By now Wagner was working hard at the Ring cycle again. He had promised the king that the four operas would be performed in Munich when they were ready, but he realized that they would need a special kind of opera house. So he designed his own opera house and had it built in the town of Bayreuth. He spent a lot of time travelling and conducting in order to raise money for this huge project. The King Ludwig also gave him a lot of money, and a lovely new house in Bayreuth which Wagner called "Wahnfried" (the name of the house means something like: "Peace from the mad world"). Finally, the complete cycle of four operas was performed in August 1876 in the new opera house, the (Bayreuth Festspielhaus). The third and fourth operas of the cycle, "Siegfried" and "Götterdämmerung " were being performed for the first time.
Wagner spent the rest of his life living in "Wahnfried". Sometimes he travelled. He went to London and made several trips to Italy. He wrote his last opera, "Parsifal", which almost has a religious feeling to it. The story is related to the legends about King Arthur and the Holy Grail. Wagner dictated his memoirs to his wife. His autobiography is called "Mein Leben" ("My Life"). He died of a heart attack when he was staying in Venice. He was buried in the grounds of "Wahnfried".
Wagner had enormous influence on the development of music. Many composers imitated his harmonies, or let themselves be influenced by them. By the early 20th century some composers like Arnold Schoenberg had gone even farther in making more and more complicated harmonies, and composers had to find new ways of composing.
Wagner made his orchestras much bigger than usual. The woodwind, for example, need four of each instrument (four flutes, four oboes etc.), and there are extra instruments like the bass clarinet and Wagner tubas. His ideas about music drama were very important. His music helps the drama to be told because it develops all the time, like the music in a symphony.
Wagner was anti-semitic. Wagner's writings on Jews, including ‘Jewishness in Music’, corresponded to some existing anti-semitic trends of thought in Germany during the 19th century. The published essay attacks two Jewish composers and Jews in general.
Wagner died long before the Nazis arose. Wagner’s widow and heirs established direct political links with the Nazis. Their actions to belittle Jewish artists and involvement in anti-semetic organisations after 1914 helped prepare the ground for state-organised expulsion of Jewish artists after 1933.
When Hitler came to power in the 1930s he liked Wagner’s music and thought that it was something typically German. Wagner’s ideas in "Die Meistersinger von Nűrnberg" about German art suited some of Hitler’s thoughts. After the war, the music was wrongly thought of as being something of the Nazis. Wagner wrote things that freely expressed his dislike of Jewish composers, although he praised Felix Mendelssohn for his Hebrides Overture. Wagner also had some Jewish friends. Wagner's music is played very rarely in Israel. Daniel Barenboim made people in Israel angry by conducting Wagner’s music at a Jerusalem festival in 2001.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is a novel. It was written by Mark Twain. It was published in 1889. It is one of the first stories about time travel.
Hank Morgan is an American from late 19th-century Connecticut. He travels back in time to King Arthur's Camelot. He has a lot of knowledge of science and technology. He becomes very powerful. People call him "The Boss". He tries to improve medieval society according to the morals and technologies of his time. In the end, Merlin puts Hank in a magic sleep. Hank wakes in his own time.
Juno (mythology)
Juno (), in Roman mythology, is the wife of Jupiter and the queen of the gods. She was later identified with the goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus in Greek mythology. She was the goddess of marriage and childbirth. She was called Juno Regina ("Queen"). She was the patron goddess of Rome and a protector of the state. With Jupiter and Minerva, she was part of the Capitoline triad of gods.
Juno, Roman goddess and Hera, Greek goddess, are the same person just believed to be different.
Excalibur
Excalibur is a legendary sword, in the mythology of Great Britain. It was owned by King Arthur. The sword and its name have become very widespread in popular culture, and are used in fiction and films. Excalibur is a symbol of divine kingship and great power.
The sword was obtained by the king with the advice of his wizard-adviser Merlin. But it was considered that there existed two Excalibur swords. The first was the one Merlin put into the stone and said that the throne will be taken by the one who will take the sword out of the stone. Young Arthur was the one to do it. The second Excalibur was the one to which Merlin took the King. The sword was located at a magical lake where the Lady of the Lake gave it to Arthur. The Excalibur was made by an Avalonian elf. Later the sword was stolen by his sister and it was the time when the scabbard (sword coverage) was lost. In the battle of Camlann, Arthur was hurt, and he told Bedwyr (Griflet) to return the Excalibur to the lake.
One of the earliest names of King Arthur's sword was Caladfwlch. It is a Welsh word that comes from Calad-Bolg (Hard Lightning). Later it was changed to Caliburn by Geoffrey of Monmouth. And today we know it as Excalibur, due to French.
The legend of Excalibur is similar to the Irish hero, Cú Chulainn who had a sword named Caladbolg; or to Norse Legend of Sigurd. All these swords were made by an elf. Sometimes he is named Wayland (Saxon myth); and Gofannon (Celtic myth).
Clarent is one of King Arthur's two mythic swords. The first is Excalibur – the sword of war, and the second Clarent – the sword of peace. Clarent sword is less known because it was used for peaceful acts, whereas the Excalibur was well known for it was used to defend Camelot. But by the legend the Clarent Sword play a very important role. It was stolen by the traitor Mordred, who later used it against Arthur and cut him to death.
In some versions of the story of Excalibur, it is said that the sword was forged in dragon fire, though it is not commonly told of.
"No government should be based on old hags handing out swords!!"-Sir Galahad, Monty Python's, Spamalot
Georg Philipp Telemann
Georg Philipp Telemann (March 14, 1681 in Magdeburg - June 25, 1767 in Hamburg) was a German baroque composer. He wrote over 601 pieces of music, many of which were published. As publishing cost much money at that time, this was quite unusual. He mostly taught himself musically and knew how to play 10(gay)instruments. During his life people thought he was one of the greatest composers. He also wrote lots of church music, most of which is not common today.
Giovanni da Palestrina
Giovanni da Palestrina (born Palestrina, (c.1525 – February 2, 1594 in Rome) was a very important Italian composer of church music of his time. He lived in the period called the Renaissance. Most of his music was choral (written for choirs). It is very polyphonic. This means that the different voices (sopranos, altos, tenors or basses) are often singing different words and different parts of the tune at the same time. Many composers since have studied the way that Palestrina wrote, because this is an excellent way to learn to write contrapuntal music.