13895 Wagner News 174 - Wagner Society of England

RETRANSLATING OPER UND DRAMA
Katherine Wren
As a professional musician with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and a German to
English translator I naturally have a strong interest in musical translation. When looking
for a subject for my dissertation for the MA in Translation Studies at Portsmouth
University, my thoughts rapidly turned to Wagner. Whilst browsing through a colleague’s
Open University book, I came across a chapter of Wagner’s writings in a translation
specially commissioned on the grounds that they were unavailable to the English reader
in a modern translation. Subsequent research ascertained that, apart from a translation by
Edwin Evans in 1913 which has recently been reissued by Nabu Press, there has been no
translation of Wagner’s Oper und Drama since that by William Ashton Ellis in 1893.
I therefore decided to base my dissertation around a new translation of part of
Oper und Drama and to explore how a modern translation can potentially increase
accessibility and readability of a text. A key part of this process is a questionnaire seeking
readers’ reactions to the various translations and I would like to invite you to help me in
this project.
Written in 1852, Oper und Drama plays a key role in understanding Der Ring as
it is here that Wagner lays out his theories for what he terms “die einheitliche
künstlerische Form” (unified artistic form). I have chosen to translate Chapter 6 in Part
3. Here Wagner explains how music and drama combine to give unity of expression,
conveying the emotion of the poetic intent as well as its content. He also outlines the role
of the orchestra in supporting and clarifying the action on stage through its use of motives
that both recall and foreshadow the dramatic action.
Many people feel a strong affection for the translation by William Ashton Ellis and
indeed there are many strong reasons for using this translation. Dating from 1893, it is
relatively close in time to Wagner and thus, as John Deathridge has said, “captures a part of
the historical ‘aura’ of the texts.” It is important to remember that both Wagner’s original
and Ashton Ellis’ translation have a certain literary status. The significance of Wagner’s
language in 19th-century philosophy should therefore be respected and possibly even
foregrounded in translation. Equally, Ashton Ellis’ translation has been the standard text for
so long that his translations of key terms have themselves become almost standard.
With this is mind, one might justifiably ask: why bother retranslating Oper und
Drama at all? The fact remains however that relatively few people tackle Wagner’s text
due to the complexity of the language and the differences in cultural background since
the text was written. A modernising translation could help bridge this gap and encourage
more people to access and engage with Wagner’s prose.
My aim is thus to produce a fluent and accessible translation for music students
and others with a keen interest in Wagner. I will then evaluate this translation in terms
of increased accessibility and readability for a modern readership. If you would like
to help me in this project, you can fill in a copy of the questionnaire by visiting the
Wagner Society website at www.wagnersociety.org or by contacting me at
katherine.wren@talktalk.net
You can also follow progress on my blog at http://katherinewrentranslator.wordpress.com/
where there is a further copy of my questionnaire. Any participants will, if requested,
receive a copy of the finished translation and dissertation at the end of the project.
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