The treatment of the "Todesverkündigung" is free, the theme being heard only in that scene. Motives already made known form the warp of the score to the end of the act, and the third act opens with the familiar "Ride of the Valkyrs" built on the Valkyr's Call and the Valkyr theme. When Brünnhilde informs Sieglinde that she is to be the mother of the "highest hero of worlds," we hear for the first time the magnificent Siegfried theme, which is to play such an important part in the remainder of the tragedy:
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And in response to this announcement Sieglinde sings thus:
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Sieglinde— O hehrstes Wunder! Herrlichste Maid! O glorious wonder! Maiden divine! |
This theme is heard again at the close of the last scene of "Götterdämmerung," and there we instantly recognise its significance as an embodiment of the glorious divinity of Brünnhilde, the divinity of ideal womanhood, ennobled by love and sanctified by sacrifice. Another significant motive heard in this scene is that of Slumber:
