His first complete opera, Die Feen (The Fairies), was written during his stay at Würzburg in 1833. The story, which may be read in Mein Leben or any of the biographies of Wagner, has long lost any interest it may once have possessed5. In psychology6 and in structure alike the drama is very primitive7. The magic element in it is fit only for the nursery, though it has to be observed that here we have for the first time that notion of "redemption" that plays so large a part in Wagner's thinking to the very end of his life. The construction is formal and cumbersome8: the two chief lovers have as a foil two subordinate lovers, while set off against these is a third pair, who provide a sort of comic interest; the whole past, present and future are explained in recitatives; everybody of any importance has his aria9 or his share in a concerted piece, and each Act ends with an imposing10 ensemble11. The stage apparatus12 is romantic to the last degree. The music, however, is decidedly interesting. The third Act, in spite of a few strokes that get home, is much inferior to the other two, for which the fact that it was written in a month may be answerable. But the first two Acts and the overture14 are full of striking things. There is no question as to the thorough competence15 of Wagner's technique at this time: everything flows with the utmost ease and clearness from his pen. The opera has indeed a poise16 of manner and a unity17 of style that we do not find in some of the more mature works of his first period. In the Flying Dutchman, for example, there is a good deal of almost hobbledehoy awkwardness,—a sort of cubbish clumsiness, though any discerning observer could have seen even in those days that this was a cub18 of a leonine breed, that would some day swallow up most of the other animals in the menagerie. There is nothing of this cubbishness, this stumbling over his own good intentions, in The Fairies. Such as the ideas are,—and of course they never rise to anything like the height of the best things in the Flying Dutchman—they are expressed without effort, in an idiom and with a technique precisely19 congruous with them. Aria, duet, ensemble, dramatic contrast, dramatic transition,—the young composer is equal to whatever problem may be set him. The musical style as a whole reminds us of Weber and Marschner, but there is plenty of unmistakable Wagner in it. We are constantly meeting with progressions, turns of phrase, and devices that have been made familiar to us by the later operas. How like a score of melodies in Tannh?user and Lohengrin is the following, for example—
When he wants to work up the excitement at the entry of Arindal he does it precisely in the way he whips up our interest in the coming of the hero in the second Act of Tristan and Isolde—by a series of breathless reiterations of the same figure—
When he has joy to express, he does so by means of the same ascending20, bubbling phrases that he uses in the duet between Tannh?user and Elisabeth (vocal score, p. 157, &c.) [397]—
LORA: Dahin, dahin flieht alles Leiden, und alle
ARINDAL: So viele Not im Heimatlande, &c.
MORALD: Dahin, dahin flieht alles Leiden,
And although the duet between Drolla and her lover Gernot is subcomic in intention, their manner of rushing into each other's arms is precisely that of Tristan and Isolde—
DROLLA: Gernot! Gernot! Gernot! Gernot! Gernot! Gernot! 'tis thou, 'tis thou!
GERNOT: Drolla! Drolla! Drolla! Drolla! 'tis thou, 'tis thou, 'tis thou, 'tis thou, 'tis thou, 'tis thou, &c.
The style is frequently mature beyond the composer's actual years,—the admirable finish to the scene between Arindal and the others, for example (full score, p. 111), where the vocal themes are taken up by the orchestra and played out in a beautifully managed diminuendo; or the perfect little picture of the fairy garden at the commencement of the first Act (I question whether so imaginatively conceived and skilfully21 coloured a garden scene is to be found anywhere in previous or contemporary opera); or the expressive22 scoring of Ada's cavatina (full score, pp. 114 ff.); or the septet at the end of the first Act; or the fine management of the chorus of beaten warriors23 at the beginning of the second Act, with the reiterated24 calls in the bass25 horn and trumpet26; or the fine Schwung of the trio between Lora, Arindal and Morald (pp. 219 ff.); or the big aria of Ada in the second Act (pp. 251 ff.); or the charming theme that is used when the children are introduced. The born musical dramatist is seen in the variety of expression he can command even at this age; and one is struck by the first signs of the faculty27 that is so noticeable in the later Wagner,—that of always having something in reserve when a new and cumulative28 effect is needed. The larger the canvas to be covered, as in the final ensembles29, the more resource does he show himself to possess. There is a good deal in The Fairies that is quite boyish,—much that is conventional, many things to provoke a smile. But it is equally certain that there was not another young man in Europe capable of writing such a work at that time. The overture, which was written a few days before the last touches were put to the third Act, is excellently handled throughout; the invention never flags, the technique never fails; it is his best work of this order until we come to the overture to the Flying Dutchman,—finer in idea, closer in texture30, and surer in touch than the King Enzio Overture of 1832, and far beyond the Columbus, the Polonia, or the Rule Britannia. Altogether one imagines that, in spite of the old-fashioned quality of the libretto31 of The Fairies, one could listen to a stage performance of the opera with at least as much interest as to Rienzi. It was given for the first time in Munich under Hermann Levi in 1888, and between then and 1895 it ran to over fifty performances.
