in short - New York Philharmonic

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Ride of the Valkyries and Final Scene of Act III from Die Walküre
Richard Wagner
R
ichard Wagner’s career charted a long
artistic path that ended far from where it
began. His earliest operas amalgamated more
or less standard traditions from German Romantic Opera (as codified in the works of Carl
Maria von Weber, Heinrich Marschner, and others) and French Grand Opera (a large-scale enterprise typified by Giacomo Meyerbeer and his
contemporaries in Paris). As his career progressed, he moved increasingly toward realizing his ideal of a Gesamtkunstwerk, a work
synthesized from disparate artistic disciplines,
including music, literature, the visual arts, ballet, and architecture. The operas of Wagner’s
maturity are so distinct in this way that they are
often referred to not as operas at all, but rather
as “music dramas,” in an attempt to underscore the singularity of his aesthetic goals.
Nonetheless, Wagner was not averse to extracting sections from these closely woven
works to present apart from their operatic context, and on various occasions he conducted
such excerpts as stand-alone concert works.
Die Walküre is the second opera in the gigantic operatic tetralogy known as Der Ring des
Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). Taken as
a whole it is surely the most imposing work in
the canon of classical music: Wagner labored
over it from 1848 until 1874, taking time out to
write Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger
along the way, and in the end its four pieces together would run some 15 hours. That doesn’t
count the intermissions and other respites that
are most assuredly required in live performances, which invariably occupy four separate
evenings, typically scheduled within several
days of one another.
Wagner turned to medieval Germanic-Nordic
legends for his source material, most specifically
to a group of Icelandic eddas and sagas, an Old
Norse prose narrative, and the Middle High
German epic Das Nibelungenlied. He processed
this material through his own ultra-Romantic
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sensibilities to yield a highly stylized, in no way
colloquial text that evoked its ancient roots
while rendering it captivating to mid-19thcentury audiences. He was nothing if not confident. In a letter to Theodor Uhlig, one of his
closest friends and supporters, Wagner spoke
of his libretto-in-progress: “The whole will
become — out with it! I am not ashamed to say
so — the greatest work of poetry ever written.”
Trying to briefly summarize the interwoven
threads of the Ring cycle is an exercise in futility, but a central strand involves the waning
power of the god Wotan, portrayed by a bassbaritone, who has nine warrior-daughters, the
Valkyries. Act Three of Die Walküre opens with
eight of them on their winged steeds leaping
about on a rocky mountain summit, gleefully
IN SHORT
Born: May 22, 1813, in Leipzig, Saxony
Died: February 13, 1883, in Venice, Italy
Work composed: June 1854–March 1856
World premiere: June 26, 1870, at the National
Theatre in Munich, Franz Wüllner, conductor,
bass-baritone August Kindermann as Wotan
New York Philharmonic premieres: Ride of
the Valkyries, November 28, 1879, Theodore
Thomas, conductor; Final Scene of Act III, (without singer) April 5, 1879, Adolph Neuendorff,
conductor
Most recent New York Philharmonic
performances: Ride of the Valkyies, February 5,
2000, David Alan Miller, conductor; Final Scene
of Act III, April 27, 1982, Zubin Mehta, conductor,
Peter Wimberger, bass
Estimated duration: Ride of the Valkyries and
Final Scene of Act III, ca. 48 minutes
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shouting their signature cry, “Hojotoho!” With
the vocal line deleted, this passage is the stirring
orchestral Ride of the Valkyries. Here we find a
classic mode of Wagnerian orchestration, with a
boisterous brass section slashing its thrilling
phrases through a dense and active background
texture of string arpeggios and woodwind swirls.
