An Outline of The History of Western Music Grout ... - The Reel Score

ii- the words convey the outer aspects - events & situations that further the
action
d) involved in the political unrest in Germany during 1848-49 he emigrated to
Switzerland which became home for the next ten years
1: found time to formulate his theories about opera & publish them as a series of
essays (Oper und Drama 1851, revised 1868)
2: at the same time he was writing the poems of Der Ring des Nibelung - with the
music of Das Rheingold & Die Walküre - with part of Siegried - finished by 1857
- with the entire cycle finished in 1874 with Götterdämmerung
e) The Leitmotif
1: a musical theme or motive associated with a particular person, thing, emotion,
or idea in the drama
2: he achieved coherence within the continuity of the action and the music by this
means
i- significance of the leitmotif can be recognized from the words to which it is
first sung
ii- more than a musical label, it accumulates significance as it recurs in new
contexts
a- may recall an object in situations where the object itself is not present
b- may be varied, developed, or transformed as the plot develops
c- similar motives may suggest a connection between the objects to which
they refer
d- motive may be contrapuntally combined
e- by their repetition, may help unify a scene or an opera as recurrent
themes unify a symphony
3: differs from that of reminiscence motive by Weber, Verdi, & others
i- they are short, concentrated, and intended to characterize their object a
various levels
ii- more important they are the basic musical material of the score - used
constantly with every step of the action
iii- serve as elements for forming melodies - replacing the four-square phrases
set off by caesuras & cadences of earlier composers
a- form the stuff of "musical prose" with which Wagner wanted to replace the
"poetic" rhythms of symmetrical phrases
b- the impression of endless melody results form the ongoing continuity of
line - unbroken by the stops & starts of Classical musical syntax
f) Wagner's Influence
1: Tristan und Isolde - the complex chromatic alterations of chords, constant
shifting of key, telescoping of resolutions, blurring of progressions by means of
suspensions and other non harmonic tones produced a ambiguous kind of
tonality that can be explained only partially in terms of the harmonic system of
the previous two centuries
2: his ideal of opera - with all elements working closely together - profoundly
influenced later composers
4. Other Composers
a) Heinrich Marschner (1795-1861) - his most important work Hans Heiling (1833)
derives from Weber and at the same time looks forward to Wagner