Evening star., 1934-11-18
TINE wALKURE" Is the Sec
ond Of the four Wagner
works which constitute the
MRin0 der Nihelunoer % Of


Ring der Nibelungen," of
which the first one Is
"Rheingold" (regarded as prologue)
and the third and fourth "Siegfried"
and Twilight Of the Gods" The
story Of the Nibelungen ring, possess
sion Of which brings bad luck (the
curse Of gold), Is too well known to
require comment. What does require
comment Ia the theory Of the Lett
motiv."
Wagner, dissatisfied with the opera
form as known In his early days,
wanted dramatic force and truth
among other things. He therefore
substituted for the opera form Of the
time with its chorus, arias, ritornelli,
ETC., a form of his own consisting
Of many motives" Every person,
every action, every object even had its
motive Wotan-motive. love-motive,
swordmotive, etc. This, together
with the new Instrumentation built
on Weber's examples, plus, Of course,
Wagner's genius, brought an art form
which after, and because Of, much an
tagonism, eventually swept the world,
silencing all criticism in the path
Of its splendid victory.
Now that we are at a point where
an unbiased view is possible, we can
see both the grandeur and the flaws
Of this art form. These flaws are
principally: That the motive" the
ory as a theory is a fallacy for OBJ
vious reasons. It does not take into
account that the psychological
changes in the personages Of the
operas are what count, that, although
the same motive Is heard at each and
every appearance Of Wotan, the Wo-
tan Of Rheingold in all his splendor
(his first appearance) is very differ
ent Wotan from the one in Gotter-
dammerung, where he Is shorn OF
his power, grief-stricken. a deceived
and deceiving old man-and very
little else. Wagner's genius and inspi-
ration often carry us over these flaws,
but they are there just the same.
Another one of Wagner's fallacies
was his sweeping away, in theory and
writings at least. of the Italian opera
form as existing then, forgetting
that much Of 1t was fine, built on the
Greek tradition, albeit degenerated. d.
The aria, for instance, as means Of
concentration on high point" the
use of the chorus, the ensembles, all
Of them excellent devices in this
singularly hybrid art, were con-
demned. But, as we say in Holland,
"the blood creeps where it cannot
rush" In the Walkure, for instance,
the aria, although partly disguised.
creeps in Just the same as soon as
something real" happens. After
much description Of storm, person.
ages (Siegmund, Sieglinde, Hunding)
thirst, love, anger, sorrow, swords, fire
and what not, suddenly something
definitely human happens. Sieg-
mund tells Sieglinde he loves her.
And 10! all theories stop. and Wag-
ner writes q very fine but unmistak-
able aria, with an introduction, coda,
e tutti quaint, and reaches the high
point Of his act. Even the accom-
paniment Is in the (by real Wag-
nerians'D much despised "oom- pa pa
rhythm" quicker. All theory is
dull, and this is but another instance
This aria, Siegmund's love song,
with all its passionate intensity, ends
the first act.
Another objection to Wagner's art
on the part of some Is a more per-
sonal one. That his actors, gods and
goddesses, heroes and heroines, giants
and dwarfs, lizards and dragons are
rather over -lifesized, bit inhuman,
often boring, long -winded, too IA
tiguing in their continuous alliter-
| alton.
This must be acknowledged to be
true, as Is the now often heard ale
cation, that musically long stretches
are but padding (and sometimes very
tiresome padding) between high
points. But those high pointsl It is
useless and futile to argue about
those. And 1t Is the concerts ad-
vantage over the opera that these
splendid passages can be lifted out
| and especially presented. In these we
hear Wagner at his best and most
glorious, at the very height Of hi:
genius and inspiration.
have arranged the program in the
order Of the events as they take place
in the trilogy of the Ring"
Entrance Of the Gods Into Wal
halla," from "Rheingold."
We start the concert with the worl
known as the Entrance Of the God
Into Walhalla" from the prologu
"Das Rheingold." In actual fact, j
is combination of the summoning b,
Thor's hammer Of Loge, the fire god
followed by the lovely song Of tn
Rhine maidens, and then the entrance
Of the gods into Walhalla.
"Seigmund's Love Song" from ''Dij
Walkure."
The second work Is "Siegmund'
Love Song''-the climactic end Of &C
one from the "Walkure."
ride of the Walkure." from "Di
Walkure."
The Ride Of the walkure" follow
with its gorgeous Instrumentation ant
the picture in music of the Wisl
maidens in full armour on horsebacl
raising their battle cry. The shrillinl
of the wind, the galloping of tn
horses, the Valkyries calling to eacl
other form a picture which for splen
dor, wild energy and wilder beauty ha'
never been matched.
"Wotan's Farewell" from die Wal
kure."
The end Of the first half Of the pro
gram Is also the finale of the opera
namely, "Wotan's Farewell" and tn
Magic Fire" music. The Valkyrie
are in flight. On a rocky space ap
pears Wotan, a struggling and de
feated god and his child Brunnhilde