Wotan’s favorite among the Valkyries is
Brünnhilde, but when she disobeys him — she
sways the outcome of combat between two adversaries in the wrong direction — it is his duty
to punish her. In Act III of Die Walküre, he strips
her of her Valkyrie status and condemns her to
sleep on a remote mountaintop, where she will
be surrounded by a circle of fire that can be
broached by only the bravest hero. When she
falls asleep, Wotan sings his heartrending
Farewell (“Leb’ wohl, du kühnes, herrliches
Kind”), in which he describes the flames that
will protect her. He cradles her as he builds to
his final, grief-stricken kiss and then summons
Loge, the god of fire, directing him to burn in a
circle around Brünnhilde. The orchestra giddily
portrays the flames as they spring up, and
Wotan sings out one final declaration: “Whosoever fears the tip of my spear shall never pass
through the fire!” He leaves knowing that he
has done the best he could to protect his
beloved but disobedient child, and, as the
opera ends, the orchestra bathes the glittering
flames in a texture of glowing warmth —
preparing the way for Brünnhilde’s eventual
rescue by the heroic Siegfried.
Instrumentation: three flutes (one doubling
piccolo) and piccolo, three oboes and English
horn, three clarinets and bass clarinet, three
bassoons, eight horns, three trumpets and bass
trumpet, four trombones and bass trombone,
tuba, timpani, cymbals, triangle, orchestra
bells, two harps, and strings, in addition to the
soprano and bass-baritone soloists.
The Ring Rides On
Wagner’s influence on later music, literature, and theater has
been so pervasive that the ethos of his works remained unusually durable through ensuing generations. Among later
works that strongly evoke the spirit (and to some extent the
structure) of The Ring of the Nibelung are the films of
George Lucas’s Star Wars. Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind similarly mined a Wagnerian vein,
and we’re still hoping that he will take on The Ring itself
someday. Teenagers in the 1980s assumed unlikely identities to vie with each other in tournaments of Dungeons and
Dragons, which made a successful transition from the era of
the printed page to the era of the computer screen; in either
form they seemed crafted from the rib of The Ring, in which
caves, dragons, and superheroes figure prominently. In 1991
Wagner’s Ring was reinterpreted by Roy Thomas and Gil
Kane into a graphic novel, a genre just then emerging from
its modest origins in the comic strips: no music, of course,
but the adaptation to a new medium fit Wagner’s libretto as
sword to sheath.
Original poster concept for Star Wars, 1977
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Final Scene from Act III of Wagner’s Die Walküre
Wotan:
Wotan:
Schreckt euch ihr Los?
So flieht die Verlorne!
Weichet von ihr
und haltet euch fern!
Wer von euch wagte
bei ihr zu weilen,
wer mir zum Trotz
zu der Traurigen hielt,
die Törin teilte ihr Los:
das künd ich der Kühnen an!
Fort jetzt von hier;
meidet den Felsen!
Hurtig jagt mir von hinnen,
sonst erharrt Jammer euch hier!
Does her fate terrify you?
Then fly from this lost soul!
Shrink from her
and keep your distance.
If any of you dares
to dawdle beside her,
if anyone disobeys me
and clings to her in her sadness,
that fool shall share her fate:
so much I tell you, bold spirits.
Now, be off from here.
Keep away from the rock.
Be quick and ride away
or misery will await you here.
Brünnhilde:
Brünnhilde
War es so schmählich,
was ich verbrach,
daß mein Verbrechen so schmählich du bestrafst?
War es so niedrig,
was ich dir tat,
daß du so tief mir Erniedrigung schaffst?
War es so ehrlos,
was ich beging,
daß mein Vergehn nun die Ehre mir raubt?
Was what I did
so shameful
that you punish my misdeed so shamefully?
Was what I did to you
so base
that you so profoundly debase me?
Was what I did
so dishonorable
that my offense now robs me of honor?
O sag: Vater!
Sieh mir ins Auge:
schweige den Zorn,
zähme die Wut,
und deute mir hell
die dunkle Schuld,
die mit starrem Trotze dich zwingt,
zu versto∫en dein trautestes Kind!
Oh, speak, father!
Look me in my eyes.
Silence your rage,
control your anger,
and explain to me clearly
my hidden guilt
that has blindly and stubbornly forced you
to abandon your favorite child.
Wotan:
Wotan
Frag deine Tat,
sie deutet dir deine Schuld!
Ask yourself what you did
and you will understand your guilt.
Brünnhilde:
Brünnhilde
Deinen Befehl führte ich aus.
I carried out your command.
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Wotan:
Wotan
Befahl ich dir, für den Wälsung zu fechten? Was it by my command that you fought for the
Volsung?
Brünnhilde:
Brünnhilde
So hießest du mich als Herrscher der Wal! So you did decree as lord of battles!
Wotan:
Wotan
Doch meine Weisung nahm ich wieder zurück!
But you knew I had withdrawn that decree!
Brünnhilde:
Brünnhilde
Als Fricka den eignen Sinn dir entfremdet,
da ihrem Sinn du dich fügtest,
warst du selber dir Feind. When Fricka bewitched your will,
when were forced to her point of view,
you became an enemy to yourself.
Wotan:
Wotan
Daß du mich verstanden, wähnt ich,
und strafte den wissenden Trotz
doch feig und dumm dachtest du mich!
So hätt’ ich Verrat nicht zu rächen;
zu gering wärst du meinem Grimm? I took for granted that you understood me,
and scolded your insolence:
but you thought me a coward and fool!
So didn’t I have to punish such treason,
or were you too puny to incur my wrath?
Brünnhilde:
Brünnhilde
Nicht weise bin ich, doch wußt ich das eine,
daß den Wälsung du liebtest.
Ich wußte den Zwiespalt, der dich zwang,
dies eine ganz zu vergessen.
Das andre mußtest einzig du sehn,
was zu schaun so herb schmerzte
dein Herz:
daß Siegmund Schutz du versagtest. I have no wisdom,
yet I knew one thing.
I knew that you loved the Volsung.
I knew all the strife, that twisted your will,
that drove that love from your memory.
The only alternative that you could face,
which, so sad to see, preyed on your heart,
would be for you to deny Siegmund your protection.
Wotan:
Wotan
Du wußtest es so, und wagtest dennoch den
Schutz? Then you knew that, and nevertheless gave him
your own protection?
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Brünnhilde:
Brünnhilde
Weil für dich im Auge das eine
ich hielt,
dem, im Zwange des andren
schmerzlich entzweit,
ratlos den Rücken du wandtest!
Die im Kampfe Wotan den Rücken bewacht,
die sah nun das nur, was du nicht sahst:
Siegmund mußt ich sehn.
Tod kündend trat ich vor ihn,
gewahrte sein Auge, hörte sein Wort;
ich vernahm des Helden heilige Not;
tönend erklang mir des Tapfersten Klage:
freiester Liebe furchtbares Leid,
traurigsten Mutes mächtigster Trotz!
Meinem Ohr erscholl, mein Aug erschaute,
was tief im Busen das Herz
zu heil’gem Beben mir traf.
Scheu und staunend stand ich in Scham.
Ihm nur zu dienen konnt ich noch denken:
Sieg oder Tod mit Siegmund zu teilen:
dies nur erkannt ich zu kiesen als Los!
Der diese Liebe mir ins Herz gehaucht,
dem Willen, der dem Wälsung mich gesellt,
ihm innig vertraut, trotzt ich deinem Gebot. Because my eyes are yours I held to the one
thing
that the alternative forced you,
in a painful dilemma,
to turn your back on summarily!
When Wotan is at war I guard his back,
and this time I only saw
what you could not see:
I could not help seeing Siegmund.
I went to him to warn him of death;
I saw his eyes, heard his words;
I realized the hero’s solemn distress;
I heard the sounds of the brave man’s lament.
Unbounded love’s terrible sorrow,
sad heart’s grandest defiance.
These fell upon my ears, and my eyes beheld
what deep in my breast my heart
sensed with noble pounding.
Shy, astonished, ashamed I stood.
