Chapter XIX: Introduction

The "Ring of the Nibelung" consists of four music-dramas--"Das Rheingold" (The Rhinegold), "Die Walküre" (The Valkyr), "Siegfried," and "Götterdämmerung" (Dusk of the Gods). The "books" of these were written in inverse order. Wagner made a dramatic sketch of the Nibelung myth as early as the autumn of 1848, and between then and the autumn of 1850 he wrote the "Death of Siegfried." This subsequently became the "Dusk of the Gods." Meanwhile Wagner's ideas as to the proper treatment of the myth seem to have undergone a change. "Siegfried's Death" ended with Brünnhilde leading Siegfried to Valhalla,--dramatic, but without the deeper ethical significance of the later version, when Wagner evidently conceived the purpose of connecting the final catastrophe of his trilogy with the "Dusk of the Gods," or end of all things, in Northern mythology, and of embodying a profound truth in the action of the music-dramas. This metaphysical significance of the work is believed to be sufficiently explained in the brief synopsis of the plot of the trilogy and in the descriptive musical and dramatic analyses below.

In the autumn of 1850 when Wagner was on the point of sketching out the music of "Siegfried's Death," he recognized that he must lead up to it with another drama, and "Young Siegfried," afterwards "Siegfried," was the result. This in turn he found incomplete, and finally decided to supplement it with the "Valkyr" and "Rhinegold."

"Das Rheingold" was produced in Munich, at the Court Theatre, September 22, 1869; "Die Walküre," on the same stage, June 20, 1870. "Siegfried" and "Dusk of the Gods" were not performed until 1876, when they were produced at Bayreuth.

Of the principal characters in the "Ring of the Nibelung," _Alberich_, the Nibelung, and _Wotan_, the chief of the gods, are symbolic of greed for wealth and power. This lust leads _Alberich_ to renounce love--the most sacred of emotions--in order that he may rob the _Rhinedaughters_ of the Rhinegold and forge from it the ring which is to make him all-powerful. _Wotan_ by strategy obtains the ring, but instead of returning it to the _Rhinedaughters_, he gives it to the giants, _Fafner_ and _Fasolt_, as ransom for _Freia_, the goddess of youth and beauty, whom he had promised to the giants as a reward for building Walhalla. _Alberich_ has cursed the ring and all into whose possession it may come. The giants no sooner obtain it than they fall to quarrelling over it. _Fafner_ slays _Fasolt_ and then retires to a cave in the heart of a forest where, in the form of a dragon, he guards the ring and the rest of the treasure which _Wotan_ wrested from _Alberich_ and also gave to the giants as ransom for _Freia_. This treasure includes the Tarnhelmet, a helmet made of Rhinegold, the wearer of which can assume any guise.

_Wotan_ having witnessed the slaying of _Fasolt_, is filled with dread lest the curse of _Alberich_ be visited upon the gods. To defend _Walhalla_ against the assaults of _Alberich_ and the host of Nibelungs, he begets in union with _Erda_, the goddess of wisdom, the Valkyrs (chief among them _Brünnhilde_), wild maidens who course through the air on superb chargers and bear the bodies of departed heroes to Walhalla, where they revive and aid the gods in warding off the attacks of the Nibelungs. But it is also necessary that the curse-laden ring should be wrested from _Fafner_ and restored through purely unselfish motives to the _Rhinedaughters_, and the curse thus lifted from the race of the gods. None of the gods can do this because their motive in doing so would not be unselfish. Hence _Wotan_, for a time, casts off his divinity, and in human disguise as Wälse, begets in union with a human woman the Wälsung twins, _Siegmund_ and _Sieglinde_. _Siegmund_ he hopes will be the hero who will slay _Fafner_ and restore the ring to the _Rhinedaughters_. To nerve him for this task, _Wotan_ surrounds the Wälsungs with numerous hardships. _Sieglinde_ is forced to become the wife of her robber, _Hunding_. _Siegmund_, storm-driven, seeks shelter in _Hunding's_ hut, where he and his sister, recognizing one another, flee together. _Hunding_ overtakes them and _Wotan_, as _Siegmund_ has been guilty of a crime against the marriage vow, is obliged, at the request of his spouse _Fricka_, the Juno of Northern mythology, to give victory to _Hunding_. _Brünnhilde_, contrary to _Wotan's_ command, takes pity on _Siegmund_, and seeks to shield him against _Hunding_. For this, _Wotan_ causes her to fall into a profound slumber. The hero who will penetrate the barrier of fire with which _Wotan_ has surrounded the rock upon which she slumbers can claim her as his bride.

After _Siegmund's_ death _Sieglinde_ gives birth to _Siegfried_, a son of their illicit union, who is reared by one of the Nibelungs, _Mime_, in the forest where _Fafner_ guards the Nibelung treasure. _Mime_ is seeking to weld the pieces of _Siegmund's_ sword (Nothung or Needful) in order that _Siegfried_ may slay _Fafner_, _Mime_ hoping then to kill the youth and to possess himself of the treasure. But he cannot weld the sword. At last _Siegfried_, learning that it was his father's weapon, welds the pieces and slays _Fafner_. His lips having come in contact with his bloody fingers, he is, through the magic power of the dragon's blood, enabled to understand the language of the birds, and a little feathery songster warns him of _Mime's_ treachery. _Siegfried_ slays the Nibelung and is then guided to the fiery barrier around the Valkyr rock. Penetrating this, he comes upon _Brünnhilde_, and enraptured with her beauty, awakens her and claims her as his bride. She, the virgin pride of the goddess, yielding to the love of the woman, gives herself up to him. He plights his troth with the curse-laden ring which he has wrested from _Fafner_.

_Siegfried_ goes forth in quest of adventure. On the Rhine lives the Gibichung _Gunther_, his sister _Gutrune_ and their half-brother _Hagen_, none other than the son of the Nibelung _Alberich_. _Hagen_, knowing of _Siegfried's_ coming, plans his destruction in order to regain the ring for the Nibelungs. Therefore, craftily concealing _Brünnhilde's_ and _Siegfried's_ relations from _Gunther_, he incites a longing in the latter to possess _Brünnhilde_ as his bride. Carrying out a plot evolved by _Hagen_, _Gutrune_ on _Siegfried's_ arrival presents to him a drinking-horn filled with a love-potion. _Siegfried_ drinks, is led through the effect of the potion to forget that _Brünnhilde_ is his bride, and, becoming enamoured of _Gutrune_, asks her in marriage of _Gunther_. The latter consents, provided _Siegfried_ will disguise himself in the Tarnhelmet as _Gunther_ and lead _Brünnhilde_ to him as bride. _Siegfried_ readily agrees, and in the guise of _Gunther_ overcomes _Brünnhilde_ and delivers her to the Gibichung. But _Brünnhilde_, recognizing on _Siegfried_ the ring, which her conquerer had drawn from her finger, accuses him of treachery in delivering her, his own bride, to _Gunther_. The latter, unmasked and also suspicious of _Siegfried_, conspires with _Hagen_ and _Brünnhilde_, who, knowing naught of the love-potion, is roused to a frenzy of hate and jealousy by _Siegfried's_ seeming treachery, to compass the young hero's death. _Hagen_ slays _Siegfried_ during a hunt, and then in a quarrel with _Gunther_ over the ring also kills the Gibichung.

Meanwhile _Brünnhilde_ has learned through the _Rhinedaughters_ of the treachery of which she and _Siegfried_ have been the victims. All her jealous hatred of _Siegfried_ yields to her old love for him and a passionate yearning to join him in death. She draws the ring from his finger and places it on her own, then hurls a torch upon the pyre. Mounting her steed, she plunges into the flames. One of the _Rhinedaughters_, swimming in on the rising waters, seizes the curse-laden ring. _Hagen_ rushes into the flooding Rhine hoping to regain it, but the other _Rhinedaughters_ grasp him and draw him down into the flood. Not only the flames of the pyre, but a glow which pervades the whole horizon illumine the scene. It is Walhalla being consumed by fire. Through love--the very emotion _Alberich_ renounced in order to gain wealth and power--_Brünnhilde_ has caused the old order of things to pass away and a human era to dawn in place of the old mythological one of the gods.

The sum of all that has been written concerning the book of "The Ring of the Nibelung" is probably larger than the sum of all that has been written concerning the librettos used by all other composers. What can be said of the ordinary opera libretto beyond Voltaire's remark that "what is too stupid to be spoken is sung"? But "The Ring of the Nibelung" produced vehement discussion. It was attacked and defended, praised and ridiculed, extolled and condemned. And it survived all the discussion it called forth. It is the outstanding fact in Wagner's career that he always triumphed. He threw his lance into the midst of his enemies and fought his way up to it. No matter how much opposition his music-dramas excited, they gradually found their way into the repertoire.

It was contended on many sides that a book like "The Ring of the Nibelung" could not be set to music. Certainly it could not be after the fashion of an ordinary opera. Perhaps people were so accustomed to the books of nonsense which figured as opera librettos that they thought "The Ring of the Nibelung" was so great a work that its action and climaxes were beyond the scope of musical expression. For such, Wagner has placed music on a higher level. He has shown that music makes a great drama greater.

One of the most remarkable features of Wagner's works is the author's complete absorption of the times of which he wrote. He seems to have gone back to the very period in which the scenes of his music-dramas are laid and to have himself lived through the events in his plots. Hans Sachs could not have left a more faithful portrayal of life in the Nuremberg of his day than Wagner has given us in "Die Meistersinger." In "The Ring of the Nibelung" he has done more--he has absorbed an imaginary epoch; lived over the days of gods and demigods; infused life into mythological figures. "The Rhinegold," which is full of varied interest from its first note to its last, deals entirely with beings of mythology. They are presented true to life--if that expression may be used in connection with beings that never lived--that is to say, they are so vividly drawn that we forget such beings never lived, and take as much interest in their doings and saying as if they were lifelike reproductions of historical characters. Was there ever a love scene more thrilling than that between _Siegmund_ and _Sieglinde_? It represents the gradations of the love of two souls from its first awakening to its rapturous greeting in full self-consciousness. No one stops to think during that impassioned scene that the close relationship between _Siegmund_ and _Sieglinde_ would in these days have been a bar to their legal union. For all we know, in those moments when the impassioned music of that scene whirls us away in its resistless current, not a drop of related blood courses through their veins. It has been said that we could not be interested in mythological beings--that "The Ring of the Nibelung" lacked human interest. In reply, I say that wonderful as is the first act of "The Valkyr," there is nothing in it to compare in wild and lofty beauty with the last act of that music-drama--especially the scene between _Brünnhilde_ and _Wotan_.

That there are faults of dramatic construction in "The Ring of the Nibelung" I admit. In what follows I have not hesitated to point them out. But there are faults of construction in Shakespeare. What would be the critical verdict if "Hamlet" were now to have its first performance in the exact form in which Shakespeare left it? With all its faults of dramatic construction "The Ring of the Nibelung" is a remarkable drama, full of life and action and logically developed, the events leading up to superb climaxes. Wagner was doubly inspired. He was both a great dramatist and a great musician.

The chief faults of dramatic construction of which Wagner was guilty in "The Ring of the Nibelung" are certain unduly prolonged scenes which are merely episodical--that is, unnecessary to the development of the plot so that they delay the action and weary the audience to a point which endangers the success of the really sublime portions of the score. In several of these scenes, there is a great amount of narrative, the story of events with which we have become familiar being retold in detail although some incidents which connect the plot of the particular music-drama with that of the preceding one are also related. But, as narrative on the stage makes little impression, and, when it is sung perhaps none at all, because it cannot be well understood, it would seem as if prefaces to the dramas could have taken the place of these narratives. Certain it is that these long drawn-out scenes did more to retard the popular recognition of Wagner's genius than the activity of hostile critics and musicians. Still, it should be remembered that these music-dramas were composed for performance under the circumstances which prevail at Bayreuth, where the performances begin in the afternoon and there are long waits between the acts, during which you can refresh yourself by a stroll or by the more mundane pleasures of the table. Then, after an hour's relaxation of the mind and of the sense of hearing, you are ready to hear another act. Under these agreeable conditions one remains sufficiently fresh to enjoy the music even of the dramatically faulty scenes.

One of the characters in "The Ring of the Nibelung," _Brünnhilde_, is Wagner's noblest creation. She takes upon herself the sins of the gods and by her expiation frees the world from the curse of lust for wealth and power. She is a perfect dramatic incarnation of the profound and beautiful metaphysical motive upon which the plot of "The Ring of the Nibelung" is based.

There now follow descriptive accounts of the stories and music of the four component parts of this work by Wagner--perhaps his greatest.

DAS RHEINGOLD

THE RHINEGOLD

Prologue in four scenes to the trilogy of music-dramas, "The
Ring of the Nibelung," by Richard Wagner. "Des Rheingold"
was produced, Munich, September 22, 1869. "The Ring of the
Nibelung" was given complete for the first time in the
Wagner Theatre, Bayreuth, in August, 1876. In the first
American performance of "Das Rheingold," Metropolitan Opera
House, New York, January 4, 1889, Fischer was _Wotan_,
Alvary _Loge_, Moran-Oldern _Fricka_, and Katti Bettaque
_Freia_.

CHARACTERS

WOTAN } _Baritone-Bass_
DONNER } Gods _Baritone-Bass_
FROH } _Tenor_
LOGE } _Tenor_

FASOLT } Giants _Baritone-Bass_
FAFNER } _Bass_

ALBERICH } Nibelungs _Baritone-Bass_
MIME } _Tenor_

FRICKA } _Soprano_
FREIA } Goddesses _Soprano_
ERDA } _Mezzo-Soprano_

WOGLINDE } _Soprano_
WELLGUNDE } Rhinedaughters _Soprano_
FLOSSHILDE } _Mezzo-Soprano_

_Time_--Legendary.

