The pursuit of a world without the tyranny of gods
It took Richard Wagner more than a quarter of a century to complete his most ambitious work, the tetralogy of The Ring of the Nibelung. The first steps (rather modest, in the sense that they did not contemplate at all the writing of four operas) were taken in 1848 when Europe was in turmoil. The last ones, in 1874, were in the peace and serenity of Wahnfried, the villa he had built in Bayreuth.
It took Richard Wagner more than a quarter of a century to complete his most ambitious work, the tetralogy of The Ring of the Nibelung. The first steps (rather modest, in the sense that they did not contemplate at all the writing of four operas) were taken in 1848 when Europe was in turmoil. The last ones, in 1874, were in the peace and serenity of Wahnfried, the villa he had built in Bayreuth.
In the meantime, he flirted with anarchism, married, fell in love with the wife of his protector, lived miserable years in various European cities, separated from his wife, left Vienna to avoid being arrested for debts, met the very young gay King Ludwig II of Bavaria, premiered Tristan and Isolde, was widowed, and married Cosima Liszt. Thus came 1876, when he premiered the complete tetralogy in Bayreuth, from August 13 to 17 of that year.
The cycle of four epic operas based on episodes of Germanic mythology includes the works "The Rhine Gold", "The Valkyrie", "Siegfried" and "Twilight of the Gods". That is the chronological order of their premiere, but not the sequence in which they were written.
Thus, "Twilight...", the last one, was the first to be conceived. Wagner, an author of his own librettos, worked first with the story of Siegfried, the typical Wagnerian hero, who, a victim of his own greatness, ends up dead.
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| Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883) |
The construction of the saga
As Siegfried was dead, Wagner felt he needed to tell the previous story, Siegfried's youth. It was called "Young Siegfried" (later, just Siegfried). Then he added the story of Siegfried's conception and other avatars (The Valkyrie). Finally, he decided that he needed a prelude telling the story of the Rhine gold and the creation of the ring (The Rhine Gold). With the saga thus constructed, Wagner felt that the story of Siegfried's death, the first to emerge, was the one that closed the cycle since the gods also died. So, he called it "The Twilight of the Gods".
"Twilight of the Gods" - the story
The "Twilight of the Gods" tells the story of how the cursed ring made of gold stolen from the Rhine by a dwarf (Alberich, a "Nibelung"), will lead to the tragic death of Siegfried; and also the immolation of Brunhild, the Valkyrie. After her death and cremation together with her beloved Siegfried, their bodies burn and expiate the curse of the Nibelung's ring, falling then into Valhalla, the abode of the gods, where Wotan dwelled, and which will burn leaving the world without the tyranny of the gods. Already with the gods of Valhalla dead, humanity will have been liberated by the pure will of its hero and heroine, Siegfried and Brunhild.
Twilight of the Gods - Finale
Unlike the libretto, the music of the cycle was written in the order we know today. On the last page, Wagner added a small note:
"Completed at Wahnfried on November 21, 1874 - I will say no more!!!!! RW."
The work is in three acts and a prologue. Its length is just over four hours, ending with a symphonic finale that brings together all the relevant "leitmotifs".
This Finale is presented here in a 1989 recording, with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta.
