Richard Wagner His Life and His Dramas / A Biographical Study of the Man and an Explanation of His Work

by W. J. Henderson

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BRÜNNHILDE’S AWAKENING.

This is only a fragment of it, but it contains the pregnant phrase of marvellous beauty which returns with such agonising eloquence in the final speeches of the dying Siegfried in "Götterdämmerung." When the Valkyr maid is awake and has recognised Siegfried, their voices unite in the passionate measure of a duet, founded on the motive of Love's Greeting:

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LOVE’S GREETING.

In "Götterdämmerung," when Siegfried raises the drink of forgetfulness to his lips, he drinks to the memory of Brünnhilde and intones the words to this very theme. That is one of Wagner's most poignant strokes of musical pathos. The drama of "Siegfried" comes to its end with a sweep of overmastering passion. The themes are peculiar to this work, but most of them are heard in the lovely "Siegfried Idyl," so often played in concert.

"Götterdämmerung" opens with a repetition of known themes in the Norn scene. In the second scene we meet with two new ideas, the themes of Brünnhilde, the woman, and Siegfried, the mature hero: