformation between Scenes 1 and 2 (from Etwas langsamer) up to the
entry of the Giants (stopping at Wotan’s ‘Freia ist mir nicht feil!’)
The Transformation between Scenes 2 and 3 – the Descent to Nibelheim (from Wotan’s ‘Auf,
Loge! hinab mit mir!’ to Alberich’s ‘Hehe! hehe! hieher! hieher!’)
The end of Scene 4 – the Entry of the Gods into Valhalla (from Donner’s ‘Heda! Heda! Hedo!’
to the end of the work
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