I could still imagine how best to serve him:
to share with Siegmund victory or death:
I only knew that this was the fate I must choose.
One man’s love breathed this into my heart;
one will it was that called me with the Volsung:
and inwardly faithful to you, I defied your
command.
Wotan:
Wotan
So tatest du, was so gern zu tun ich begehrt;
doch was nicht zu tun, die Not zwiefach mich zwang?
So leicht wähntest du Wonne der Liebe
erworben,
wo brennend Weh in das Herz mir brach,
wo gräßliche Not den Grimm mir schuf,
einer Welt zu Liebe der Liebe Quell
im gequälten Herzen zu hemmen?
Wo gegen mich selber
ich sehrend mich wandte,
aus Ohnmacht Schmerzen
schäumend ich aufschoß,
wütender Sehnsucht sengender Wunsch
den schrecklichen Willen mir schuf,
in den Trümmern der eignen Welt
meine ew’ge Trauer zu enden:
da labte süß dich selige Lust;
wonniger Rührung üppigen Rausch
enttrankst du lachend der Liebe Trank,
als mir göttlicher Not nagende Galle gemischt?
So you have done what I had desired so dearly,
but two-faced Fate prevented me from doing it?
You thought it so easy to win hearts’ deepest
rapture,
when burning woe broke out in my heart,
when anguish awoke the grim intent,
for the world I so loved, to imprison
the spring of love in my tortured heart?
When I turned against my own self in my torment,
I rose up in rage from weakness’ pangs,
enraged yearning and its fiercest desire
formed in me my fearful design,
to bury my unending sorrow
in the wreck of my ruined world:
then thou were reveling in blissful delights;
filled with emotion’s rapturous joy,
and you, smiling, drank the draught of love;
while my divine distress was mixed with the
bitterest gall.
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Deinen leichten Sinn laß dich denn leiten:
von mir sagtest du dich los.
Dich muß ich meiden,
gemeinsam mit dir
nicht darf ich Rat mehr raunen;
getrennt, nicht dürfen
traut wir mehr schaffen:
so weit Leben und Luft
darf der Gott dir nicht mehr begegnen! From now your light heart will guide you:
you have turned away from me.
I must shun you;
no more may we ever whisper counsel together;
From now our paths are parted forever,
for while life continues,
the god can never greet you again!
Brünnhilde:
Brünnhilde
Wohl taugte dir nicht die törge Maid,
die staunend im Rate nicht dich
verstand,
wie mein eigner Rat nur das eine mir
riet:
zu lieben, was du geliebt.
Muß ich denn scheiden und scheu dich meiden,
mußt du spalten, was einst sich umspannt,
die eigne Hälfte fern von dir halten,
daß sonst sie ganz dir gehörte,
du Gott, vergiß das nicht!
Dein ewig Teil nicht wirst du entehren,
Schande nicht wollen, die dich beschimpft:
dich selbst ließest du sinken,
sähst du dem Spott mich zum Spiel! This foolish maid was unsuited to you,
who, stunned by your orders, did not
understand you,
when my own counsel makes only one
command clear:
to love everything you had loved.
Must I then leave you and, fearing, shun you,
must you rend our tightly woven bond,
and banish from yourself half your being,
who once belonged entirely to you,
O god, do not forget that!
You will not dishonor that other part of you,
will not disgrace something that which brings
shame on you, too!
Your own fame would be darkened,
if I were the object of ridicule and scorn!
Wotan:
Wotan
Du folgtest selig der Liebe Macht:
folge nun dem, den du lieben mußt! You happily followed the power of love:
now follow him whom you are compelled to
love.
Brünnhilde:
Brünnhilde
Soll ich aus Walhall scheiden,
nicht mehr mit dir schaffen und walten,
dem herrischen Manne gehorchen fortan:
dem feigen Prahler gib mich nicht preis!
