Sunday, February 12, 2012

Wagner's Early Important Works


            There were three early operas of Richard Wagner that display a diversity of style and influence as well as hints of what was to come with the composer’s later compositions, especially in terms of the musical-drama. Evidently, the operas from early in the 19th century were beginning to wan on the public and German opera was falling out of fashion. According to Barry Millington: “by the time Wagner secured his first professional appointment in 1833, the genre of German Romantic opera… had already begun to decline” Millington then goes on to say that “saving” German opera was something of a quest for the young Wagner.

            Wagner’s first opera; Die Feen (1834) is in the tradition of Weber and Marschner; it follows the pattern of aria, recitative, ensembles… ect, are all present and dealt with in a skillful manner.  Die Feen is another story of the supernatural and man’s dealings with it, essentially it is the story of a man who travels to the underworld to see his beloved who is a half-fairy, the two are permitted to marry so long as the main character not ask a forbidden question for eight years. As is often the case with these kinds of stories, the mortal gives in to impatience and his beloved disappears along with her magical world.  It is pointed out in the book that this is pretty-much another retelling of the Orpheus myth, except including local folklore instead of Greek models.
  
          The second opera written by Wagner was Das Liebesverbot (1836) and was the result of a contemplative period during which Wagner wrote the essay “German Opera” in 1834. In this essay he praises the Italian lyricism in their operatic works. Das Liebesverbot is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure and features very Italian-style long finales as well as having a military band on stage. Perhaps the most significant thing about Das Liebesverbot is the fact that for first time there is “sustained use of what was later to be called the ‘leitmotif.’” A leitmotif is a melody, motif, timbre or even a complete piece can be associated with a character or situation. The modern example I always hear from music teachers is the Darth Vader theme from star wars. This is among aspects of Wagner’s compositional style that were most quintessential and innovative in his works.


           The third opera was Rienzi (1842) which had aims at being a profound commercial success by appealing to Parisian ideals of large showy numbers with dramatic stage effects in the style of Meyerbeer and Spontini. Rienzi was significant for the role of the orchestra being something of an extra voice that could convey emotions and situations outside of spoken language.  The completion of this piece, in some ways, represents the beginning of Wagner’s mature period of writing operas where it seems as though he was able to slough off some of the expectations for stage. It is interesting that Meyerbeer was once someone admired by Wagner and later disdained for his “Jewishness and cosmopolitan” approach to music. 

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