_Place_--The bed of the Rhine; a mountainous district near
the Rhine; the subterranean caverns of Nibelheim.

In "The Rhinegold" we meet with supernatural beings of German mythology--the Rhinedaughters _Woglinde_, _Wellgunde_, and _Flosshilde_, whose duty it is to guard the precious Rhinegold; _Wotan_, the chief of the gods; his spouse _Fricka_; _Loge_, the God of Fire (the diplomat of Walhalla); _Freia_, the Goddess of Youth and Beauty; her brothers _Donner_ and _Froh_; _Erda_, the all-wise woman; the giants _Fafner_ and _Fasolt_; _Alberich_ and _Mime_ of the race of Nibelungs, cunning, treacherous gnomes who dwell in the bowels of the earth.

The first scene of "Rhinegold" is laid in the Rhine, at the bottom of the river, where the _Rhinedaughters_ guard the Rhinegold.

The work opens with a wonderfully descriptive Prelude, which depicts with marvellous art (marvellous because so simple) the transition from the quietude of the water-depths to the wavy life of the _Rhinedaughters_. The double basses intone E-flat. Only this note is heard during four bars. Then three contra bassoons add a B-flat. The chord, thus formed, sounds until the 136th bar. With the sixteenth bar there flows over this seemingly immovable triad, as the current of a river flows over its immovable bed, the =Motive of the Rhine=.

[Music]

A horn intones this motive. Then one horn after another takes it up until its wave-like tones are heard on the eight horns. On the flowing accompaniment of the 'cellos the motive is carried to the wood-wind. It rises higher and higher, the other strings successively joining in the accompaniment, which now flows on in gentle undulations until the motive is heard on the high notes of the wood-wind, while the violins have joined in the accompaniment. When the theme thus seems to have stirred the waters from their depth to their surface the curtain rises.

The scene shows the bed and flowing waters of the Rhine, the light of day reaching the depths only as a greenish twilight. The current flows on over rugged rocks and through dark chasms.

_Woglinde_ is circling gracefully around the central ridge of rock. To an accompaniment as wavy as the waters through which she swims, she sings:

Weia! Waga! Woge, du Welle,
Walle zur Wiege! Wagala weia!
Wallala, Weiala weia!

They are sung to the =Motive of the Rhinedaughters=.

[Music: Weia Waga! Woge, du Welle, walle zur Wiege! Wagala weia! wallala, weiala weia!]

In wavy sport the _Rhinedaughters_ dart from cliff to cliff. Meanwhile _Alberich_ has clambered from the depths up to one of the cliffs, and watches, while standing in its shadow, the gambols of the _Rhinedaughters_. As he speaks to them there is a momentary harshness in the music, whose flowing rhythm is broken. In futile endeavours to clamber up to them, he inveighs against the "slippery slime" which causes him to lose his foothold.

_Woglinde_, _Wellgunde_, and _Flosshilde_ in turn gambol almost within his reach, only to dart away again. He curses his own weakness in the =Motive of the Nibelungs' Servitude=.

[Music]

Swimming high above him the _Rhinedaughters_ incite him with gleeful cries to chase them. _Alberich_ tries to ascend, but always slips and falls down. Then his gaze is attracted and held by a glow which suddenly pervades the waves above him and increases until from the highest point of the central cliff a bright, golden ray shoots through the water. Amid the shimmering accompaniment of the violins is heard on the horn the =Rhinegold Motive=.

[Music]

With shouts of triumph the _Rhinedaughters_ swim around the rock. Their cry "Rhinegold," is a characteristic motive. The =Rhinedaughters' Shout of Triumph= and the accompaniment to it are as follows:

[Music: Rheingold!]

As the river glitters with golden light the Rhinegold Motive rings out brilliantly on the trumpet. The Nibelung is fascinated by the sheen. The _Rhinedaughters_ gossip with one another, and _Alberich_ thus learns that the light is that of the Rhinegold, and that whoever shall shape a ring from this gold will become invested with great power. We hear =The Ring Motive=.

[Music]

_Flosshilde_ bids her sisters cease their prattle, lest some sinister foe should overhear them. _Wellgunde_ and _Woglinde_ ridicule their sister's anxiety, saying that no one would care to filch the gold, because it would give power only to him who abjures or renounces love. At this point is heard the darkly prophetic =Motive of the Renunciation of Love=.

