The Complete Opera Book Part 16

THE VALKYR

Music-drama in three acts, words and music by Richard Wagner. Produced, Munich, June 25, 1870. New York, Academy of Music, April 2, 1877, an incomplete and inadequate performance with Pappenheim as _Brunnhilde_, Pauline Canissa _Sieglinde_, A. Bischoff _Siegmund_, Felix Preusser _Wotan_, A. Blum _Hunding_, Mme. Listner _Fricka_, Frida de Gebel, _Gerhilde_, Adolf Neuendorff, conductor. The real first performance in America was conducted by Dr. Leopold Damrosch at the Metropolitan Opera House, January 30, 1885, with Materna, the original Bayreuth _Brunnhilde_ in that role, Schott as _Siegmund_, Seidl-Kraus as _Sieglinde_, Marianne Brandt as _Fricka_, Staudigl as _Wotan_, and Kogel as _Hunding_.

CHARACTERS

SIEGMUND _Tenor_ HUNDING _Ba.s.s_ WOTAN _Baritone-Ba.s.s_ SIEGLINDE _Soprano_ BRuNNHILDE _Soprano_ FRICKA _Mezzo-Soprano_

Valkyrs (Sopranos and Mezzo-Sopranos): Gerhilde, Ortlinde, Waltraute, Schwertleite, Helmwige, Siegrune, Grimgerde, Rossweisse.

_Time_--Legendary.

_Place_--Interior of Hunding's hut; a rocky height; the peak of a rocky mountain (the Brunnhilde-rock).

_Wotan's_ enjoyment of Walhalla was destined to be short-lived. Filled with dismay by the death of _Fasolt_ in the combat of the giants for the accursed ring, and impelled by a dread presentiment that the force of the curse would be visited upon the G.o.ds, he descended from Walhalla to the abode of the all-wise woman, _Erda_, who bore him nine daughters. These were the Valkyrs, headed by _Brunnhilde_--the wild horsewomen of the air, who on winged steeds bore the dead heroes to Walhalla, the warriors' heaven. With the aid of the Valkyrs and the heroes they gathered to Walhalla, _Wotan_ hoped to repel any a.s.sault upon his castle by the enemies of the G.o.ds.

But though the host of heroes grew to a goodly number, the terror of _Alberich's_ curse still haunted the chief of G.o.ds. He might have freed himself from it had he returned the ring and helmet made of Rhinegold to the _Rhinedaughters_, from whom _Alberich_ filched it; but in his desire to persuade the giants to relinquish _Freia_, whom he had promised to them as a reward for building Walhalla, he, having wrested the ring from _Alberich_, gave it to the giants instead of returning it to the _Rhinedaughters_. He saw the giants contending for the possession of the ring and saw _Fasolt_ slain--the first victim of _Alberich's_ curse. He knows that the giant _Fafner_, having a.s.sumed the shape of a huge serpent, now guards the Nibelung treasure, which includes the ring and the Tarnhelmet, in a cave in the heart of a dense forest. How shall the Rhinegold be restored to the _Rhinedaughters_?

_Wotan_ hopes that this may be consummated by a human hero who, free from the l.u.s.t for power which obtains among the G.o.ds, shall, with a sword of _Wotan's_ own forging, slay _Fafner_, gain possession of the Rhinegold and restore it to its rightful owners, thus righting _Wotan's_ guilty act and freeing the G.o.ds from the curse. To accomplish this _Wotan_, in human guise as _Walse_, begets, in wedlock with a human, the twins _Siegmund_ and _Sieglinde_. How the curse of _Alberich_ is visited upon these is related in "The Valkyr."

The dramatis personae in "The Valkyr" are _Brunnhilde_, the valkyr, and her eight sister valkyrs; _Fricka_, _Sieglinde_, _Siegmund_, _Hunding_ (the husband of _Sieglinde_), and _Wotan_. The action begins after the forced marriage of _Sieglinde_ to _Hunding_. The Walsungs are in ignorance of the divinity of their father. They know him only as _Walse_.

Act I. In the introduction to "The Rhinegold," we saw the Rhine flowing peacefully toward the sea and the innocent gambols of the _Rhinedaughters_. But "The Valkyr" opens in storm and stress. The peace and happiness of the first scene of the cycle seem to have vanished from the earth with _Alberich's_ abjuration of love, his theft of the gold, and _Wotan's_ equally treacherous acts.

This "Valkyr" Vorspiel is a masterly representation in tone of a storm gathering for its last infuriated onslaught. The elements are unleashed. The wind sweeps through the forest. Lightning flashes in jagged streaks across the black heavens. There is a crash of thunder and the storm has spent its force.

