Die Walküre

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Lore & Background

Wagner conceived the Ring cycle in reverse order of performance, so Die Walküre was the third of the four texts to be written, although he composed the music in performance sequence. The text was completed by July 1852, and the music by March 1856. Wagner largely followed the principles of his 1851 essay Opera and Drama, using recurring leitmotifs to represent people, ideas, and situations rather than conventional operatic units, though he showed flexibility in Act III when the Valkyries engage in frequent ensemble singing.

Reader's Guide

Die Walküre holds a significant place in Wagner's oeuvre as the second drama of the Ring cycle, bridging the prologue Das Rheingold and the later Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. Its story, based on Norse mythology, focuses on the Volsung twins Siegmund and Sieglinde, whose incestuous love angers the gods, leading to Siegmund's death and the defiance of the Valkyrie Brünnhilde. The work was initially intended by Wagner to be performed only within the complete cycle, but the 1870 Munich premiere was arranged at the insistence of his patron, King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Die Walküre has achieved some popularity as a stand-alone work and continues to be performed independently. Its use of leitmotifs and emotional interpretation of text through music exemplifies Wagner's principles of music drama, while the ensemble singing in Act III shows his flexibility in applying those principles.

Did You Know?

• Die Walküre was the third of the four Ring texts to be written, even though it appears second in performance order.
• The music for Die Walküre was completed by March 1856, but the first performance did not take place until 1870.
• Wagner showed flexibility in his Opera and Drama principles by including frequent ensemble singing in Act III.
• The 1870 Munich premiere was arranged at the insistence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, against Wagner's wish to wait for the complete cycle.
• The story is based on Norse mythology from the Völsunga saga and the Poetic Edda.

Composition and the Ring's Architecture

Wagner's Ring project took shape in October 1848, when he drafted a prose outline for Siegfried's Death, based on the legendary hero of Germanic myth. After travels to Switzerland in May 1849, he concluded that a single work would not suffice and expanded the plan into a series of music dramas, each telling a stage of the story. In 1851 he outlined his purposes in his essay 'A Communication to My Friends,' proposing three complete dramas preceded by a lengthy prelude, to be performed at a specially appointed festival over three days and a fore-evening. Following this scheme, he worked backward from the finale: Siegfried's Death (later Götterdämmerung) was preceded by Young Siegfried (later Siegfried), which was in turn preceded by Die Walküre, dealing with Siegfried's origins, all fronted by Das Rheingold. Because of this reverse chronological writing order, Die Walküre was the third of the four texts to be conceived and written, its text completed by July 1852, even though it appears second in the tetralogy. The music, however, was composed in performance sequence, with its score finished by March 1856.

Musical Drama and the Leitmotif System

In shaping Die Walküre, Wagner largely followed the principles he had set out in his 1851 essay Opera and Drama. Under this framework, the music would interpret the text emotionally, reflecting the feelings and moods behind the work, using a system of recurring leitmotifs to represent people, ideas, and situations rather than the conventional operatic units of arias, ensembles, and choruses. Wagner showed flexibility in the application of these principles here, particularly in Act III, when the Valkyries engage in frequent ensemble singing.

Premieres and the Stand-Alone Legacy

Wagner's original intention, as with Das Rheingold, was to defer any performance of the new work until it could be shown in the context of the completed cycle. That plan was disrupted in 1870 when his patron, King Ludwig II of Bavaria, insisted on a staged production. The result was a performance at the National Theatre Munich on 26 June 1870, presented as a single opera. The work's first performance as part of the Ring cycle came six years later, on 14 August 1876, at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. Despite Wagner's preference for the cycle to be experienced as a whole, Die Walküre has achieved some popularity as a stand-alone work and continues to be performed independently from the tetralogy.

Mythological Roots and the Central Conflict

The story of Die Walküre is based on the Norse mythology told in the Völsunga saga and the Poetic Edda. In this version, the Volsung twins Siegmund and Sieglinde, separated in childhood, meet and fall in love. This union angers the gods, who demand that Siegmund must die. Sieglinde and the couple's unborn child are saved by the defiant actions of Wotan's daughter, the title character, Valkyrie Brünnhilde, who as a result faces the gods' retribution. The prior history established in Das Rheingold deepens the stakes: Fafner has used the Tarnhelm to assume the form of a dragon and guards the gold and the ring in the depths of the forest. Wotan has visited Erda seeking wisdom, and by her has fathered a daughter, Brünnhilde; he has fathered eight other daughters, possibly also by Erda. These, with Brünnhilde, are the Valkyries, whose task is to recover heroes fallen in battle and bring them to Valhalla. Wotan has also wandered the earth, and with a woman of the Völsung race has fathered the twins Siegmund and Sieglinde, who have grown up separately and unaware of each other. From the Völsungs Wotan hopes for a hero who, unencumbered by the gods' treaties, will obtain the ring from Fafner.

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