As we have seen, Das Liebesverbot ("The Ban on Love") was a product of the wild days of 1834-5, when he had momentarily turned against sobriety both in life and in art. In framing his libretto he passed over everything in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure that had a touch of moral gravity in it: he transports the action from Vienna to Sicily, brings the strait-laced viceroy Friedrich into the same focus as the other amorists, and makes the whole play an attack on "puritanical32 hypocrisy33" and a laudation of "unrestrained physicalism." In the music he does his best to forget that "German style" in which, as he says, Die Feen had been written, and copies to the best of his ability the more sparkling style of the lighter34 Italian and French opera. The work is in two Acts,—the only opera of Wagner's in this form—and in its structure follows the ordinary pattern of the day. Occasionally the spoken word takes the place of recitative.
In 1866 Wagner gave the score of the opera to King Ludwig, prefacing it with a stanza36 in which he spoke35 of it as a sin of his youth, for which he hoped to find pardon in his protector's grace. Apparently37 he always adopted this depreciatory38 attitude towards the work in later life. Glasenapp tells us that Wagner liked the overture to Das Liebesverbot better than that to Die Feen, but thought the rest of Das Liebesverbot "horrible," except the "Salve regina c?li."[398] A perusal39 of the score, however, will convince most people that he underrated the interest and the value of it. It almost invariably fails when it aims at expressing serious feeling; but the gay and humorous scenes are admirable, and the youthful gusto of the whole thing is irresistible40. The general idiom may be a borrowed one, but for the most part Wagner uses it very skilfully, making at least as good a show with it as the ordinary French or Italian opera writer of the time. He has every trick of the trade at his finger-tips, every recipe for froth and foam41 and sparkle. He is as expert as any of them at lashing42 up the interest by the device of repeating a piquant43 figure a score of times: this, for example, from the overture—
It is given first of all mainly to the strings44, with a little harmonic thickening in bassoons and horns. Then, as the melody goes an octave higher in the strings, it is doubled in the oboes and clarinets, with added harmonic enrichment in the wood-wind and brass45. At the next repeat—an octave higher again—the melody is given out by piccolo, flutes46, oboes, clarinets and violins in octaves, while trombones are added to the harmony. All the while the tone is growing louder and louder, with a crescendo47 roll in the tympani. One has to listen, whether one wants to or not; and it is impossible to keep the blood from tingling48 under the whip. The whole overture is very effective in this noisy, rather empty way; there is much use of castagnets, tambourine49, triangle and cymbals50. The general style of the writing may be gathered from a couple of examples—
either of which will serve to show the gulf51 that separates Das Liebesverbot from Die Feen.
The opening scene is very animated52, the chorus of the people being full of entrain; the whole manner is thoroughly53 Italian, the orchestra chattering54 away more or less irrelevantly55, and the voices interjecting their remarks in a facile, half-melodic sort of way. How careless Wagner was with regard to deeper musical characterisation may be seen from the theme that accompanies the entry of Claudio,—one of those typical Italian operatic themes of which we can never be quite sure whether they are meant to be tragic56 or comic, though here it is apparently meant to be serious—
Nor in any other work but this would Wagner have accompanied with so irresponsible a theme the appeal of Claudio (sentenced to death) to his friend Luzio to seek the aid of Isabella—
Du kennest jenen stillen Ort, das Kloster der Elisabeth; Die &c.