Two leading motives are employed in this introduction. They are the =Storm Motive= and the =Donner Motive=. The =Storm Motive= is as follows:

[Music]

These themes are elemental. From them Wagner has composed storm music of convincing power.

In the early portion of this vorspiel only the string instruments are used. Gradually the instrumentation grows more powerful. With the climax we have a tremendous _ff_ on the contra tuba and two tympani, followed by the crash of the Donner Motive on the wind instruments.

The storm then gradually dies away. Before it has quite pa.s.sed over, the curtain rises, revealing the large hall of _Hunding's_ dwelling.

This hall is built around a huge ash-tree, whose trunk and branches pierce the roof, over which the foliage is supposed to spread. There are walls of rough-hewn boards, here and there hung with large plaited and woven hangings. In the right foreground is a large open hearth; back of it in a recess is the larder, separated from the hall by a woven hanging, half drawn. In the background is a large door. A few steps in the left foreground lead up to the door of an inner room. The furniture of the hall is primitive and rude. It consists chiefly of a table, bench, and stools in front of the ash-tree. Only the light of the fire on the hearth illumines the room; though occasionally its fitful gleam is slightly intensified by a distant flash of lightning from the departing storm.

The door in the background is opened from without. _Siegmund_, supporting himself with his hand on the bolt, stands in the entrance.

He seems exhausted. His appearance is that of a fugitive who has reached the limit of his powers of endurance. Seeing no one in the hall, he staggers toward the hearth and sinks upon a bearskin rug before it, with the exclamation:

Whose hearth this may be, Here I must rest me.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Lilli Lehmann as Brunnhilde in "Die Walkure"]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Photo by Hall

"The Valkyr." Act I

Hunding (Parker), Sieglinde (Rennyson), and Siegmund (Maclennan)]

Wagner's treatment of this scene is masterly. As _Siegmund_ stands in the entrance we hear the =Siegmund Motive=. This is a sad, weary strain on 'cellos and ba.s.ses. It seems the wearier for the burden of an accompanying figure on the horns, beneath which it seems to stagger as _Siegmund_ staggers toward the hearth. Thus the music not only reflects _Siegmund's_ weary mien, but accompanies most graphically his weary gait. Perhaps Wagner's intention was more metaphysical. Maybe the burden beneath which the Siegmund Motive staggers is the curse of _Alberich_. It is through that curse that _Siegmund's_ life has been one of storm and stress.

[Music]

When the storm-beaten Walsung has sunk upon the rug the Siegmund Motive is followed by the Storm Motive, _pp_--and the storm has died away. The door of the room to the left opens and a young woman--_Sieglinde_--appears. She has heard someone enter, and, thinking her husband returned, has come forth to meet him--not impelled to this by love, but by fear. For _Hunding_ had, while her father and kinsmen were away on the hunt, laid waste their dwelling and abducted her and forcibly married her. Ill-fated herself, she is moved to compa.s.sion at sight of the storm-driven fugitive before the hearth, and bends over him.

Her compa.s.sionate action is accompanied by a new motive, which by Wagner's commentators has been ent.i.tled the Motive of Compa.s.sion. But it seems to me to have a further meaning as expressing the sympathy between two souls, a tie so subtle that it is at first invisible even to those whom it unites. _Siegmund_ and _Sieglinde_, it will be remembered, belong to the same race; and though they are at this point of the action unknown to one another, yet, as _Sieglinde_ bends over the hunted, storm-beaten _Siegmund_, that subtle sympathy causes her to regard him with more solicitude than would be awakened by any other unfortunate stranger. Hence I have called this motive the =Motive of Sympathy=--taking sympathy in its double meaning of compa.s.sion and affinity of feeling:

[Music]

The beauty of this brief phrase is enhanced by its unpretentiousness.

It wells up from the orchestra as spontaneously as pity mingled with sympathetic sorrow wells up from the heart of a gentle woman. As it is _Siegmund_ who has awakened these feelings in _Sieglinde_, the Motive of Sympathy is heard simultaneously with the Siegmund Motive.

_Siegmund_, suddenly raising his head, e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.es, "Water, water!"

_Sieglinde_ hastily s.n.a.t.c.hes up a drinking-horn and, having quickly filled it at a spring near the house, swiftly returns and hands it to _Siegmund_. As though new hope were engendered in _Siegmund's_ breast by _Sieglinde's_ gentle ministration, the Siegmund Motive rises higher and higher, gathering pa.s.sion in its upward sweep and then, combined again with the Motive of Sympathy, sinks to an expression of heartfelt grat.i.tude. This pa.s.sage is scored entirely for strings. Yet no composer, except Wagner, has evoked from a full orchestra sounds richer or more sensuously beautiful.

