Litchfield enquirer., 1876-08-31
wasner's Ring of the Mibe.unes.

Wa3ner's Ring of the MibeIunRs.
 Whatever may be its result upon the future of dramatic music, there can be no doubt of the importance of the experi- ment tried by Wagner at Bayreuth, fortnight since, in pursuance of his grand mission to elevate the opera to the place of prime importance in music. Since Beethoven the Symphony has undoubted- ly maintained a much higher rank than the opera. Schubert, Mendlessohn, Schumann, Chopin. and other great mas ters of recent times. have followed Beeth- oven in devoting their best energies to in- strumental music. They attempted little in the opera, and that little unsuccessful ly. Against such names there are only Wagner and Gounod among the greatest modern musicians who have won their highest fame as writers of dramatic mu- sic. If,therefore, Wagner fails. it would seem that the opera must fall hopelessly back to second position, leaving the mu. sic of the future to the orchestra and the piano.
 Wagner asserts. however, that the opera has fallen back only because of it's hav- ing been hampered by old. inartistic tra- ditions. As the critic of the Tribune puts it:
 I 'tBriefy, Wagner finds music, poetry, dramatic action. and pictorial illustration, whiSh were all combined in the theatre of the old Greeks. now unnaturally divided, and all suffering from the separation. In . the opera the music, so called, has usurp. ed everything and become degraded in its isolation; we have string of unmeaning arias and dry recitatives, to which the poet is asked to supply nothing but a scaffolding of more or less stupid words Wagner has undertaken to reunite the l, long separated arts, and make them join on equal terms. in the expression of the poetic emotion" .-.a a.....
 Following this leading idea, Wagner has undertaken no less than the entire revolution of the opera. He writes his own poetry, and he makes the action of his drama continuous. There is no more of the one OF two part melody with con- mon.place accompaniment. The voices and the instruments form their melody "ln committee of the whole" (if so prosaic and parliamentary a comparison may be allowed) and the parts of this whole are as thoroughly fused together as are the instrumental parts of Beethoven Sym- phony. Thus the music of the opera is not only elevated to the standard of the symphony, but there are, as Wagner claims, the added effects of poetry. acting and scenery. How complete revolution the realization of Wagner's theory would bring about is obvious to anyone even slightly acquainted with the opera. His former works have merely shown his ten. dencies. The Ring of the Nibelungs is the great series of four operas that bring the theories of this musician, dramatist and poet, to the test of practical experi- ment. At an immense expense. a theatre has been constructed on the Wagnerian plan at Bayreuth Ca town Tn Bavaria, only known to us us the place to which the favorite sister of Frederick the Great was exiled by marriage). At this theater the Ring of the Nibelungs was performed, a fortnight since, by an orchestra of the best players in Germany and by the best singers in Germany. to an audience of the best musicians in the world.
 The Tribune of Monday contains an acc count of the two first representations from MT. Hassard. it's staff correspondent and musical critic. sent on to Bayreuth to re. port this remarkable musical entertain. ment eff so light a name can comport with so grand an undertaking. This letter contains the dearest resume of Wagner's theory of the opera we have ever seen 1; and most admirable description of the wonderful scenic and musical effects he has achieved. Mir. Hassard does not con- sider the orchestra equal to Thomas in unlty or brilliancy; he criticises German voices and German acting very sharply, but Wagner's grand combination of poet ", music and the drama carry him com pletely of his feet. Of the introduction (the Rheingold) he says
 The performance which lasted two hours and half without intermission of any kind-for the .Rheingold, :" unlike other parts of the work, is not divided in- to acts-but in spite of the terrible heat. or the crowded and unventilated theater. am sure that no unappreciative person can have found the evening long. The interest rose steadily from the first scene to the last amazement grew that man should have conceived such wonderful effects. or a single braln have found the means to set before the world in all this clearness and splendor such subtle and deep felt poem We came away not onl, excited. but bewildered. For there is nothing like this in all music or in all history of tue stage. It was . great sur. prise tO those who have been accustomed to decry Wagner's compositions as ab struse. for they found that it appealed di rectly to their feelings. and called for no 7 exercise whatever of the reasoning or re- feeding poaers. The least cultivated spectator could unde, stand and love it One had only to ait still, look, and enjoy Of the result of the grand experiment, he speaks n the following confident terms: sfsa4
 Let me satisfy doubtful inauirers a, once the most exsravagant expectations which had been formed abroad of the eff feet of this music, sung as the compose, meant 1t should be sung, with the aid O