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

> > 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.

Yes, but so are Siegmund and Sieglinde (or are they? If Wotan, a god,
is their father...), tho I don't think of them as "average".  I
thought about Hunding, but I've always concluded that he was a sort of
tribal chieftain rather than just a regular grunt.  Perhaps I'm rating
chieftains too highly, however.

Still, if we accept Hunding as a common man, what does he get for his
troubles?  Death by a contemptuous wave of Wotan's hand.  And there's
really nothing to indicate that he was in the wrong, either.  Fricka
certainly didn't think so, and even got Wotan to agree with her. 
Indeed, Hunding shows admirable restraint by abiding by the
hospitality customs and not going after Siegmund right away.  We
rarely feel any sympathy at Hunding's demise as he usually comes
across as a sort of Frankenstein's monster.  But the plot, for a
couple of reasons, seems to require him to be eliminated in some way. 
Had he lived, it wouldn't have been so simple for Sieglinde to run off
to the deep woods to have Siegfried.  And would he even have allowed
Sieglinde to have a baby who was not his?

Additionally, Hunding's death also underscores the fact that Sieglinde
is totally alone.  She has no one, yet must find a way to bring this
child into the world, which should increase our sorrow at her plight.

So even if we accept Hunding as being a common man, he is still just a
throwaway character who gets his just desserts.  Is he perhaps a
message from Wagner about how the common person--even when right--can
expect to be treated by authority?
 

> fatal wounds that only seem to take their affect after a moving soliloquy,

like Siegfried's perhaps.


> 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?

>  "why aren't there many non-humans in his other operas?"

Remember, I'm not talking about non-humans, but rather sort of the
accountants, bus drivers, school teachers, civil servants of the
time--the vassals in GD.  Am I wrong in thinking of them this way? 
It's true that during the 'ancient antiquity' of these works, there
was little, if any, middle class so that in actuality the vassal's
lives proly resembled something of a third world existence--but that
was what was common.  In fact, had Mime been human, his profession
would seem to perfectly represent the 'common' man--tho I would proly
have counseled him that even the common man understands the meaning of
the real estate axiom: location, location and location!

(There's the squires in Parsifal who might be considered a bit on the
average side tho perhaps living a life somewhat better than the
average person, but Parsifal seems to me to be full of people who have
callings.  People who are searching for things both tangible and
mystical that the average/common person would have little interest in
reaching for.)

Look, I know when you start talking about average/normal/common you
are talking about something rather nebulous and often unquantifiable. 
It's just that it seems that this type of person is deliberately
excluded from the Ring until deep into GD.

> > 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?

I think that I'm not talking so much about Liebestod vs Immolation,
but rather Music Dramas vs the American Centennial March.  And to some
extent I'm thinking specifically of the thought processes behind The
Ring here.  I'm simply speculating that Wagner may well have been
aware that if he saw too many run-of-the-mill people creeping into his
texts for the Ring, then he knew the music he would write would not be
as good as it could be.

RICK