[Music]

_Alberich_ reflects on the words of the _Rhinedaughters_. The Ring Motive occurs both in voice and orchestra in mysterious pianissimo (like an echo of _Alberich's_ sinister thoughts), and is followed by the Motive of Renunciation. Then is heard the sharp, decisive rhythm of the Nibelung Motive. _Alberich_ fiercely springs over to the central rock. The _Rhinedaughters_ scream and dart away in different directions. _Alberich_ has reached the summit of the highest cliff.

"Hark, ye floods! Love I renounce forever!" he cries, and amid the crash of the Rhinegold Motive he seizes the gold and disappears in the depths. With screams of terror the _Rhinedaughters_ dive after the robber through the darkened water, guided by _Alberich's_ shrill, mocking laugh.

There is a transformation. Waters and rocks sink. As they disappear, the billowy accompaniment sinks lower and lower in the orchestra. Above it rises once more the Motive of Renunciation. The Ring Motive is heard, and then, as the waves change into nebulous clouds, the billowy accompaniment rises pianissimo until, with a repetition of the Ring Motive, the action passes to the second scene. One crime has already been committed--the theft of the Rhinegold by _Alberich_. How that crime and the ring which he shapes from the gold inspire other crimes is told in the course of the following scenes of "Rhinegold." Hence the significance of the Ring Motive as a connecting link between the first and second scenes.

Scene II. Dawn illumines a castle with glittering turrets on a rocky height at the back. Through a deep valley between this and the foreground flows the Rhine.

The =Walhalla Motive= now heard is a motive of superb beauty. It greets us again and again in "Rhinegold" and frequently in the later music-dramas of the cycle. Walhalla is the abode of gods and heroes. Its motive is divinely, heroically beautiful. Though essentially broad and stately, it often assumes a tender mood, like the chivalric gentleness which every hero feels toward woman. Thus it is here. In crescendo and decrescendo it rises and falls, as rises and falls with each breath the bosom of the beautiful _Fricka_, who slumbers at _Wotan's_ side.

[Music]

As _Fricka_ awakens, her eyes fall on the castle. In her surprise she calls to her spouse. _Wotan_ dreams on, the Ring Motive, and later the Walhalla Motive, being heard in the orchestra, for with the ring _Wotan_ is planning to compensate the giants for building Walhalla, instead of rewarding them by presenting _Freia_ to them as he has promised. As he opens his eyes and sees the castle you hear the Spear Motive, which is a characteristic variation of the Motive of Compact. For _Wotan_ should enforce, if needful, the compacts of the gods with his spear.

_Wotan_ sings of the glory of Walhalla. _Fricka_ reminds him of his compact with the giants to deliver over to them for their work in building Walhalla, _Freia_, the Goddess of Youth and Beauty. This introduces on the 'cellos and double basses the =Motive of Compact=, a theme expressive of the binding force of law and with the inherent dignity and power of the sense of justice.

[Music]

In a domestic spat between _Wotan_ and _Fricka_, _Wotan_ charges that she was as anxious as he to have Walhalla built. _Fricka_ answers that she desired to have it erected in order to persuade him to lead a more domestic life. At _Fricka's_ words,

"Halls, bright and gleaming,"

the =Fricka Motive= is heard, a caressing motive of much grace and beauty.

[Music]

It is also prominent in _Wotan's_ reply immediately following. _Wotan_ tells _Fricka_ that he never intended to really give up _Freia_ to the giants. Chromatics, like little tongues of flame, appear in the accompaniment. They are suggestive of the Loge Motive, for with the aid of _Loge_ the God of Fire, _Wotan_ hopes to trick the giants and save _Freia_.

"Then save her at once!" calls Fricka, as _Freia_ enters in hasty flight. The =Motive of Flight= is as follows:

[Music]

The following is the =Freia Motive=:

[Music]

With _Freia's_ exclamations that the giants are pursuing her, the first suggestion of the Giant Motive appears and as these "great, hulking fellows" enter, the heavy, clumsy =Giant Motive= is heard in its entirety:

[Music]

For the giants, _Fasolt_, and _Fafner_, have come to demand that _Wotan_ deliver up to them _Freia_, according to his promise when they agreed to build Walhalla for him. In the ensuing scene, in which _Wotan_ parleys with the _Giants_, the Giant Motive, the Walhalla Motive, the Motive of the Compact, and the first bar of the Freia Motive figure until _Fasolt's_ threatening words,

"Peace wane when you break your compact,"

when there is heard a version of the Motive of Compact characteristic enough to be distinguished as the =Motive of Compact with the Giants=:

[Music]

The Walhalla, Giant, and Freia motives again are heard until _Fafner_ speaks of the golden apples which grow in _Freia's_ garden. These golden apples are the fruit of which the gods partake in order to enjoy eternal youth. The Motive of Eternal Youth, which now appears, is one of the loveliest in the cycle. It seems as though age could not wither it, nor custom stale its infinite variety. Its first bar is reminiscent of the Ring Motive, for there is subtle relationship between the Golden Apples of Freia and the Rhinegold. Here is the =Motive of Eternal Youth=:

[Music]

It is finely combined with the Giant Motive at _Fafner's_ words:

"Let her forthwith be torn from them all."

