Episode 4: Die Walküre (The Ring) by Richard Wagner

So what’s the plan today, Richie? They will tell of the cosmic struggle  between the immortal gods, the heroic Man, and the dwarves, giants and  other such mythical friends. Right... And all these characters are  fighting over a magical ring. It grants domination over the entire world. Sounds a bit familiar, Rich... Didn't Tolkein - I got there there first. And all those tribes vying for power sounds like - I GOT THERE FIRST. No-one's ever done anything like this! It will take thirty years to wr

ite and best of all: it will  be a heroic masculine drama healthy for the body and the soul of all Germans. I will call it Now, Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig in 1813. He taught himself composition by studying  the music of Beethoven, his teen idol. But he got into trouble in 1848 when a series  of revolutionary uprisings spread to Germany. People were dissatisfied with  the political leadership. They wanted electoral reform, more social justice  and more democratic participation in governme

nt. Wagner rallied against those in power but when he was discovered to be making  hand grenades for the freedom fighters he was put on the government’s wanted list and  had to flee to Zurich in neutral Switzerland. There, he hoped to compose  this mighty work of a lifetime a cycle of operas that might express  the political fervour of those times. Opera then was more about  Italians prancing about the stage singing crowd-pleasing arias: popular songs. Wagner would have none of this artifice. A

violently-opinionated, megalomaniac  anti-Semite, Wagner always did it differently. His opera would present a Gesamtkunstwerk: a total work of art amalgamating music, drama,  poetry, politics, philosophy and the visual arts. It would transport the listener on an epic journey like binge-watching Lord of  the Rings or Game of Thrones. Wagner composed the libretto  - or the text - and the music to the entire cycle between 1848 and 1874. The story drew on ancient Icelandic,  Germanic and Scandinavia

n legend. The four operas in the cycle are Das Rheingold,  Die Walkure, Siegfried, and Gotterdammerung. Das Rheingold sets the scene. A power-hungry dwarf called Alberich steals some gold from mythical nymphs of the  River Rhine – the Rhinemaidens. Out of it he forged the magical Ring. Wotan, the chief god, steals the Ring  from Alberich, only to forfeit it himself. You see, greedy Wotan wants to build  a gigantic palace called Valhalla but must sell the Ring to a giant called  Fafner in payment

for its construction. In punishment for Wotan’s greed, the gods are  haunted by the curse of their impending downfall. The only way to remove the curse is for Wotan  to retrieve the Ring from the giant Fafner and return it to whom it first  belonged – the Rhinemaidens. But Wotan himself can’t do this because he’s bound  by that palace-building agreement with the giants. So he devises a plan. He gets a human woman pregnant with  twins called Siegmund and Sieglinde. They become separated at birth

and the girl - Seiglinde –  is eventually forced into marriage with a wicked warrior called Hunding. But someday, Wotan hopes, the boy Siegmund who is of human stock and therefore  not bound by the laws of the Gods will be able to retrieve a sword left by Wotan  so as to slay Fafner and regain the Ring. Will he do that? Find out in the separate opera: Die Walkure  - the most performed part of the Cycle. Act 1 of Die Walkure begins in  the middle of a raging storm. Now remember Wagner was aiming

  for a different sort of opera. As a fan of ancient Greek theatre in which  a chorus comments on the onstage drama Wagner used short recognisable musical phrases to  correspond to the particular characters onstage – to their emotional states of mind or to various dramatic events in the plot. These ‘guides to feeling’  are known as ‘leitmotifs’ and are commonly used by  film score composers today. So tubas and tympanis play a storm leitmotif to  convey the overwhelming power of crashing thunder.

Next, the curtain rises and we  hear the Siegmund leitmotif. This theme is weighted down  by cellos, basses and horns. It illustrates the weary Siegmund  – Wotan’s son – who’s staggered off the battlefield into a hut to find shelter. Unbeknownst to Siegmund, this hut built around a huge ash-tree belongs to the warrior Hunding. A woman greets Siegmund. We know this is Sieglinde because  her own leitmotif plays out. Remember, these long-lost twins  have been separated at birth and she's been forc

ed into an  unhappy marriage with Hunding. Sieglinde’s theme is compassionate. It reflects her tender kindness  towards this mysterious stranger and the rich and sensuous strings of her  leitmotif intertwine with Siegmund’s own theme. The famous love leitmotif emerges  - sweet and colourful music expressing the blossoming of  love between the two siblings. It’s intensely lyrical and grows ecstatically because Siegmund and Sieglinde have now  unwittingly - and incestuously - fallen in love. Urgh!

Suddenly, a harsh leitmotif blasts  out like a military fanfare. Abusive Hunding has turned up. It is his gaff after all. Siegmund gives Hunding the low-down. He recounts how one day he  was hunting with his father. Remember his father was none  other than Wotan, king of the Gods and at this point we hear the Valhalla leitmotif because it was Wotan who exchanged  the Ring for building Valhalla. Anyway, Siegmund and dad return home after hunting to find the family home devastated  and Siegmund’s

twin sister gone. At this point, the sinister Hunding  leitmotif rings out because, of course, it was Hunding who abducted her and both Siegmund and Hunding now  realise that they are arch-enemies. Oopsie! So they agree to duel in the morning. Problem is Siegmund’s got no  weapons but he suddenly remembers: "My father promised me a sword" "Walse! Walse! Where is that sword!" At which point we hear the  triumphant sword leitmotif. Wotan secretly left the sword in that ash-tree. Meanwhile, where

the hell do Siegmund  and Sieglinde know each other from?! We hear two leitmotifs which  hint at their shared heritage the Valhalla motif and their father’s motif until she realises who he is: "Siegmund! Siegmund! Siegmund!" And he exclaims ecstatically: "You are Sieglinde." "Fate has willed that we two of our unhappy  race shall meet again and save each other!" At which point, the sword leitmotif recurs  as Siegmund removes it from the tree. The rapturous love duet again rings out impassioned w

