The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-07
that orgy as an outward and visible sym
Dol Of the war In TannhAusers epirit.

and Venus II would raise that mach
abused scene to the level Of potency which
was In Wagner's mind when he wrote II.
Then the wild cry TO the Virgin Ct the
agonized soul. would be d tragic climax.
The so-called ballet IL really a device Of
what the dramatists call preparation, but as
II is habitually presented, it prepares for
nothing, for il means othing
The appeal of Tdnnhdustr to the Virgin
is followed by orie of those uoautiful points
Of contrast which abound in the works
Of Wagner The scene changes by a stage
Transformation 10 the valley before the
Wartburg castle. The peace of a gentle
landscape Is before us. The cleaning
reds and flaming yellows Of the VenusDerg
give way 10 cool greens end to the bleesea
blue of the heavens The tinkling Of q
sleeps bell is heard. and a shepherd plays
a simple melody upon his Pipe and sings
TO the praise of Holda, the goddess Of spring.
This hange is well enoug Oh made at theoI era
house out how much more eloquent it w uld
be il The preceding scene were well wrou t5ht
out.
Again comes an emotional derelorr- ent
leading 70 the resolution Of Tonnhd yser
70 return and throw himself at the Ieet Ci
Elizabeth As his spirits regain their old
eu...I,I.,y he bursts into glaosomeJsr Gee h
I he music throbs with joyous antio ipation.
The horns soLnd and the huntsmen with
their dogs and horses appear. The stage
should re filed With gleeiul hustle. What
is needed here is an atmosphere of hopeful
reeo ton from the ] ON of he first part Of
the scene. when Tanntd ser is PROSTATE
in the dust. How la...- /. al is as a rule.
II is carried forward in the perfunctory
style Of a grand opera finale, and the con-
ductor hi nself too often turns the music.
which certainly does not reach the level
Of the mood, into a common ensemble.
The stage manager is still more 10 blame.
for he per .nits the singers TO line Up behind
the ioo,lights ana devote themselves To
their pretty tone production without any
thought of the action which ought TO ac-
company the text.
Such is the spirit which pervadee the
performance. There seems to be an i'm
preston that because Tamil Z .ser" was
written in the peril d preceding the de-
velop .nent Of the lett motif system that II
is not TO lie treated as the later Wagneri III
drama is. This is a radical error. Nag-
ners theory Of the union Of poetry, action,
text and scenic illusion in the formation
of wholly new lyric art was as dear 70
his thought al the period of this opera as
a, that Of Tristan und Isolde. He had
not vet worked out his musical system,
but the score Of "Tanni.a GER everywhere
shows that the author was striving TO escape
the ol i-fashioned opera and build music
drama
He had not yet fully developed his ideas
a. TO the complete ceI .tIalization of tie
music upon the emotions OF the scene,
AID yet lie had already formulated those
ideas Ile tells lis in the Communication
to Ny Friei.ds" that the fuI.da Metal teLets
Of his theory came to him Ia the compost
tion of Der Fliesende HolA der They
were embryonic, to be sure, hut the seed
was sown in his mind. In Tamil AIser'
he temporarily dropped the method OF
representa-, i've themes, but the music.
freely composed, il everywhere desig ed
to x 2ress the inner life Of the characters
ard ia 10 opera did be succeed Ia wrifii. &
| a. ytnii.g more tragic in reclamation thai
the narrative of the hopeless sinner in the
last act.
Finally it should be borne in mind ,ha,
he pr"tagci.ist of this mighty tragedy is
TdnnhdVser His position is as clearly
deli. eu a. that Of Isolde Tristan is lot
a protagor ist in the tr,. serse OF the term
He is help for Isolde. the real pro.
tagonist. The tragedy is hers; the climax
Of the drama is hers; the mightiest utter
acc of IL is hers. tristan is mated with
Sieofried of "GotteILa.nmeruug, Isolde
viii. Brunnhilde
But ii tho third Of Nagr ors dramas the
tragedy is entirely Tonnhdusers. The
, battle of good ard evil Is III aid for his
soul. The salvation is his. The sacrifice
| OF Elizabeth is for him. The death wound
dealt to the teder heart Of Wolfrdm is for
! him The first act il to show his struggl,
| for freedom from the slavery wrought by
! his own act The whole second act is to
show that sin still has domL ior. over him
al d that the curse Of evil is that it Leget'
| evil The third act is to show that re-
pei.tance may save even the soul tortured
! to Tire verge Of dam alton
This drama is a sermon for men. Women
think they understand "TannhH lser." bu
every man Who looks into his own hear
| knows that no woman can measure the rca
significance Of this tragedy. The womal
| v no thinks she understands Tannla Use
understands only Elizabeth. She know
the breadth and depth Of love that for
gives. Tho woman who loves says Of he
! beloved as Job said Of his God: Though
! lie slay me yet will ] trust Him" III,
women comp ehend that attitude. Blu
they do not drink in the full meaning
of the war Of the flesh and the devil witt
| the aspiration for purity which a man
mother bequeaths him.
That is something which men alon
know and which they bury in the deepes
cavorns OF their hearts. Wagner was n
moralist. II, was no professor Of ethics
He was no Christian. Blu. he was thoroucl
| Giecian. artist from soul to finger tips
He saw in the scattered materials fror
which he made his "Tannia iser' the ele
ments of n tremendous tragedy Grecia
and artist he perceived wi,ha vision as clea
rs that OF Eschylus that tragedy mrs
d al not with physical misfortunes, bu
with psychological miseries and. lilt
fsohvlus and all the other Greek tragi
POETS. he saw that psychologist suffering wa
the punishment for violation Of e,hics
Law.
out Of these convictions he wrought hi
"Tannl auser his "Waktire," his "Gottcr
(amncrung. his Tristan" and his "Pars
H. ,napncenapt nf poatic p,at a, /,