_Froh_ and _Donner_, _Freia's_ brothers, enter hastily to save their sister. _Froh_ clasps her in his arms, while _Donner_ confronts the giants, the Motive of Eternal Youth rings out triumphantly on the horns and wood-wind. But _Freia's_ hope is short-lived. For though _Wotan_ desires to keep _Freia_ in Walhalla, he dare not offend the giants. At this critical moment, however, he sees his cunning adviser, _Loge_, approaching. These are _Loge's_ characteristic motives:

[Music]

_Wotan_ upbraids _Loge_ for not having discovered something which the giants would be willing to accept as a substitute for _Freia_. _Loge_ says he has travelled the world over without finding aught that would compensate man for the renunciation of a lovely woman. This leads to _Loge's_ narrative of his wanderings. With great cunning he tells _Wotan_ of the theft of the Rhinegold and of the wondrous worth of a ring shaped from the gold. Thus he incites the listening giants to ask for it as a compensation for giving up _Freia_. Hence Wagner, as _Loge_ begins his narrative, has blended, with a marvellous sense of musical beauty and dramatic fitness, two phrases: the Freia Motive and the accompaniment to the _Rhinedaughters'_ Shout of Triumph in the first scene. This music continues until _Loge_ says that he discovered but one person (_Alberich_) who was willing to renounce love. Then the Rhinegold Motive is sounded tristly in a minor key and immediately afterward is heard the Motive of Renunciation.

_Loge_ next tells how _Alberich_ stole the gold. He has already excited the curiosity of the giants, and when _Fafner_ asks him what power _Alberich_ will gain through the possession of the gold, he dwells upon the magical attributes of the ring shaped from Rhinegold.

_Loge's_ diplomacy is beginning to bear results. _Fafner_ tells _Fasolt_ that he deems the possession of the gold more important than _Freia_. Notice here how the Freia motive, so prominent when the giants insisted on her as their compensation, is relegated to the bass and how the Rhinegold Motive breaks in upon the Motive of Eternal Youth, as _Fafner_ and _Fasolt_ again advance toward _Wotan_, and bid him wrest the gold from _Alberich_ and give it to them as ransom for _Freia_. _Wotan_ refuses, for he himself now lusts for the ring made of Rhinegold. The giants having proclaimed that they will give _Wotan_ until evening to determine upon his course, seize _Freia_ and drag her away. Pallor now settles upon the faces of the gods; they seem to have grown older. They are affected by the absence of _Freia_, the Goddess of Youth, whose motives are but palely reflected by the orchestra. At last _Wotan_ proclaims that he will go with _Loge_ to Nibelung and wrest the entire treasure of Rhinegold from _Alberich_ as ransom for _Freia_.

_Loge_ disappears down a crevice in the side of the rock. From it a sulphurous vapour at once issues. When _Wotan_ has followed _Loge_ into the cleft the vapour fills the stage and conceals the remaining characters. The vapours thicken to a black cloud, continually rising upward until rocky chasms are seen. These have an upward motion, so that the stage appears to be sinking deeper and deeper. With a _molto vivace_ the orchestra dashes into the Motive of Flight. From various distant points ruddy gleams of light illumine the chasms, and when the Flight Motive has died away, only the increasing clangour of the smithies is heard from all directions. This is the typical =Nibelung Motive=, characteristic of Alberich's Nibelungs toiling at the anvil for him. Gradually the sounds grow fainter.

[Music]

Then as the Ring Motive resounds like a shout of malicious triumph (expressive of _Alberich's_ malignant joy at his possession of power), there is seen a subterranean cavern, apparently of illimitable depth, from which narrow shafts lead in all directions.

Scene III. _Alberich_ enters from a side cleft dragging after him the shrieking _Mime_. The latter lets fall a helmet which _Alberich_ at once seizes. It is the Tarnhelmet, made of Rhinegold, the wearing of which enables the wearer to become invisible or assume any shape. As _Alberich_ closely examines the helmet the =Motive of the Tarnhelmet= is heard.

[Music]

It is mysterious, uncanny. To test its power _Alberich_ puts it on and changes into a column of vapour. He asks _Mime_ if he is visible, and when _Mime_ answers in the negative _Alberich_ cries out shrilly, "Then feel me instead," at the same time making poor _Mime_ writhe under the blows of a visible scourge. _Alberich_ then departs--still in the form of a vaporous column--to announce to the _Nibelungs_ that they are henceforth his slavish subjects. _Mime_ cowers down with fear and pain.

