New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-09-26

freed from a which had rested upon her for
ages goes to a blissful and eternal rest.
Such is the story of Wagners "Parsfal." 1t is the
purpose of these "Vignettes' to help the musical
layman who loves lyric drama to enjoyment Crti-
csm might do this but purpose of simple expo
ston has already been proclaimed and shall be
adhered lest some reader think that he is being
led too far aed. In this the exposition shall
take the form of marshalling of the elements of
the story in approximations and legendary.
Careful readers of English literature will have had
no difficulty in recognizing in it story of quest
of the Holy Grail. Tennyson will have taught them
that the hero is that
Sir Percivae
Whom Arthur and his knighthood called the Pure;
That the talismanc vessel Is
the cup itself from which our Lord
Drank at the last sad supper with His own;
that the lance which struck and healed the griev-
Gus wound in the side of the king is the spear with
which the side of the Christ was pierced on Cal
vary. II is also obvious that the king. whose
is Amfortas. that is, the poweress one" is a
symbol of humanity suffering from the wounds of
slavery to desire; that the heroic act of Parsifal
as Wagner calls him, which brings release TO the
king and his knights is remuneration of desire
prompted by pity, compassion. fellow suffering;
and that this gentle emotion it was that had in
spired knowledge simultaneously of a great need
and means of deliverance. The ethical idea of
the drama. as l set forth in book entitled
Mdgnerid0
ago, is that II is the enlightenment which comes
through pity which brings salvation. The alIusfon
is TO the redemption of mankind by the sufferings
and compassionate death Of Christ; and that stu
pendous tragedy is the predguratiOn of the mimic
drama which Wagner has constructed The spec
tacle to which he invites u.s. and with which he
hoped TO impress us and move us TO an acceptance
Of the lesson underlying his play. is the alteration
| Of the Holy Grail, cast in the form of a mmicry
| of the Last Supper bedzened with some of the
| -1iyt
romance
In the minds of many persons it is proclamation
to make a stage spectacle out of religious things;
and it has been urged that "ParsifaI is not only
| religious but specifically Christian Not only
Christian hut filled with parodies Of elements
which partly liturgical. partly Biblical In mar
rating the incidents of the play I have purposely
avoided all illusions to the things which have been
matters of controversy. It is possible look upon
'Parsifal' sort of elorfed fairy tale and to
this end / purpose subject its elements to in
quiry, and shall therefore go a bit more into de-
tail Throughout the play Parsifal is referred to
as redeemer, and i'm the third act scenes in which
Parsifal plays as the central figure borrowed
from the life OF Christ Kundry the sorceress
who attempts his destruction time and is in
the service Of the knights of the Grail at another
anoints his feet and dries them with her hair as
the Magdaen did the feet OF Christ in the house
of Simon the Pharisee. Parsifal baptizes Kundrv
and admonishes her TO believe in the Redeemer:
Die Taufe nimm
ind glaub an den Erl0seri'
Kundry woeps. Unto the woman who was sin
ner and wept His feet Christ said Thy sins are
forgiven. Thy faith hath saved thee Go
in peace" At the elevation the grail by Parsifa
after the healing of Amfortas dove descends from
the dome and hovers over the new kings head.
What saith the Scripture? And Jesus when he
was baptized went up straghtway out of the
water; and 10 the heavens were opened unto him.
and he saw the Spirit of God descending upon him"
(St Matthew. iii, 49, 1t would be idle to argue
that these things not Biblical though in be-
half Of the illusions Parsifal as a redeemer do
not of necessity belong in the category. We shall
see presently that the drama is permeated with
Buddhism, and there a multitude of redecmers
and saviors in India besides the Buddha
Let look at the liturgical elements The TIoiv
Grail is chalice 1t is brought into the temple in
solemn procession in yelled shrine and deposited
on table Thus. also, the chalice within its nall
is brought in at the sacrament of the mass and
placed on the altar before the celebrant In the
drama boys voices sing in the invisible heights:
Nehmet hin mein Blut
I'm unSerer I.ebe Wien,
Nehmet hin meinen Ieib
Auf dasS ihr mein' gedenkti
Is there purposed resemblance here 10 the words
OF conservation i'm the mass? "Accipite et n,andr
| cate eX hoe omnes. Hoe est enim Corpus roeu,,