Re: Burning questions about the Ring's symbolism and leitmotifs

"Canyon Rick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> In The Ring there are no, sort of,
> "average" or "normal" or "regular" humans until the second act of GD
> (the vassals)

Hunding was a human, and he's in the first act of Die Walkure.

> , but then they remain onstage right through the
> Immolation--and in some productions they are there even beyond that.
> At first glance, one might wonder why Wagner took so long to introduce
> "common" folk into the the Ring.  However, since he wrote the text in
> a descending order, wouldn't the actual question be then why did he
> abandon common people so quickly?  Was it purely for artistic reasons?
>  eg. he no longer felt the need for a chorus? or didn't have any more
> dead bodies that needed convenient  removal from the stage a la
> Siegfried?

He eliminated the chorus for the same reason he eliminated the duet, he was
trying to get rid of all the "silly" aspects of opera that most people bring
up when trying to discredit it as an art: "do people really sing over each
other like that?" and "do crowds really share a single mind like that?" Not
to mention magic potions, mistaken identities, fatal wounds that only seem
to take their affect after a moving soliloquy, etc. etc. Also, he could have
just as well had a chorus built of non-humans, which he comes close to
attaining with the Valkyries and the Nibelungens (okay, not quite).

> Or is the a deeper reason?  For example, had Wagner in his egotistical
> mind begun to feel that composing music depicting common people was,
> after Meistersinger, beneath him?

I know you're being somewhat facetious, but you could just as well reverse
your question: "why aren't there many non-humans in his other operas?" Maybe
because he had a certain story to tell.

> Or, the other side of this coin:
> did Wagner inherently know that he wrote his best music when inspired
> by the loftiness of heroes, gods, giants, and even, dwarfs?

I think he wrote his best music when inspired by holy grails and holy
spears. :-) Okay, maybe not. I can't pick favorites. But I'd be interested
in knowing how you decided what Wagner's best music was. Consensus?

[...]

>
> RICK

REP