This dissertation presents an in-depth analysis of Gotterdammerung. It provides information concerning: form, tonality, cadence, motive, text, harmony, meter, rhythm, tempo, and dynamics. This information is clearly detailed on a series of charts; the accompanying prose summarizes the charts and highlights selected topics and events. Tonality is the primary formal determinant in Gotterdammerung. The tonal plan operates at three hierarchical levels: foreground, middleground, and background. These terms are not employed in the linear/Schenkerian sense rather, they reflect harmonic/tonal implications within given structural parameters: foregound--the details of the surface level progressions; middleground--the tonal organization within the subdivisions of individual scenes; and background--the keys which govern entire scenes and the beginnings and endings of acts. Tonally, four distinct procedural techniques are employed at all three structural levels: traditional/tonic-dominant tonality, associative tonality, expressive tonality, and directional tonality. At the very core of the tonal process is associative tonality. Through its ability to represent characters, objects, events, emotions, and underlying dramatic themes it elevates the purely functional aspects of traditional/tonic-dominant, expressive, and directional tonalities to new heights. The musical forms of Gotterdammerung fall into four basic categories: traditional, symmetrical, form-within-form or "nested," and sectional. Forms and procedures from each of these categories are employed in some way at every structural level; frequently two or more are drawn upon simultaneously in the shaping of a musical unit. The one element that binds these diverse forms and procedures is tonality. Cadence, motive, and text are also consistent form-defining elements. Their affects are felt most frequently at the subsection and section levels but they also assist in the formal articulation of scenes and acts. The other musical elements play important roles in creating the superstructure but it is tonality which provides the framework and foundation throughout the music-drama.

The staging of Richard Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen provides an ideal site to examine representations of the German past in the opera house and the broader cultural world surrounding it, in particular how these representations reveal different conceptions of the past in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). By looking at three different productions of the Ring cycle in divided Germany during the 1970s and 1980s, I will show how Wagner stagings both reflected and contributed to historical debates about the Nazi past and discussions about cultural and national identity. The introduction considers why stagings of Wagner’s Ring cycle are so important for understanding national identity and the process of coming to terms with the Nazi past (Vergangenheitsbewältigung) in the two German states. Along with describing my own methodology, I give an overview of the different approaches to opera staging in recent musicological scholarship. Chapter One provides contextual information on divided Germany during the 1970s and 1980s, and it also introduces three historical debates that appear in the case studies. Chapter Two begins by looking at the Leipzig Ring (1973-1976), directed by Joachim Herz, as a parable about nineteenth-century class conflict. I then consider what the Leipzig production has to say about the relationship between the GDR and the Nazi past, particularly with respect to Herz’s depiction of the Gibichung court as a fascist state. Chapters Three and Four investigate the Bayreuth centennial Ring (1976), staged by Patrice Chéreau and conducted by Pierre Boulez, each of whom had a different vision of Wagner. In spite of their differences, both Chéreau and Boulez treat Wagner’s work as an opportunity to reflect on their own experiences of the 1968 student protest movement. Both artists articulate a sense of unease about revolutionary activity, which mirrors the growing anxiety in both West Germany and France about the radical left. Chapter Five examines the multiple views of Wagner in Ruth Berghaus’s Frankfurt Ring (1985-1987). While the director Berghaus interprets the work in terms of a tradition of epic theater and historical materialism, the dramaturge Klaus Zehelein focuses on aspects of language, textuality, and representation. I also discuss how the reception of the Frankfurt Ring in West German newspapers reflects the re-intensification of the Cold War in the 1980s.

Inaugural-Dissertation-Münster i W. / "Literatur": p. ix-x.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

The purpose of this thesis is to contrast Wagner's usages of the ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth intervals and chords, as found in Die Walküre, Act I and Götterdämmerung, Act I.

Richard Wagner, in writing the text which would become the libretto of his four operas comprising the Ring was influenced greatly by German Mythology as well as old Norse writings. His main sources are the Volsungensaga, the Thidreksaga and the Nibelungenlied. Certain portions of the Ring follow closely the events described in some of the sagas, other portions have been changed and elaborated to achieve theatrical effect. I have endeavoured to explain the differences between the sources and the finished masterpiece. Whether his version of the tales was to ensure good theatre or whether he felt that he was improving on the originals is a moot point. The similarities are sufficient to prove that he had totally immersed himself in the literature available and no doubt felt himself to be a worthy protagonist of this culture. There is no doubt that his music is a masterpiece which may be enjoyed with or without any depth of knowledge of its origins.

Zugl.: Dortmund, Univ., Diss., 2008

No description available.

