Music for the Stage (Wagner-Die Walkre) - Essay Example

1.WAGNER’S MUSIC Die Walkure by Wagner is part of a four-piece musico-drama, Der Ring des Nibelungen or The Ring of the Nibelung. Wagner spent 26 years in creating this magnificent workand it was completed in 1856. Wagner had indulged with German romantic opera to its maximum creative heights and the concept of musico-drama was the invention of his almost life long search. (Magee, 1998, pp.3) Die Walkure is the second drama in this series. In this drama, the clash of interests between humans and gods (who are the dictatorial rulers) is depicted and in the end, the humans perish becoming victims to the conflicts of the gods. (Richard Wagner website, http://www.trell.org/wagner/motifs.html). To put in a single sentence, it is a war between love and lust for power.The quality of this work lies in that almost every human emotion is depicted in musical mode. Every author who have studied this work have noticed the rpesence of a number of leitmotifs which are short, melodious and harmonic in general through which the work gains its expressiveness and dramatic form. (Richard Wagner website, http://www.trell.org/wagner/motifs.html). Though Wagner had never used the word leitmotif, his critics had been somewhat paranoid in attributing a number of leitmotifs distributed in the entire stretch of this work. Wagner had called them ‘melodic moments’ and described them as created “ by the orchestra into a kind of guides-to-feeling through the whole labyrinthine building of the drama” (Richard Wagner website, http://www.trell.org/wagner/motifs.html). He (Richard Wagner website, http://www.trell.org/wagner/motifs.html) also has added that, “at their(melodious moments) hand, we become the fellow-knowers of the proufoundest secret of the poet’s aim, the immediate partners of its realisement.” Apart from “communicating the emotional nuances”, leitmotifs in Die Walkure are also perceived by critics as “the building blocks of a symphonic composition” (Richard Wagner website, http://www.trell.org/wagner/motifs.html). The dynamic ways in which Wagner used his leitmotifs and the mainly contextual placement of them make it impossible for analysts to name or describe them without raising contentions and hence the recent practice is to merely number them. (Richard Wagner website, http://www.trell.org/wagner/motifs.html). The Richard Wagner website illustrates the complexity of Wagner leitmotifs in the following passage, “There are motifs that gradually change into another motif. There are motifs which are only hinted at, and which only later appears more explicitly. There are motifs which are associated with another motif or dramatic event and thereby obtains a secondary meaning. There are motifs that only at a later moment gets their precise association, or which obtains a new meaning or a secondary meaning later. Vice versa, there are ideas that are associated with a number of more or less different motifs. There are motifs that resemble each other and thereby constitute a family of motifs. And finally, there are an almost infinite number of instances of the phenomenon that a motif can change its character - and the range here is from the smallest of nuances to the major, dramatic change of character.” Slavoj Zizek (Adorno and Rodney, forword, pp.21), in his forword to Adorno and Rodney’s In search of Wagner, has observed that “‘renunciation’ was the most important leitmotif in the entire tetralogy.” He (Adorno and Rodney, forword, pp.21) cites an example from Die Walkure, where towards the end of Act1, Seigmund sings, “love’s highest need is to renounce its own power.” Here is an example of a motif, which slightly changes its structure, which is not easily identified by the listener at a conscious level but reaches out at sub-conscious level very powerfully. In Sieglindes motif at the beginning of Act 1, Die Walküre, the "original" form, of the motif is seen. Sieglinde  This and its slightly varied forms are then repeated. Thus the listener becomes familiar with the motif. Then a variegated form of this motif appears, following Siegmunds questioning of Sieglinde’s identity. Sieglinde – variation    This version is only slightly different from the original one but is perceived by the listener as a different motif. Still another version can be found when Siegmund mentions that he is wounded and Sieglinde wants to see the wound. Sieglinde – variation    Thus unity and diversity of expression is achieved and continuity is maintained throughout the work using such creative repetitions, augmentations and modifications. This aspect made critics consider this work of Wagner as ‘durchkomponiert’, which means a thorough composed work. Here, each Act is a complete song in which every stanza is set to differently composed music. Die Walkure also is one of the best examples of Wagnarian harmony. For example, the ‘sleep motive’ in the work, represents an ideal progressive chord relationship. Wagner’s orchestration was complex with a great number of instruments and even with instruments invented by him to fill certain voids he found in the totality of the music. (Magee, 1998, pp.81). He wanted the orchestra to convey exactly the greatness of emotions through an interactive and subtle interplay. In the fire music at the end of the opera, “twenty string parts mingle their arpeggio figures in one composite mass of pure movement, joint later on by six harps, all playing in different arpeggios,” observes the book, The history of Orchestration. (p.268). Wagner was considered a master of tonality. He was inspired by Beethoven in this regard. Critics (Taruskin, 2008, pp.142) have also observed that Wagner’s “chromaticism gave tonality a new source of strength and expressivity.” It never clashes with the tonality as is expected in general. Instead it subtly gives perfect expression to the emotions involved in the drama. It was just another version of his experimentation of combining poetry with symphony, words with music. His concept of Opera was defined by the term, ‘gesamtkunstwerk’, which means total work of art, a fusion of music, poetry and painting and this approach revolutionized the art form, Opera, as never existed in early Italian and German Opera. Poetry itself was, to an extent, a mode of abstraction, upon which Wagner was effecting more abstraction in its purest form using music. Magee (1998, pp.11) has also observed that Wagner’s characters undergo all kinds of feelings and the music modulates with them giving expression to all the interrelationships of expressions. He (Magee, 1998, pp.11) moves on to say that “the result was a symphonic web of infinite plasticity.” In Die Walkure, a beautiful example of tonality can be found in the opening storm sequence, which is given below. References Adorno, T.W., and Livingstone, Rodney, 2005, In search of Wagner, London: Verso. Magee, Bryan, 1998, Aspects of Wagner, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Taruskin, Richard, 2008, The Danger of Music and Other Anti-Utopian Essays Roth Family Foundation music in America imprint, California: University of California Press. The history of orchestration, London: Taylor&Francis, p.268. Richard Wagner website, http://www.trell.org/wagner/motifs.html), viewed on November 11, 2009, 2. WILLIAM BYRD William Byrd, who was a composer of the renaissance period, is considered as a major trendsetter in religious music. He along with his contemporaries like Josquin,Lassus,Byrd,Couperin, Rameau and Palestrina had all the same in some way or other faced many constraints upon their musical expression from the religious ideologies and authorities of that period. This essay will focus on the music of Byrd and Giovanni Palestrina and the influence of the church on their music. Protestants, who were in rule, were demanding the use of clearly worded lyrics and simplicity in musical texture in religious music. They were against and extensive elaboration, use of organ and polyphonic music as practiced by Byrd and Josquin. Byrd was a staunch follower of Catholicism but he was employed for a long period at Anglican churches. With his divided loyalties, Byrd composed music both to the tastes of Catholics and Protestants and in this attempt, he had to make many compromises on his freedom to create his own music. Cladwell (1998, pp.346) has referred to “ Byrd’s arresting phrase, ‘framed to the life of the words’”, to describe the pressure that existed to give prominence to text rather than music. Cladwell (1998, pp.346) also takes this in a positive stride by observing that “ by virtue of its capacity to reflect the text in its fullness, musical language aquired a self-sufficiency that allowed it to stand on its own and to become a fully expressive medium in its own right.” The Elizabethean period had also seen much patronization of musicians, which is seen as “acknowledgements in printed music” including that of Byrd. (Cladwell, 1998, pp.348). But Cladwell (1998, pp.348) also brings to notice, the Chapter Act of Michaelmas 1570, as an attempt to “curtail Byrd’s enthusiasm for playing the organ.” Cladwell in his book, The Oxford hixtory of English music (1998, pp.383) has stated that while interpreting latin texts into English, Byrd was not much concerned about the “niceties of Latin scansion”. He (Cladwell, 1998, pp.383) continues that, Byrd “seems to have wanted to convey the flavour of a metrical text, but largely ignores and in some places totally contradicts the quantities. Cladwell (1998, pp.383) also cites an example for this. The line, ‘hunk arguta canant tenui psalteria corda’ is translated for Byrd by an anonymous translator as ‘ let sharp-toned psalteries praise him with delicate string.’ Here, Cadwell (1998, pp.383) notes that the translation conveys “just a hint of sharpness implied in the word ‘arguta’. This kind of approach had invited criticism from religious circles against Byrd. Roman Catholicism was a major influence in Byrd’s creative life. This was the reason behind his motets being filled with laments of a persecuted Catholic community. Byrd composed liturgical music for the principal feasts of the Catholic church calendar but the name of the printer was not printed on these published works in view of the danger of persecution. In 1570, Byrd was suspended from his duties presumably for elaborate organ playing which exceeded the limits set by Anglican church rules. The controversial Latin motets by Byrd referring to those executed in the Catholic cause and a poem that was a protest of the execution of three Jesuits gave Byrd an image of a rebel but the Queen’s patronage protected him from harsh punishments. His vocal compositions for Catholic worship published in the name, Gradualia, ac cantiones sacrae, had to be withdrawn in the context of Catholic uprisings against the protestant rulers. (Music Academy online.com, http://www.musicacademyonline.com/composer/biographies.php?bid=35) When it comes to Giovanni Palestrina, the course of events was a little bit different. He had commanded a great influence on Roman Catholic music. Palestrina’s works were marked by the clarity of texts and scholars () attribute this to the influence of the church and governing authorities. The ruling of The Council of Trent (1545-63) was an important milestone regarding the music of Palestrina. The council had discussed elaborately what kind of music could be permitted in church and had ruled that, "polyphonic music was permitted in addition to the use of traditional chant as long as the texts of polyphonic pieces were not unduly obscured. (Liturgica.Com, http://www.liturgica.com/html/litWLTrent.jsp?hostname=liturgica#b ) This ruling forced Palestrina to tone down his musical excesses and he became the spokesman of smooth polyphony. Parody masses of Palestrina, which had become very popular by then were thus curtailed. In the process of adjusting his music to the spoken word, Palestrina was the most successful composer compared to his contemporary musicians. And hence he was given the legendary title, ‘the saviour of church music’ by many. (Music Academy online.com). Cladwell (1998, pp.346) reminds music of these two musicians, in its attempt to gain rhetorical strength, “acquired a repertory of devices analogous to those of literature” and these were listed by him as “ tonality on a broad scale, rhythmic displacements and harmonic subtelities on the small.” References Caldwell, John, 1998, The oxford History of english music Oxford: Oxford University Press.  Music Academy online.com, William Byrd (1540-1623), viewed on November 11, 2009, http://www.musicacademyonline.com/composer/biographies.php?bid=35 Liturgica.Com, Medieval liturgy, viewed on November 11, 2009, http://www.liturgica.com/html/litWLTrent.jsp?hostname=liturgica#b Article "Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da", in: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. DIDO AND AENEAS Dido and Aeneas by Henry Prucell is praised as a landmark composition of the seventeenth century English opera scene thanks to the highly dramatic usage of music in it. Harris (1987, pp.3) has commended this work primarily for its “ ability to express human passion in a perfect blend of words and music.” He (Harris, 1987, pp.7) elaborates this statement by saying that “ unlike the music for the stage plays or the dramatic operas, Dido and Aenas offers a complete drama set to music.” This work relates itself to the court masque tradition of seventeenth century England thereby incluing varied forms of entertainment like “spectacle, dance, poetry and music.” (Harris, 1987, pp.8) and became a pleasant departure from perpetual singing practiced by other opera performers. Parker (1994, pp.43) describes the music used in Dido and Aeneas by the following words: “ Purcell’s superb music is highly eclectic, with a typical French overture and French style songs, choruses and dances and a recitative style drawing primarily on English declamatory traditions and Italianate formal arias over a ground bass, including Dido’s heart-rending lament over the emblematic descending chromatic tetrachord.” Copland and Rich (2002, pp.121) have detailed the romantic quality of the music used in this work by pointing to the use of basso ostinato in the solo song called, dido’s lament. They (Copland&Rich, 2002, pp.122) explains this by saying, “ the ground bass is surprisingly chromatic and therefore easy to remember, and the chords above it have a romantic glow about them.” Jarret and Day (2008, pp.222) analyses rhythm in Dido and Aeneas by taking the line in the book, ‘thy hand Belinda, darkness shades me’, as an example. They (Jarret&Day, pp.) concludes that “ Purcell managed to stick to the conventions of matching week and strong accents in his lyrics with the week and strong beats of each measure, yet still managed to present his lyrics in a completely different rhythmic pattern than the more obvious patterns that were available to him.” Allessandro Scarlatti was a contemporary of Purcell, but was moving on a different kind of musical voyage. As Purcell, he also belonged to the baroque school of music, but Alessandro had a distinct style in which he blended the classical school with the baroque. Steven Rosenfeld (claviercompanion.com, http://www.claviercompanion.com/aut2007/rhythm/rhythm1.html) has noted that “Scarlatti’s compositional style, with its sudden mood shifts, unpredictable harmonies, metric displacements, immense rhythmic energy, and flair for compelling and satisfying melodies, is unique in the Baroque period.” The most unique feature of this music is, according to Rosenfeld, “moving from the beat (for example, the quarter note in 4/4 time) to the various subdivisions of the beat: eighth notes, triplet eighths, sixteenths — and in any sequence. Example: Sonata in D minor ‘Gavotta’, K. 64 (L. 58), mm. 1-4 Another unique feature of Scarlatti’s operas was the reduced importance of accompanying orchestra. (Dent, 2008, pp.43). His (Dent, 2008, pp.43) selective use of orchestra reaches its most beautiful moment when in Massimo puppieno, the wounded African king die on stage. Dent (2008, pp.43) observes, “ the few bars played by the strings must have invested the action with a simple dignity that would lift the audience for a moment into a higher emotional plane”. The chorus vas even made to utter only words at some instances as if a reaction from the audience. Carse (1964, pp.32) has found similarities in the styles of Scarlatti and Purcell and has stated that they are the “ most prominent of those whose scores exemplify the axiom that strings were best handled in four parts, namely, 1st violins, 2nd violins, Tenor violins, violincellos, and double-basses, the last two playing the bass of the harmony in octaves as instruments of eight and sixteen-foot tone.” Carse (1964, pp.32) is of the opinion that the ‘Purcell-Scarletti period” in orchestration must be placed as an important transition stage in between the earlier period and the Bach-Handel period. Thus, these two musicians, though far apart in their styles, represent the grandiose baroque era of music in their own ways. References Purcell, Henry, 1995, Dido and Aenas, Illustrated edn, Courier Dover Publications.   Harris, Ellen.T., 1987, Henry Purcells Dido and Aeneas, Oxford University Press.  Parker, Roger, 1994, The Oxford Illustrated History of Opera, Oxford University Press. Benham, Hugh, 2007, Baroque music in focus, Rhinegold publishing. Copland, Aaron and Rich, Alan, 2002, What to listen for in music, Signet Classic. Jarret, Scott, Day, Holly, 2008, Music composition for dummies, For dummies. Dent, Edward joseph, 2008, Alessandro Scarlatti: His life and works, Bibliobazaar, LLC. Carse, Adam von Ahn, 1964, The history of orchestration, Courier Dover publications. Read More