Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/299

* WAGNER. 2-15 WAGNER. fruition of his theories. The four scores of the cycle are woofs of leadiiij,' motives, the orclicstra, lilie the Creek chorus, ehxiueiitly conuiieiitiiiK up- on or empliasizing the staj^e action or participat- ing in it like a dramatis ])ersona. Nothing would scorn more J)erfcctly adapted to a plastic; union of music and drama than the leitmotiv (q.v.) ('leading motive' or typical ])lirasc). It is a musically expressive melod.y which at the same time typifies a character, thought, or impulse, in the drama; and which is ever clianging llirough- out the action, according as the relations of the person, thought, or impulse it typifies vary in the drama. Up to, and including, Lohen(rin, Wagner may still be said to have composed op- eras, though Tuiiiihiiuscr and esjiecially Lohengrin already have certain characteristics of his more advanced style, but the liiny, Tristan, Meislcr- singer, and Parsifal are nuisic-dramas. Before giving the RUig dramas their final form he became imluied with Schopenliauer, and Briinnhilde's immolation may be regarded as that philosopher's "Negation of the will to live' expressed in action and music. It is the woman Briinnliilde whose sacrifice causes the 'dusk' of the gods of mythology and the dawn of the new human era. The self-saeriticing grace of woman and man's redemption through it is a favorite topic of Wagner (Senta, Elizabeth) ; in Isolde's death over Tristan's body we have typified the Oriental philosophy of the remingling of the soul with the universe; and Parsifal is the story of Christ symbolized for the stage. The finale of the first act is nothing less than a communion service with a choir in the dome, a chorus on the stage, an orchestra in the sunken space, and tolling bells without, a colossal aggregation of effects, yet all for a valid artistic purpose. There- in is the key to Wagner's greatness. For this reason, too, all of his scores, although unmistak- ably Wagnerian, differ from one another accord- ing to their subjects. The music of Tristan, for example, clothes that drama in a raiment of many yet ever blending tone colors. But it could not be fitted to any of his other dramas. Die Meis- tersinger is Wagner's only music-drama with a touch of absolute comedy. Yet it too is not with- out its philosophy. In the form of a charming mediaeval romance, it symbolizes Wagner's own career. The Meistersinger, with their I)lind ad- herence to their arbitrary rules of poetic and musical compositions, and the crabbed, intriguing Beckmesser typify the Philistines and the vitu- perative critics who so enil.iittered Wagner's career. The noble knight, Walther von Stolzing. who is free and untranuueled by tradition, is the composer himself. Hans Sachs, who recognizes his genius, is the enlightened public through whom Wagner finally triumphed. Wagner's influence in operatic reform was largely directed toward supjiressing the undue ascendency of the prima donna. Opera had sunk absolutely to the level of a series of de- tached pieces intended wholly for vocal display. The Wagner music-dramas require great singers, but these do not absolutely dominate everything. Moreover, an intellectual and dramatic grasp of their rCles is demanded of them, and it is through their interpretations, viewed from a higher stand- point than that of mere solfeggio, that their achievements now are judged. No longer, too, are inane librettoSj like those of the old-style operas, tolerated. ("What is too stupid to be si]oken is sung." — Voltaire.) The book of the modern musical stage work has become, thanks to Wagner, a thing of soriinis moment. As fen- the reform wrouglit throngii agner in the scenic setting, mechanical ctlVc'ts, and staging of opera, that is too obvious to need more than referen<te. Besides Wagner's stage works there may be mentioned his Kaiseriiiurscli (in celebration of the forming of the new German Empire), IJiil- digungsmarsch (dedicated to King Ludwig), Centennial March (see below), and Siegfried Idyll. He compoged some beautiful songs. In addition to his libretti, he wrote nuich in de- fense of his theories, and among other essays his famous Das Judentum in dcr iliisiih (is.')2), which caused intense feeling and subjected him to many attacks. It drew out more than a hundred published replies. Wag.nek's Music in A.mericv. Although Wagner never was in this country, the possibility of his coming over here often is referred to in his letters. References occur as early as 1848. In a letter to his friend Willielm Fischer, chorus master of the Royal Theatre, Dresden, he speaks of America as a 'possible money source.' In 1855 Ferdinand Praeger contributed to the Musical ila^ettc, published in New York by JIason Brothers (sons of Lowell Mason), two letters from London di^scribing Wagner's work with the London Philharmonic Society. His per.sonal characteristics also w'cre interestingly set forth and these letters, contributed at this compara- tively early date to an American periodical, are noteworthy items in the Wagncriana of those days. In April. 1855, the New Yoi'k Philharnionic Society, during the first year of Carl Bergmann's condnctorship, and in its thirteenth season, gave its first performance of a Wagner work — the Tannhiiuser overture, which made a profound im- pression. Possibly it was this, coupled with the Praeger letters, which led Mason Brothers to make Wagner an offer to come to the United States. The amount offered seems to have been from $10,000 to $12,000, and he was to conduct con- certs in the country for six months. The offer was the subject of some interesting correspond- ence between Wagner and Liszt. Though gen- erous for the times and a godsend to Wag- ner in his unfortunate circumstances, his artistic conscience dictated that he s .ould re- main closely in touch with <3erman senti- ments and ideals in the working out of his colossal theory of a new type of musico-dramatic production. In all matters at issue between his material needs and his artistic conscience Wagner alwaj's decided promptly in the latter's favor: and he declined the offer. In 1873 an offer came to him irom Chicago, with promise of ample capital, to produce his Ring of the Nihe- liing there. But again he realized that his mis- sion lay in Germany. In 1880 he put an end to all further offers by stating that he would not come to America for less than $1,000,000. Probably 'agner's music was first played in the L'uited States by the traveling Germania Orchestra, which came over in 1848, and whose repertoire included the Rien^i and Tannhiiuser overtures. The first production of a Wagner opera in America occurred at the Stadt Theatre, New York, where, in April, 1S59, Bergmann conducted Tannhiiuser with relics of a defunct