The melody runs a thoroughly Italian course—
O eile Freund, zu ihr dahin, o eile zu ihr dahin, sprich sie für mich um
Hülfe an, sprich sie um Hülfe für mich an.
with liberal opportunities for the tenor57 to poise himself on a high note and deploy58 his resonance—
Bewege sie, dass sie verzeih', dann bau' ich ganz auf ihren Muth.
Bewege sie, dass sie verzeih',...
dann bau' ich ganz auf ihren Muth.
The chorus that follows is also quite in the Italian stage style, the excitement being worked up according to the established recipes; and of course the purely59 musical stream flows on without the least regard to dramatic sense, Luzio saying every other minute "I hasten, friend," but without the slightest intention of hastening till the chorus is finished. But, as almost always happens even when Wagner is trying to be least like himself, a characteristic little touch cannot be prevented from stealing in: after the voices have ceased, the long-drawn theme of Claudio sings on in the 'cellos60, set against the noisy chattering of the wood-wind and brass. It makes a most effective ending to the scene.
In the third scene appears a theme that was afterwards expanded and put to splendid use in Tannh?user. Here the nuns61 sing it behind the scenes to the words "Salve regina c?li."
The florid duet between the two novices62, Mariana and Isabella, is thoroughly Italian. Again one sees, by comparison of this music with any of that of Die Feen, how determined63 Wagner was to write down to the comprehension of the Italian-opera public: he evidently has his eye on the singers and the audience rather than on the psychology of the characters or the atmosphere of the scene. But in the admirable duologue that follows between Luzio and Isabella, the touch is again that of the born musical dramatist. It is all irresistibly64 animated; the music is psychologically characteristic, the blend of passion and irresponsibility in Luzio being particularly well suggested; and there are some striking pieces of orchestral colour.
The court scene,—the mock trial in which Brighella, the viceroy's servant, poses as the judge—is carried through excellently, with an abundance of light Italian-opera humour; the roguishly knowing theme to which Brighella sings his passion for the pretty Dorella may be taken as typical—
Dieses kleine Schelmenauge macht mich wahrlich ganz verwirrt.
There are one or two happy instances of the tentative employment of the leading-motive65 system. The theme representative of Friedrich and his law against love (No. 18 below), for example, is parodied66 in this way when Brighella begins to try Pontio—
and when Friedrich enters and asks Brighella what has been going on, the latter replies apologetically and evasively to the accompaniment of the previous theme of the mock court, the orchestra, quite in the later Wagnerian manner, being more truthful67 than he—
BRIGHELLA: Verzeiht, ich wollt' Euch Müh ersparen, ich hielt Gericht, fand Widerstand &c.
Isabella's aria of intercession to Friedrich is rather poor, but the subsequent excitement is cleverly worked up, and there is some dramatic characterisation in the commanding phrases that are given to the viceroy. The finale is excellent: it has amazing fire, is full of quick resource, and, like the finales in Die Feen, shows how much reserve Wagner had to draw upon when an extra effort was required.
In the opening scene of the second Act,—the garden of the prison in which Claudio is awaiting death—we have another employment of the leit-motive, the oboe giving out softly the theme to which Claudio had previously68 urged Luzio to implore69 the help of Isabella, but now with appropriately altered harmonies—
The orchestral prelude70 to the scene is expressive, Wagner putting off his Italian mask for the moment and speaking in his natural voice: the sense of gloom and impending71 tragedy is very well conveyed—
But the strains in which Claudio addresses Isabella are again conventional: it was not easy at this time for Wagner to find original accents for grief and passion. He is best all through in scenes of humour, of comedy, of raillery. There is a charming, sunny trio later between Luzio, Isabella and Dorella; the whole of this scene, in fact, is one of the happiest in the opera. Friedrich's soliloquy in his room has a good deal of strength in it, an impressive effect being made by the frequent recurrence72 in the orchestra of the motive that symbolises the sternness of the attitude he has taken up towards the people's pleasures—
When he utters the words
"Doch als mir Isabella die Erdenliebe erschloss,
Da schmolz das Eis in tausend Liebesthr?nen."
