. Richard Wagner : his life and works . naturally expects a perfectly coherent piece in which theauthor sums up and condenses the whole drama with that ex-traordinary power in which he excels over all musicians. Butthe composer has inexhaustible resources, and finds newforms instead of alwaysrepeating himself. In theprelude of Parsifal, Wag-ner has simply wished toimpress upon the hearersmemory the three or fouressential motives of theGrail, of Easter, and ofthe Faith, upon which heis to erect the scaffoldingof his lyric and religiouspoem. To this end he firstgives the simple theme
. Richard Wagner : his life and works . naturally expects a perfectly coherent piece in which theauthor sums up and condenses the whole drama with that ex-traordinary power in which he excels over all musicians. Butthe composer has inexhaustible resources, and finds newforms instead of alwaysrepeating himself. In theprelude of Parsifal, Wag-ner has simply wished toimpress upon the hearersmemory the three or fouressential motives of theGrail, of Easter, and ofthe Faith, upon which heis to erect the scaffoldingof his lyric and religiouspoem. To this end he firstgives the simple themessuccessively, dividingthem by periods of si-lence to make them moredistinct; then, when heis satisfied that they havetaken hold upon thehearer, he takes them upagain and blends them ina meditative and religiousensemble of a luminous simplicity, notwithstanding the super-position of the themes. But the grand development re-mains subdued throughout, without a single fortissimo,without carrying the principal motive to a climax of power,. THE BEARER OF THE HOLY GRAIL,in Parsifal. 346 RICHARD WAGNER as the composer did in the case of Lohengrin, and later inTristan and The whole work is characterized by amarvellous tenderness, solemnity and power which hold thehearer spell-bound, and leave upon his mind an indelibleimpression. Whether he had entirely given up his Buddhist dramawhen he wrote Parsifal, or whether he simply had a presenti-ment that he would not have time to write a new work, Wag-ner several times announced that Parsifal would be his lastwork and his musical testament; therefore when it became aquestion of mounting it, he was more particular than ever, anddesired to obtain, if possible, an execution superior to that ofthe Nibelungen . He had selected in advance, after much re-flection, the best singers from the principal theatres of Ger-many ; but from the very first studies he was compelled torecognize that the same artists could not sing this score fora month
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidrichardwagne, bookyear1892
