In my music history class, we were recently discussing Richard Wagner and his grand German operas. A particular work of his that we studied was Der Ring des Nibelungen, which translates to “The Ring of the Nibelung.” This piece contains four operas total, and is thus classified as a song cycle. In song cycles, pieces of music must be performed in a certain arrangement in order to tell a story fully and correctly.
The first part of the cycle, Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold), was recently performed live in Milan last December, and was shown as a film on Sunday at Symphony Space. The second and fourth divisions of the cycle – Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) and Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods) – will be shown at the same venue later this December (if you are interested in seeing these operas, click here for information). Of course, the operas cannot be performed together all at once; Wagner’s song cycle in total is approximately 15 hours!
Wagner, whom composed both the music and the libretto, claimed that this piece is a fine example of Gesamtkunstwerk, which is a term he created in order to describe artistic pieces that included multiple types of creativity. These expressions include theater, dance, music, and the visual arts, which explains why this blog is tagged in multiple categories. The German composer knew how to combine artistic styles very well. He assigned many characters, objects, and places with leitmotifs; these are musical themes that specify and associate with particular ideas, and that sound in the background as the said ideas are mentioned. In this way, the music and the text interact intimately and both add to the drama unfolding on stage.
A synopsis of Das Rheingold can be read here.
This is a very informative post. I strongly recommend seeing opera on film, now that you are experienced opera goers. Opera on film has transformed the reach of opera around the world. These HD films have great camera shots, excellent sound and generally excellent performances. One small note: The Ring Cycle is not really a “song” cycle, but you are quite right about the enormous commitment of time and energy typically required to see the whole cycle is ENORMOUS.