THE APPEARING GOLD.
But when the maidens burst into song in its praise, they sing this:
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THE GLEAMING GOLD.
Rheingold! Rheingold! Leuchtende Lust, wie lachst du so hell und hehr!
Rheingold! Rheingold! Lust'rous delight, thou laughest in radiance rare!
The first measures of this melody are employed throughout the drama to signify the gold. Examination will show that the words "Rheingold! Rheingold!" are sung to precisely the same melodic form as "Weia" at the beginning and the end of the phrase quoted from the Rhine daughters' music. Here, again, we see how Wagner persists in preserving the musical associations of allied themes, and of deriving one from the other in the symphonic style. In the last act of "Götterdämmerung," when the maidens warn Siegfried of coming evil, they sing his name to the Rhinegold theme in the minor mode. The significance of this is unmistakable.
At the first mention of the ring, we hear the Ring theme:
