English and German. Bibliography: p. 96.

English National Opera Guides are ideal companions to the opera. They provide stimulating introductory articles together with the complete text of each opera in English and the original. The opening evening of Wagner's four-part cycle, "The Ring of Nibelung," stands apart as more naive and picturesque than the others. But it immediately establishes the huge scale of the overall work, and the extraordinary musical language that will be displayed throughout. It is a miracle of musical history that Wagner's 1850 conception could be brought to completion, in an organic whole, some 25 years later. Stewart Spencer discusses the way in which Wagner fuses genuine mythology with his own invention and John Deathridge places The Rhinegold in the context of The Ring and its century.

Book Size: 8 1/2" x 11" * * * * * * From the introductory. THE most popular of all operas at the present time is "Lohengrin." Yet when Wagner had completed that opera, in the spring of 1848, he was unable to get it performed at the Royal Opera in Dresden, where he was conductor. This was one reason why he joined in the revolutionary movement and was, consequently, obliged to seek safety in flight. He went to Switzerland, where he wrote essays and books, but composed no operas, for nearly "six years. When, at last, the desire to compose came back to him, "RHEINGOLD" was the result. "RHEINGOLD" is the first of the four music dramas constituting the great tetralogy, "The Ring of the Nibelung," which is usually called a trilogy, because Wagner himself designated " RHEINGOLD" as a" Fore-evening," or prelude, to the other three dramas -- "Die Walküre," "Siegfried," and "Gotterdammerung." The name Prelude is not inappropriate, because "RHEINGOLD" is much shorter than the three operas which constitute the trilogy, lasting, as it does, only five half-hours, while the duration of the others is nearer five whole hours. Shortly after completing "Lohengrin," Wagner made a prose sketch of the story of the "Nibelung's Ring." Then he wrote a dramatic poem, "Siegfried's Death," in which he made use of part of that story. While preparing to set this to music, he became convinced that the subject was too big for one drama; that there was material enough for several connected operas; and that the opera he had had in mind would be more intelligible and impressive if it were preceded by several others dealing with the incidents that led up to Siegfried's death; consequently he recast the poem he had called "Siegfried's Death," and changed its name to "Gotterdammerung." Then he wrote "Siegfried," "Die Walkure," and "Rheingold." The poems of the "Ring" dramas were, therefore, written in the reverse order to their performance. The musical compositions, however, began with "Rheingold," and ended with "Gotterdammerung."

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.