No Class Friday – Watch one act of Wagnerian Music Drama

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Just as a reminder, we will not have class on Friday, Nov. 8.  Instead, everyone should watch (at least) one act of the music drama of their choice.

If you are watching something from the Ring.  You might want to check out the list of motives here: http://www.utexas.edu/courses/wagner/home.html

Please post the piece and act that you decided to watch in the comments (by Tuesday, 11/12).

This entry was posted on Friday, November 8th, 2013 at 5:10 am and is filed under Assignments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 thoughts on “No Class Friday – Watch one act of Wagnerian Music Drama”

  1. Katherine Siochi

    I watched the first act of Parsifal. The orchestral prelude at the beginning is stunning and everyone should listen to it!! It has a stately, ceremonious atmosphere about it that is very appropriate for the subject of the opera (a young man’s quest for the holy grail). The brass sound really gorgeous in their statement of the “faith” leitmotif near the end of the prelude. I can’t accurately put into words how this particular section makes me feel, because it’s so awe-inspiring… it’s one of those things that I hear and I’m reminded why I love music so much.
    Throughout the rest of the act(2 hours!!!), nearly every single theme is something we already heard in the first 15 minutes of music from the prelude. Most notably, the grail motif recurs a ridiculous number of times, but it never gets old. I especially like when Wagner uses this motif in the choir; it gives the music a very sacred, spiritual quality, creating a nice contrast to the epic brass statements of the motif.

    November 8, 2013 at 11:25 pm
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  2. Luke Celenza

    I watched Das Rheingold, the first act of the Ring. I found almost all of it to be extraordinary from Wagner’s use of orchestration to the design of the sets, to the performance. (I watched a 1990 version from the Met with english subtitles on youtube). I really like things that seem perfect and obvious after the fact that I maybe would not have done myself, such as contrasts from high flutes with the 3 nymphs to low celli with the dwarf (it’s nymphs and dwarfs right?) and going back and forth between them while having some thread of orchestration thru all of it at once. Really cool. Or, harmonic passages that are simply one instrument playing diminished arpeggiations with little ornaments then spread into full chords full strings. hugely Dramatic and very effective. Before each scene I really like the transitional music with abstract backgrounds which set the tone for the next piece and leave the previous. In this case, I like that Wagner doesn’t rush it. It is a nice breath before new material/story.

    November 12, 2013 at 12:11 am
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  3. Michael Chiarello

    I watched the first act of Die Walküre.

    November 12, 2013 at 3:02 am
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  4. David "Chase" Baird

    I watched/listened to the second act of Die Valkyrie. I wonder to what extent it is impossible for a modern listener to experience Wagner’s original aesthetic intent, given the commercial overusage of the famous theme (in the brass) from Die Valkyrie. It seems like Wagner spent an inordinate amount of time rehashing the same details that could have been consolidated into 15 minutes. There were some nice moments that seems to arbitrarily emerge; I couldn’t directly connect the impact of the music with the narrative.

    November 12, 2013 at 5:30 am
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  5. Danny Chang

    I watched Tristan und Isolde – Liebesnacht – Act 2 Love Duet 2/2, and I immediately fall in love with Wagner’s opera! What a master piece and a master composer! We usually only study the prelude of Tristan und Isolde and analyze the Tristan chords. It was really impressive to see how Wagner used this huge orchestra setting to support 2 main singers on the stage. The music simply followed the emotions of 2 singers of the story and the Tristan chords kept coming back. the flute and clarinet solo are beautiful and all the wind instruments blend together to provide this sweet, love atmosphere. The brass section provide this huge supporting sound for the whole orchestra and music. it sometimes feels that there are conversations going on between 2 singers and orchestra! Wagner really gave orchestra the same importance as singers! A simply amazing piece!

    November 12, 2013 at 6:20 am
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  6. Robin Giesbrecht

    I watched the first scene of Das Rheingold, the first opera of the Ring Cycle. The Met’s depiction of the scene where Alberich goes to the Rhinemaidens is stunning. Although the storyline is weak, as it is kind of predictable that if they tell him that with the gold he could make a ring to rule the world, but only if he renounces love, and then suddenly does so after they have mocked him for his love for them and his ugliness. Still, the motive of the Rheinmaidens (Rheingold) is beautiful and although it is a little difficult to get through the long passages where just nothing really happens, it’s a great opera.

    November 12, 2013 at 2:30 pm
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  7. Elizabeth White

    I watched the prologue and first act of Gotterdamerung. I found it interesting how the leitmotifs were used here in different contexts and took on different meanings. I thought the most chilling example of this was in the prologue where the three fates (or three characters of a similar mold) break their rope of fate, and the fate leitmotif returns, this time in a more sinister context.

    November 12, 2013 at 3:30 pm
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  8. Phil Brindise

    I watched Die Walkure, and the second act of Siegfried.

    November 12, 2013 at 3:43 pm
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