Having quaffed from the proffered cup the stranger lifts a searching gaze to her features, as if they awakened within him memories the significance of which he himself cannot fathom. She, too, is strangely affected by his gaze. How has fate interwoven their lives that these two people, a man and a woman, looking upon each other apparently for the first time, are so thrilled by a mysterious sense of affinity?

Here occurs the =Love Motive= played throughout as a violoncello solo, with accompaniment of eight violoncellos and two double ba.s.ses; exquisite in tone colour and one of the most tenderly expressive phrases ever penned.

[Music]

The Love Motive is the mainspring of this act. For this act tells the story of love from its inception to its consummation. Similarly in the course of this act the Love Motive rises by degrees of intensity from an expression of the first tender presentiment of affection to the very ecstasy of love.

_Siegmund_ asks with whom he has found shelter. _Sieglinde_ replies that the house is _Hunding's_, and she his wife, and requests _Siegmund_ to await her husband's return.

Weaponless am I: The wounded guest, He will surely give shelter,

is _Siegmund's_ reply. With anxious celerity, _Sieglinde_ asks him to show her his wounds. But, refreshed by the draught of cool spring water and with hope revived by her sympathetic presence, he gathers force and, raising himself to a sitting posture, exclaims that his wounds are but slight; his frame is still firm, and had sword and s.h.i.+eld held half so well, he would not have fled from his foes. His strength was spent in flight through the storm, but the night that sank on his vision has yielded again to the suns.h.i.+ne of _Sieglinde's_ presence. At these words the Motive of Sympathy rises like a sweet hope. _Sieglinde_ fills the drinking-horn with mead and offers it to _Siegmund_. He asks her to take the first sip. She does so and then hands it to him. His eyes rest upon her while he drinks. As he returns the drinking-horn to her there are traces of deep emotion in his mien. He sighs and gloomily bows his head. The action at this point is most expressively accompanied by the orchestra. Specially noteworthy is an impa.s.sioned upward sweep of the Motive of Sympathy as _Siegmund_ regards _Sieglinde_ with traces of deep emotion in his mien.

In a voice that trembles with emotion, he says: "You have harboured one whom misfortune follows wherever he wends his footsteps. Lest through me misfortune enter this house, I will depart." With firm, determined strides he already has reached the door, when she, forgetting all in the vague memories that his presence have stirred within her, calls after him:

"Tarry! You cannot bring sorrow to the house where sorrow already reigns!"

Her words are followed by a phrase freighted as if with sorrow, the Motive of the Walsung Race, or =Walsung Motive=:

[Music]

_Siegmund_ returns to the hearth, while she, as if shamed by her outburst of feeling, allows her eyes to sink toward the ground.

Leaning against the hearth, he rests his calm, steady gaze upon her, until she again raises her eyes to his, and they regard each other in long silence and with deep emotion. The woman is the first to start.

She hears _Hunding_ leading his horse to the stall, and soon afterward he stands upon the threshold looking darkly upon his wife and the stranger. _Hunding_ is a man of great strength and stature, his eyes heavy-browed, his sinister features framed in thick black hair and beard, a sombre, threatful personality boding little good to whomever crosses his path.

With the approach of _Hunding_ there is a sudden change in the character of the music. Like a premonition of _Hunding's_ entrance we hear the =Hunding Motive=, _pp_. Then as _Hunding_, armed with spear and s.h.i.+eld, stands upon the threshold, this Hunding Motive--as dark, forbidding, and portentous of woe to the two Walsungs as _Hunding's_ sombre visage--resounds with dread power on the tubas:

[Music]

Although weaponless, and _Hunding_ armed with spear and s.h.i.+eld, the fugitive meets his scrutiny without flinching, while the woman, antic.i.p.ating her husband's inquiry, explains that she had discovered him lying exhausted at the hearth and given him shelter. With an a.s.sumed graciousness that makes him, if anything, more forbidding, _Hunding_ orders her prepare the meal. While she does so he glances repeatedly from her to the stranger whom she has harboured, as if comparing their features and finding in them something to arouse his suspicions. "How like unto her," he mutters.

"Your name and story?" he asks, after they have seated themselves at the table in front of the ash-tree, and when the stranger hesitates, _Hunding_ points to the woman's eager, inquiring look.