("But when Isabella revealed earthly love to me, the ice was melted into a thousand tears of love"), the orchestra completes his thought with a reminiscence of the theme of Isabella's enchantment73 of him in the court (see No. 7, from the overture)—
O war Dein Herz denn stets verschlossen, drang Liebe nie in Deine Brust?
The finale to the second Act is as admirably animated as its predecessor74; Luzio's carnival75 song, the dance, and the chorus have a truly southern warmth in them; and there is a lively quartet between Isabella, Dorella, Luzio and Brighella.
Altogether Das Liebesverbot, like Die Feen, is a work upon which Wagnerian criticism will always look with an affectionate eye. If it contains much that Wagner did right to decline to take seriously in later life, there is also much in it that is eloquent76 of the coming dramatist in music,—a surprising quickness of apprehension77, a faculty for big picture-building, and above all an irresistible ardour. Like all Wagner's music of this time, the score anticipates many of the mannerisms of the later operas. It is unusually generous with the typical Wagnerian "turn"; at one point what must be a rather comic effect in performance is made by a series of these turns being executed in octaves by piccolo, flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, violins and 'cellos—
The later Wagnerian method of accumulating excitement, which we have seen anticipated in Die Feen, is employed also in Das Liebesverbot, as in the following passage, which, like the one previously quoted, gives us a decided13 foretaste of the meeting of Tristan and Isolde—
And if for nothing else Das Liebesverbot would be interesting for its use of the leit-motive. There was virtually none of it in Die Feen.
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1
antipathy
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| n.憎恶；反感，引起反感的人或事物 | |
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gory
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| adj.流血的；残酷的 | |
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differentiation
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| n.区别，区分 | |
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vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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psychology
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| n.心理，心理学，心理状态 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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cumbersome
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| adj.笨重的，不便携带的 | |
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aria
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| n.独唱曲，咏叹调 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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ensemble
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| n.合奏(唱)组；全套服装；整体，总效果 | |
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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13
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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overture
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| n.前奏曲、序曲，提议，提案，初步交涉 | |
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15
competence
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| n.能力，胜任，称职 | |
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poise
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| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
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unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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cub
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| n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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skilfully
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| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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cumulative
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| adj.累积的，渐增的 | |
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ensembles
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| 整体( ensemble的名词复数 )； 合奏； 乐团； 全套服装（尤指女装） | |
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texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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libretto
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| n.歌剧剧本，歌曲歌词 | |
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puritanical
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| adj.极端拘谨的；道德严格的 | |
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hypocrisy
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| n.伪善，虚伪 | |
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34
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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35
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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stanza
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| n.（诗）节，段 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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depreciatory
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| adj.贬值的，蔑视的 | |
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perusal
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| n.细读，熟读；目测 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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piquant
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| adj.辛辣的，开胃的，令人兴奋的 | |
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strings
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| n.弦 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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46
flutes
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| 长笛( flute的名词复数 )； 细长香槟杯（形似长笛） | |
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47
crescendo
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| n.(音乐)渐强，高潮 | |
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48
tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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49
tambourine
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| n.铃鼓，手鼓 | |
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cymbals
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| pl.铙钹 | |
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51
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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52
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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53
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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54
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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irrelevantly
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| adv.不恰当地，不合适地；不相关地 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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deploy
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| v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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cellos
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| n.大提琴( cello的名词复数 ) | |
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61
nuns
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| n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 ) | |
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novices
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| n.新手( novice的名词复数 )；初学修士（或修女）；（修会等的）初学生；尚未赢过大赛的赛马 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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64
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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65
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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66
parodied
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| v.滑稽地模仿，拙劣地模仿( parody的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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68
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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69
implore
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| vt.乞求，恳求，哀求 | |
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70
prelude
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| n.序言，前兆，序曲 | |
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71
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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72
recurrence
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| n.复发，反复，重现 | |
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73
enchantment
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| n.迷惑，妖术，魅力 | |
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74
predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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75
carnival
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| n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演 | |
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76
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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77
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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