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To illustrate his method, take the Curse Motive, in the “Ring of the Nibelung,” which is heard when Alberich curses the Ring, and all into whose possession it shall come. When, near the end of “Rheingold,” 270 Fafner kills his brother, Fasolt, in wresting the Ring from him, the motive recurs with a significance which is readily understood. Fasolt is the first victim of the curse. Again, in “Götterdämmerung,” when Siegfried lands at the entrance to the castle of Gibichungs, and is greeted by Hagen, although the greeting seems hearty enough, the motive is heard and conveys its sinister lure.
[[Listen]]
When, in “Die Walküre,” Brünnhilde predicts the birth of a son to Sieglinde, you hear the Siegfried Motive, signifying that the child will be none other than the young hero of the next drama. The motive is heard again when Wotan promises Brünnhilde to surround her with a circle of flames which none but a hero can penetrate, Siegfried being that hero; and also when Siegfried himself, in the music-drama “Siegfried,” tells of seeing his image in the brook.
