wagner english

8/9/2019 Wagner English

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Wagner and the +omantic

Movement• +omantic movement is e,pressed (est (y Wagner’s

music

• Music 'ramas

• racticed what he preached• .aw himself as a hero

• /verything he conceived was larger than life

• 0ived e,travagantly

• Made many enemies

• 1ne of the most innovative artists of the era• 1ne of the most (rilliant and original musicians of the

time



Wagner2s life and career

• (3 !"!4 in 0eip5ig

• 0ittle formal musical training

• Wrote he words and the music for his operas

• 6irst opera& 7'ie 6een7& composed at age )*• Worked as a conductor with a traveling opera troop

• Married Minna& an actress

• aris - piano and (and arrangements of popularoperatic tunes (y other composers

• .pent time in de(tor2s prison• 6irst masterpiece& 7The 6lying 'utchman7& was

produced in !"84

• Moved to 'resden where the “'utchman” wasproduced and where he composed 7Tannhauser7 and70ohengrin7



.chwanstein photo courtesy of Ellen Congleton



9euschwanstein photo courtesy of Ellen Congleton



The 7%omplete Work of Art7

• Wagner (elieved that art and opera must (e more thana diversion

• :is idea is called Besamtkunstwerk

• Totally revolutioni5ed :armony (y completely avoidingresolution with known& sta(le chords

• 1rchestra is important now

• %onstructed scores with a symphonic sound in mind

• The singing (ecomes an instrument in the overalleffect

• /,panded the si5e of the orchestra

• >nvented new instruments @the Wagner tu(a



The Wagner Tu(a

• A relative of the horn, it was invented inthe late 1800's to meet the specificationsof the composer Richard Wagner

• He wanted an instrument that would add

depth to the brass section and provide atonal color that would bridge the colors ofthe horn and the trombone

• t is usuall! pla!ed with a "rench hornmouthpiece b! a horn pla!er

• #ecause of its brash tone $ualit!, it is the perfect sound for depicting the bad gu!s inWagner operas



Wagner’s 6amily Tree

• Parents:

2arl "riedrich Wilhelm Wagner 31440)181(5, Richard'sreal father was probabl! 6udwig &e!er

7ohanne 9t: 3144;)18;85

• First Wife: <inna laner 3180-)18=>5, no children

• Second Wife:

2osima von #?low 318(4)1-(0, the daughter of "ran:6is:t5, two children with Hans von #?low and threechildren with Richard Wagner

•Children:

solde 318=>)1-1-5, married to "ran: #eidler

@va 318=4)1-;.5, married to Houston *tewart2hamberlain

*iegfried 318=-)1-(05, married to Winifred Williamslindworth 318-4)1-805



6estspielhausphoto courtesy of Ellen Congleton



1utside Wagner’s :ome

photo courtesy of Ellen Congleton



ayreuth

• WagnerBs idea was to create a %m!stical ab!ss% separating thereal world 3the viewers5 from the ideal world 3the singers on the

stage5

• Che inaugural festival in #a!reuth was attended b! aiserWilhelm of russia, ing 6udwig of #avaria 3who insisted onsecrec! and did not want to be seen b! either his fellow ro!als orthe people5, @mperor Dom edro of #ra:il, the rulers of

various &erman principalities, nobilit! from all over &erman!and Austria)Hungar!, musicians such as Anton #rucner, @dvard&rieg, eter Cchaiovs!, 2amille *aint)*aEns, "ran: 6is:t



Tristan %hord



RICHARDWAGNER

(1813 - 1883)The Ring



der Ring des Nibelungen

• Nibelungenlied is a Medieval Berman legend

• The Ring of the Nibelung – Das Rheingold @The +hine Bold

– Die Walkure @The =alkyrie

– Siegfried @.iegfried

– Gotterdammerung @The Twilight of the Bods



.tar Wars and The +ing

• .tar Wars – Conceived as a series of

nine films it was soonrealized as a trilogy, and is inthe process of becoming a

hexalogy (six films). – he film trilogy was initiated

with Episodes IV , V and VI.

– !ucas then wor"edbac"wards with Episode I ,more than two decades later,and is now wor"ing forwards

with Episodes II and III – # gallery of aliens

– Cult $ollowing

.

• The +ing – $our great (and long) operas,

thematically connected andconceived as a single wor" %encompassing &' to &

hours of music and action.his huge proect wasrealised after years ofplanning and wor".

– he opera tetralogy beganwith the text forGötterdämmerung. hen*agner wor"ed himselfbac"wards with the texts,and then forwards with themusic until it was completedmore than two decades later.

– # gallery of gods, dwarves

– Cult $ollowing



.tar Wars vCs The +ing

• !ucas creates his own film studio, his owncompany for creation of new andrevolutionary visual effects (+ndustrial !ight -agic, founded in &/') and his ownstandards for sound and image (01).

• +n Star Wars !ucas uses newly developedcomputer techni2ues to create special visualand audio effects. Star Wars was the firstfilm with a world%wide distribution to use thenew 3olby stereo%optical sound system, asystem which later has made possible themany surround systems.

*agner creates his own theater (the$eststpielhaus in 4ayreuth) in order to realizehis ideals concerning the visual and audioeffects.

he Festspielhaus in 4ayreuth is built to presentthe Ring in the best possible way. *agnerhides the orchestra to create a new 5sound5and a better balance between singers andorchestra. 4y hiding the orchestra and byturning out the lights in the theater, *agneralso ensured a much better visual illusionthan what was previously possible. 0e alsointroduced a whole range of new soundeffects, from hidden bells to the construction

of new horns (the *agner tuba), from thebalancing of voice and orchestra to thespecial architecture of the hall. he hiddenorchestra and the wooden constructionturned the hall into a huge musical instrumentwith the audience inside. 4ayreuth was thefirst, and is still the only place to do this.



.tar Wars vCs The +ing

• he 6tar *ars is a simple tale ofgood and evil, of love and power.+t ma"es you want to be a betterperson.

• !ight sabre 7 6word

• !u"e 6"ywal"er 7 6iegfried

• !u"e !eia 7 6iegmund 6ieglinde

• he 3eath 6tar 7 he 8ing

• Star Wars 7 symphonic film

• he 8ing is a complex tale ofgood and evil, of love and power.+t also ma"es you want to be abetter person.

• 6word 7 !ight sabre

• 6iegfried 7 !u"e 6"ywal"er

• 6iegmund 6ieglinde 7 !u"e !eia

• he 8ing 7 he 3eath 6tar

• Der Ring des Nibelungen 7symphonic opera



Wagner Dui5

• !3 Which composer has (een considered to(e the single most important phenomenon inthe artistic life of the latter half of the

nineteenth century? – A - erlio5

– - .chu(ert

– % - Wagner

– ' - .chumann



Wagner Dui5

• )3 Wagner’s cycle of four music dramas iscalledE – A - Lohengrin

– - Tristan and Isolde – % - The Ring of the Nibelung

– ' - Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg



Wagner Dui5

• 43 Wagner called his operasE – A - tone poems

– - music dramas

– % - oratorios – ' - operettas



Wagner Dui5

• 83 The principal themes in Wagner’s operas&which recur throughout a work and carryspecific meanings& are calledE

– A - li(retti – - leitmotifs

– % - motives

– ' - fi,ed ideas



Wagner Dui5

• ;3

A - Lohengrin

– - Tristan and Isolde

– % - The Ring of the Nibelung

– ' - Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg

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