Nicht wertlos sei er, der mich gewinnt. If I must then leave Valhalla,
no longer to play a part in your governance,
if I must henceforth serve a man as my master:
do not make me subservient to a boastful coward!
Let he who prevails not be unworthy.
Wotan:
Wotan
Von Walvater schiedest du
nicht wählen darf er für dich. You have turned form War-Father;
he may not create your fate.
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Brünnhilde:
Brünnhilde
Du zeugtest ein edles Geschlecht;
kein Zager kann je ihm entschlagen;
der weihlichste Held, ich weiß es
entblüht dem Wälsungenstamm. A glorious race arose from you;
No coward shall ever arise from it:
the bravest of heroes — I know it —
shall bless the Volsung race.
Wotan:
Wotan
Schweig von dem Wälsungenstamm!
Von dir geschieden, schied ich von ihm;
vernichten mußt ihn der Neid! Do not speak of the Volsung race!
When I cast you off, I cast them off;
hate destroyed all of them!
Brünnhilde:
Brünnhilde
Die von dir sich riß, rettete ihn. Sieglinde hegt die heiligste Frucht;
in Schmerz und Leid, wie kein Weib sie gelitten,
wird sie gebären,
was bang sie birgt. In turning from you I rescued the race.
Sieglinde bears the holiest fruit;
in pain and grief,
such as woman never suffered,
she will bring forth what she hides in fear!
Wotan:
Wotan
Nie suche bei mir Schutz für die Frau,
noch für ihres Schoßes Frucht! Never ask me for shelter for her,
nor for fruit she shall bear.
Brünnhilde:
Brünnhilde
Sie wahret das Schwert, das du Siegmund schufest.
She guards the sword that you made for Siegmund.
Wotan:
Wotan
Und das ich ihm in Stücke schlug!
Nicht streb, o Maid, den Mut mir zu stören;
erwarte dein Los, wie sich’s dir wirft;
nicht diesen kann ich es dir!
Doch fort muß ich jetzt, fern mich verziehn;
zuviel schon zögert ich hier:
von der Abwendigen wend ich mich ab;
nicht wissen darf ich, was sie sich wünscht:
die Strafe nur muß vollstreckt ich sehn! The sword that I smashed into splinters!
O maid, do not try to vanquish my spirit;
await your fate, as it must fall to you;
I cannot change it for you.
But I must leave here, now, traveling far from you;
I have stayed with you here too long:
as you turned from me, I must turn from you;
what you may wish I may not even know:
I can only see your sentence exacted!
Brünnhilde:
Brünnhilde
Was hast du erdacht, daß ich erdulde?
What have you decreed that I shall suffer?
Wotan:
Wotan
In festen Schlaf verschließ ich dich:
wer so die Wehrlose weckt,
dem ward, erwacht, sie zum Weib! You shall be encased in deep sleep:
whoever finds you, helpless,
and wakes you shall win you for his wife!
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Brünnhilde:
Brünnhilde
Soll fesselnder Schlaf fest mich binden,
dem feigsten Manne zur leichten Beute:
dies eine muß du erhören,
was heilge Angst zu dir fleht!
Die Schlafende schütze mit scheuchenden
Schrecken,
daß nur ein furchtlos freiester Held
hier auf dem Felsen einst mich fänd!
If chains of sleep shall bind me tight,
for the lowest cowards I’ll be an easy conquest;
you must grant me this one thing,
in solemn anguish I beg:
O shelter me, sleeping,
with frightening horrors,
so only the best, most fearless of heroes
may find me here on this rock!
Wotan:
Wotan
Zu viel begehrst du, zu viel der Gunst! You ask too much, too great a favor!
Brünnhilde:
Brünnhilde
Dies eine mußt du erhören!
Zerknicke dein Kind, das dein Knie umfaßt;
zertritt die Traute, zertrümmre die Maid,
ihres Leibes Spur zerstöre dein Speer:
doch gib, Grausamer, nicht
der gräßlichsten Schmach sie preis! Auf dein Gebot entbrenne ein Feuer;
den Felsen umglühe lodernde Glut;
es leck ihre Zung, es fresse ihr Zahn
den Zagen, der frech sich wagte,
dem freislichen Felsen zu nahn! You must grant me this one thing!