_Wotan_ and _Loge_ enter from one of the upper shafts. _Mime_ tells them how _Alberich_ has become all-powerful through the ring and the Tarnhelmet made of the Rhinegold. Then _Alberich_, who has taken off the Tarnhelmet and hung it from his girdle, is seen in the distance, driving a crowd of _Nibelungs_ before him from the caves below. They are laden with gold and silver, which he forces them to pile up in one place and so form a hoard. He suddenly perceives _Wotan_ and _Loge_. After abusing _Mime_ for permitting strangers to enter Nibelheim, he commands the _Nibelungs_ to descend again into the cavern in search of new treasure for him. They hesitate. You hear the Ring Motive. _Alberich_ draws the ring from his finger, stretches it threateningly toward the _Nibelungs_, and commands them to obey their master.

They disperse in headlong flight, with _Mime_, into the cavernous recesses. _Alberich_ looks with mistrust upon _Wotan_ and _Loge_. _Wotan_ tells him they have heard report of his wealth and power and have come to ascertain if it is true. The Nibelung points to the hoard. He boasts that the whole world will come under his sway (Ring Motive), that the gods who now laugh and love in the enjoyment of youth and beauty will become subject to him (Freia Motive); for he has abjured love (Motive of Renunciation). Hence, even the gods in Walhalla shall dread him (Walhalla Motive) and he bids them beware of the time when the night-begotten host of the Nibelungs shall rise from Nibelheim into the realm of daylight. (Rhinegold Motive followed by Walhalla Motive, for it is through the power gained by the Rhinegold that _Alberich_ hopes to possess himself of Walhalla.) _Loge_ cunningly flatters _Alberich_, and when the latter tells him of the Tarnhelmet, feigns disbelief of _Alberich's_ statements. _Alberich_, to prove their truth, puts on the helmet and transforms himself into a huge serpent. The Serpent Motive expresses the windings and writhings of the monster. The serpent vanishes and _Alberich_ reappears. When _Loge_ doubts if _Alberich_ can transform himself into something very small, the Nibelung changes into a toad. Now is _Loge's_ chance. He calls _Wotan_ to set his foot on the toad. As _Wotan_ does so, _Loge_ puts his hand to its head and seizes the Tarnhelmet. _Alberich_ is seen writhing under _Wotan's_ foot. _Loge_ binds _Alberich_; both seize him, drag him to the shaft from which they descended and disappear ascending.

The scene changes in the reverse direction to that in which it changed when _Wotan_ and _Loge_ were descending to Nibelheim. The orchestra accompanies the change of scene. The Ring Motive dies away from crashing fortissimo to piano, to be succeeded by the dark Motive of Renunciation. Then is heard the clangour of the Nibelung smithies. The Giant, Walhalla, Loge, and Servitude Motives follow the last with crushing force as _Wotan_ and _Loge_ emerge from the cleft, dragging the pinioned _Alberich_ with them. His lease of power was brief. He is again in a condition of servitude.

Scene IV. A pale mist still veils the prospect as at the end of the second scene. _Loge_ and _Wotan_ place _Alberich_ on the ground and _Loge_ dances around the pinioned Nibelung, mockingly snapping his fingers at the prisoner. _Wotan_ joins _Loge_ in his mockery of _Alberich_. The Nibelung asks what he must give for his freedom. "Your hoard and your glittering gold," is _Wotan's_ answer. _Alberich_ assents to the ransom and _Loge_ frees the gnome's right hand. _Alberich_ raises the ring to his lips and murmurs a secret behest. The _Nibelungs_ emerge from the cleft and heap up the hoard. Then, as _Alberich_ stretches out the ring toward them, they rush in terror toward the cleft, into which they disappear. _Alberich_ now asks for his freedom, but _Loge_ throws the Tarnhelmet on to the heap. _Wotan_ demands that _Alberich_ also give up the ring. At these words dismay and terror are depicted on the Nibelung's face. He had hoped to save the ring, but in vain. _Wotan_ tears it from the gnome's finger. Then _Alberich_, impelled by hate and rage, curses the ring. The =Motive of the Curse=:

[Music]

To it should be added the syncopated measures expressive of the ever-threatening and ever-active =Nibelung's Hate=:

[Music]

Amid heavy thuds of the Motive of Servitude _Alberich_ vanishes in the cleft.

The mist begins to rise. It grows lighter. The Giant Motive and the Motive of Eternal Youth are heard, for the giants are approaching with _Freia_. _Donner_, _Froh_, and _Fricka_ hasten to greet _Wotan_. _Fasolt_ and _Fafner_ enter with _Freia_. It has grown clear except that the mist still hides the distant castle. _Freia's_ presence seems to have restored youth to the gods. _Fasolt_ asks for the ransom for _Freia_. _Wotan_ points to the hoard. With staves the giants measure off a space of the height and width of _Freia_. That space must be filled out with treasure.

_Loge_ and _Froh_ pile up the hoard, but the giants are not satisfied even when the Tarnhelmet has been added. They wish also the ring to fill out a crevice. _Wotan_ turns in anger away from them. A bluish light glimmers in the rocky cleft to the right, and through it _Erda_ rises. She warns _Wotan_ against retaining possession of the ring. The Erda Motive bears a strong resemblance to the Rhine Motive.

The syncopated notes of the Nibelung's Malevolence, so threateningly indicative of the harm which _Alberich_ is plotting, are also heard in _Erda's_ warning.

_Wotan_, heeding her words, throws the ring upon the hoard. The giants release _Freia_, who rushes joyfully towards the gods. Here the Freia Motive combined with the Flight Motive, now no longer agitated but joyful, rings out gleefully. Soon, however, these motives are interrupted by the Giant and Nibelung motives, and later the Nibelung's Hate and Ring Motive. For _Alberich's_ curse already is beginning its dread work. The giants dispute over the spoils, their dispute waxes to strife, and at last _Fafner_ slays _Fasolt_ and snatches the ring from the dying giant, while, as the gods gaze horror-stricken upon the scene, the Curse Motive resounds with crushing force.

_Loge_ congratulates _Wotan_ on having given up the curse-laden ring. But even _Fricka's_ caresses, as she asks _Wotan_ to lead her into Walhalla, cannot divert the god's mind from dark thoughts, and the Curse Motive accompanies his gloomy reflections--for the ring has passed through his hands. It was he who wrested it from _Alberich_--and its curse rests on all who have touched it.

_Donner_ ascends to the top of a lofty rock. He gathers the mists around him until he is enveloped by a black cloud. He swings his hammer. There is a flash of lightning, a crash of thunder, and lo! the cloud vanishes. A rainbow bridge spans the valley to Walhalla, which is illumined by the setting sun.

_Wotan_ eloquently greets Walhalla, and then, taking _Fricka_ by the hand, leads the procession of the gods into the castle.

The music of this scene is of wondrous eloquence and beauty. Six harps are added to the ordinary orchestral instruments, and as the variegated bridge is seen their arpeggios shimmer like the colours of the rainbow around the broad, majestic =Rainbow Motive=:

[Music]

Then the stately Walhalla Motive resounds as the gods gaze, lost in admiration, at the Walhalla. It gives way to the Ring Motive as _Wotan_ speaks of the day's ills; and then as he is inspired by the idea of begetting a race of demigods to conquer the Nibelungs, there is heard for the first time the =Sword Motive=:

[Music]

The cries of the _Rhinedaughters_ greet _Wotan_. They beg him to restore the ring to them. But _Wotan_ must remain deaf to their entreaties. He gave the ring, which he should have restored to the _Rhinedaughters_, to the giants, as ransom for _Freia_.

The Walhalla Motive swells to a majestic climax and the gods enter the castle. Amid shimmering arpeggios the Rainbow Motive resounds. The gods have attained the height of their glory--but the Nibelung's curse is still potent, and it will bring woe upon all who have possessed or will possess the ring until it is restored to the _Rhinedaughters_. _Fasolt_ was only the first victim of _Alberich's_ curse.

DIE WALKÜRE

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 _Brünnhilde_, 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 _Brünnhilde_ in that rôle,
Schott as _Siegmund_, Seidl-Kraus as _Sieglinde_, Marianne
Brandt as _Fricka_, Staudigl as _Wotan_, and Kögel as
_Hunding_.

CHARACTERS

SIEGMUND _Tenor_
HUNDING _Bass_
WOTAN _Baritone-Bass_
SIEGLINDE _Soprano_
BRÜNNHILDE _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 Brünnhilde-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 gods, he descended from Walhalla to the abode of the all-wise woman, _Erda_, who bore him nine daughters. These were the Valkyrs, headed by _Brünnhilde_--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 assault upon his castle by the enemies of the gods.

But though the host of heroes grew to a goodly number, the terror of _Alberich's_ curse still haunted the chief of gods. 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 assumed 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 lust for power which obtains among the gods, 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 gods from the curse. To accomplish this _Wotan_, in human guise as _Wälse_, 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 personæ in "The Valkyr" are _Brünnhilde_, 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 Wälsungs are in ignorance of the divinity of their father. They know him only as _Wälse_.