Der Frage nach einem adäquaten, weil authentischen Instrumentarium kommt in der historisch informierten Aufführungspraxis seit jeher eine besondere Rolle zu. Die hier geäußerten Überlegungen beziehen sich auf einen entsprechend konsequent bestückten Holzbläsersatz für eine denkbare idealtypische Aufführung von Richard Wagners Opernzyklus Der Ring des Nibelungen. Ein pauschaler Verweis auf die Besetzung des ersten Festspielorchesters anlässlich der Uraufführung des Ring 1876 in Bayreuth ist hierbei zu hinterfragen. Zunächst wird die Orchesterbesetzung des Uraufführungsjahres 1876, insbesondere für die Holzblasinstrumente, in ihren relevanten Details skizziert und beleuchtet. Anschließend geht es um eine alternative Sichtweise auf einen historisch informierten Holzbläsersatz für Wagners Ring. / For the sake of authenticity, inquiry into an adequate instrumentarium has consistently maintained a key role in historically informed performance practice. The considerations outlined here concern accordingly-systematic research into the instruments of the woodwind section for a possible ›ideal-typic‹ performance of Richard Wagner's opera cycle, The Ring of the Nibelung. For this purpose, general reference to the instrumentation of the first Festival Orchestra on the occasion of the premiere of the Ring in 1876 in Bayreuth is to be brought into question. The relevant details of the instrumentation, the woodwinds in particular, in the year of the premiere performance in 1876 will be outlined and highlighted initially. Subsequently, an alternative perspective on a historically informed woodwind section for Wagner's Ring will be explored. (Übersetzung: Jennifer Smyth)

Während die Bayreuther Uraufführungsinszenierung des Parsifal (1882) als Paradebeispiel einer »unter den Augen des Meisters« entstandenen Opernproduktion gelten kann, die Jahrzehnte lang praktisch unverändert auf dem Spielplan stand und so eine Tradition normativer Wagner-Regie begründete, verschwand die Uraufführungsinszenierung des Ring des Nibelungen (1876) bereits nach den ersten Bayreuther Festspielen nach nur drei Aufführungen für immer in der Versenkung. Die negative Beurteilung der Inszenierung von 1876 durch Richard und Cosima Wagner, wie sie sich in den Tagebüchern Cosimas niederschlägt, kann zur Erklärung beitragen, warum der Ring zwei Jahrzehnte lang überhaupt nicht mehr in Bayreuth gespielt wurde und sodann 1896 in einer völlig neuen Inszenierung unter der Leitung Cosima Wagners herauskam. Diese und weitere Zeugnisse zur Bayreuther Produktion werden in dem Beitrag ausführlich diskutiert. Sodann wird die Rolle der Theatersemiotik für die Rekonstruktionen historischer Operninszenierungen diskutiert. Inszenierungsdokumente wie diejenigen zu den Uraufführungen von Wagners Ring des Nibelungen und Parsifal können einen wesentlichen Beitrag zum Verständnis des multimedialen Kunstwerks Oper und seiner unterschiedlichen Zeichensysteme leisten und zugleich auch zur Anregung gegenwärtiger Produktionen dienen. Eine aus historischer Perspektive (bzw. aus derjenigen von Richard und Cosima Wagner) »unvollkommene« und alles andere als mustergültige Inszenierung wie diejenige des Ring des Nibelungen von 1876 detailgetreu zu rekonstruieren, wäre ein fragwürdiges Unterfangen. Sinnvoller erscheint es, die umfassend dokumentierten Erfahrungen aus der Uraufführungsinszenierung in eine heutige »historisch informierte« Aufführung einfließen zu lassen. In diesem Falle würde es sich zwar nicht um eine »werktreue«, womöglich aber um eine »werkgerechte« Inszenierung handeln. / Whilst the Bayreuth premiere production of Parsifal (1882) could be considered a paradigm example of an opera production created »in the eyes of the Master« as it remained on the programme schedule essentially unaltered for decades thereby establishing a normative tradition of Wagnerian direction, the debut production of the Ring of the Nibelung (1876) already fell into permanent oblivion after only three performances at the first Bayreuth Festival. Richard and Cosima Wagner’s negative critique of the 1876 production, as expressed in Cosima Wagner’s journals, may help to explain why the Ring of the Nibelung was not performed at all in Bayreuth for two decades before it returned to the stage in 1896 in an entirely new production under Cosima Wagner’s direction. This critique and further witness accounts of the Bayreuth production are comprehensively examined in the article. Furthermore, the role of theatre semiotics in the reconstruction of historical opera productions will be discussed. Documents on the staging, such as those concerning the premieres of Richard Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen and Parsifal, could contribute significantly to gaining an understanding of the multimedia oeuvre that is opera and its various sign systems, and at the same time serve as a stimulus for contemporary productions. A true to detail reconstruction of an »imperfect« production from a historical perspective (or from the perspective of Richard and Cosima Wagner) and a less than exemplary production such as the Ring of the Nibelung of 1876, would certainly be a questionable undertaking. A more sensible approach would seem to be the integration of the comprehensively documented accounts from the premiere production into a contemporary 'historically informed' performance. While this may not be »true to the original«, it may well do »justice to the original«. (Übersetzung: Jennifer Smyth)