O crush thou your child who clasps your knees;
stomp on your favorite, destroy the maid,
let your spear quench the light of her life:
but do not, in thy anger, condemn her
to this most hateful shame!
By your command kindle a fire;
surround the rock with guardian flames;
so its touch can lick, its teeth can bite any
coward who rashly dares
to draw near the terrifying rock!
Wotan:
Wotan
Leb wohl, du kühnes, herrliches Kind!
Du meines Herzens heiligster Stolz!
Leb wohl! Leb wohl! Leb wohl! Muß ich dich meiden,
und darf nicht minnig
mein Gruß dich mehr grüßen,
sollst du nun nicht mehr neben mir reiten,
noch Met beim Mahl mir reichen;
muß ich verlieren dich, die ich liebe,
du lachende Lust meines Auges:
ein bräutliches Feuer soll dir nun brennen,
wie nie einer Braut es gebrannt!
Flammende Glut umglühe den Fels;
mit zehrenden Schrecken scheuch es den Zagen;
der Feige fliehe Brünnhildes Fels!
Denn einer nur freie die Braut,
der freier als ich, der Gott! Farewell, you bold, glorious child!
You, once my heart’s holiest pride!
Farewell! Farewell! Farewell!
I must I forsake you,
and I may never more extend you
my welcome of love;
you may never more ride beside me,
or bring me mead at banquet;
I must abandon you, whom I so loved,
you, the laughing delight of my eyes.
Then I shall kindle such a bridal fire for you
as has never before burned for a bride!
Blazing flames shall flare around the rock:
let them terrify the coward!
Let the fainthearted flee from Brünnhilde’s rock!
For only one shall win the bride;
one who is freer than I, the god!
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Der Augen leuchtendes Paar,
das oft ich lächelnd gekost,
wenn Kampfeslust ein Kuß dir lohnte,
wenn kindisch lallend der Helden Lob
von holden Lippen dir floß:
dieser Augen strahlendes Paar,
das oft im Sturm mir geglänzt,
wenn Hoffnungssehnen das Herz mir sengte,
nach Weltenwonne mein Wunsch verlangte
aus wild webendem Bangen:
zum letztenmal
letz’ es mich heut
mit des Lebewohles letztem Kuß!
Dem glücklichem Manne
glänze sein Stern:
dem unseligen Ew’gen
muß es scheidend sich schließen. Your brightly glittering eyes,
that, smiling, I often caressed,
when valor won you a kiss,
when childish chatter in praise of heroes
flowed forth from your sweetest lips:
those gleaming, radiant eyes
that often shone on me in storms,
when hopeful yearning burned up my heart,
when my desires longed for worldly delights,
through wild, wavering sadness:
only once more, today, lured by their light,
my lips shall give them love’s farewell!
May they beam on a mortal more blessed:
on me, unlucky immortal,
must they close now forever.
Denn so kehrt der Gott sich dir ab,
so küßt er die Gottheit von dir! With this the god now turns away from you,
with this he kisses away your godhood!
Loge, hör’! Lausche hieher!
Wie zuerst ich dich fand, als feurige Glut,
wie dann einst du mir schwandest,
als schweifende Lohe;
wie ich dich band, bann ich dich heut!
Herauf, wabernde Lohe,
umlodre mir feurig den Fels! Loge, hear! Listen to me!
As I found you first, a glimmering flame,
as once you vanished from me,
in wandering fire;
as once I joined with you, now I conjure you!
Appear, magic fire,
surround the rock with flames!
Loge! Loge! Hieher! Loge! Loge! Appear!
Wer meines Speeres Spitze fürchtet,
durchschreite das Feuer nie! Whoever fears the point of my spear
shall never cross the flaming fire!
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