ith irresistible harmonies as Siegmund announces that  Sieglinde shall be his bride! The second Act introduces  Brunnhilde who is a Valkyrie. The Valkyries were daughters of Wotan. Their responsibility was to  ride out onto the battlefields in order to collect the souls of dead  heroes to bring back to Valhalla. Should Alberich attack Valhalla,  these heroes would defend. Wotan commands Brunnhilde to bridle her steed for he wants her to protect Siegmund  in his duel against Hunding. Brunnhilde a

grees, joyously singing  the battle-cry of the Valkyries. It’s a really hard leitmotif to sing especially to make the octave  leaps and hold the high notes. In fact, the role of Brunnhilde is one  of the most challenging for any soprano. Next, we hear a new leitmotif  representing the anger of Fricka. Who the frick is Fricka?! Why, the goddess of marriage  and she’s super angry at Wotan for ordering Brunnhilde to protect Siegmund. According to Fricka, Siegmund and Sieglinde  must be punished for

their incestuous adultery. After all, Sieglinde IS Hunding’s wife. Wotan relents and agrees that for the sake of what is right and  despite his personal interests Siegmund must die. The leitmotif of Wotan’s wrath is heard as he realises his plans for Siegmund to  retrieve the Ring will now fail. The curse on the gods will  maintain as long as Wotan fails to restore that Ring to the Rhinemaidens. Powerless, Wotan re-orders  Brunnhilde to obey Fricka and grant victory to Hunding  over his beloved

Siegmund. It’s all heavy chords full of despair  and the crushing force of fate. Meanwhile, Siegmund and Sieglinde  have escaped Hunding’s hall. An ominous leitmotif representing fate  accompanies Brunnhilde approaching the lovers. For she has come to announce through a solemn death-song that Siegmund will die by Hunding’s sword. But Brunnhilde is unexpectedly swayed. Suddenly impressed by Siegmund’s  heroic love for Sieglinde she announces that she will  in fact disobey Wotan’s orders and gran

t victory to Siegmund over Hunding! Hunding arrives for the duel, and Siegmund now helped by Brunnhilde begins to overpower Hunding only for Wotan to appear and  shatter Siegmund’s sword. Hunding spears the unarmed Siegmund to death. But there’s no time to lose. Wotan must find and punish  Brunnhilde, his disobedient daughter. Act 3 opens with the famous  Ride of the Valkyries leitmotif. Barely 5 minutes, it’s the reason  for the entire opera’s popularity. It regularly appears on TV and in movie

s most notably in Apocalypse Now. Woodwinds flutter, brass blazes and strings  swirl representing the flying Valkyries - the warrior-maidens swooping on their winged steeds to transport the  dead war heroes to Valhalla. Wagner even used specially-invented instruments  to enrich the sound of the gargantuan orchestra: the Wagner tuba, the bass trumpet,  and the contrabass trombone. Even in his own time, Wagner was pestered  non-stop for stand-alone performances of this bit. This group of braided b

londes fierce Teutonic women don helmets and breastplates. They greet each other with savage shouts. Brunnhidle arrives but to the confusion of her Valkyrie  sisters doesn’t bear a dead war hero but Sieglinde, a human woman. Her Valkyrie sisters scold her  for her disobedience to Wotan: "Deluded sister, what have you done?" "Woe, Brunnhilde!" But Brunnhilde is protecting Sieglinde because she is in fact pregnant by Siegmund with a boy who shall be named: SIEGFRIED! At this point we hear the Sieg

fried leitmotif. He is to be the star of the  next opera in the Ring Cycle. Wotan arrives and Brunnhilde pleads with him –  in a broad and beautiful phrase – to spare her: "Was it so shameful what I have done?" Wotan announces that Brunnhilde is to  be stripped of her Valkyrie status. She is to be held in a magic sleep on a mountain prey to any man who passes by. But in light of her touching plea he promises to protect Brunnhilde in her  slumber by encircling her with a magic flame through which

only the bravest hero might pass. The Siegfried leitmotif is  heard again as a premonition because Siegfried will, later in the Cycle,  pass through the flames and rescue Brunnhilde. The magic fire leitmotif is some  of the most majestic music for bass voice and has a tender mournful beauty. It expresses the deep love that Wotan  feels for his daughter Brunnhilde as he kisses her and bids  her an emotional farewell. Finally, the gorgeous slumber motif closes the opera as Brunnhilde falls  into

her enchanted sleep. But it’s not really the end. Two more operas continue the story. Siegfried will slay the giant  Fafner and rescue Brunnhilde who will will return the Ring to the Rhinemaidens. The entire Cycle premiered in  1876 over 4 consecutive nights clocking in at a total 15 hours. And it was disastrous - they lost the  Ring and raised the backdrop too early! It was performed in the Bavarian town of  Bayreuth in a specially built opera house and financed by Wagner’s  eccentric patron Ki

ng Ludwig. His nutty fandom had taken the form of  recreating Hunding’s hut in his garden. He even built an artificial  ash-tree with a sword stuck in it. For sheer length alone, Wagner’s  Ring Cycle remains one of the most challenging ventures for any opera company. It’s also a test of audience endurance, but Bayreuth still attracts a cult  of diehard Wagner enthusiasts. And whereas, eventually, the political revolution  in Germany failed to topple those in power there’s no doubting that Wagner

’s  musical revolution succeeded. For the power of Wagner’s gods  WAS toppled at the end of the Ring Cycle and for the thousands who make the  annual pilgrimage to Bayreuth to hear it the experience is nothing but transformative.