Der Ring des Nibelungen

Der Ring des Nibelungen or, translated commonly as The Ring of the Nibelungen into English but more correctly as The Nibelung's Ring, is a series of four epic operas. Both the libretto and the music were written by Richard Wagner over the course of twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874.

History of the Ring Cycle

Composition

In summer 1848 Wagner wrote The Nibelung Myth as Sketch for a Drama, combining the medieval sources previously mentioned into a single narrative, very similar to the plot of the eventual Ring cycle, but nevertheless with substantial differences. Later that year he began writing a libretto entitled Siegfrieds Tod ("Siegfried's Death"). He was likely encouraged by a series of articles in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, inviting composers to write a "national opera" based on the Nibelungenlied, a 12th century High German poem which, since its rediscovery in 1755, had been hailed by the German Romantics as the "German national epic". Siegfrieds Tod dealt with the death of Siegfried, the central heroic figure of the Nibelungenlied.

Related Topics:
Summer - 1848 - Nibelungenlied - 12th century - 1755 - German Romantics - National epic

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By 1850, Wagner had completed a musical sketch (which he abandoned) for Siegfrieds Tod. He now felt that he needed a preliminary opera, Der junge Siegfried ("The Young Siegfried", later renamed to "Siegfried"), in order to explain the events in Siegfrieds Tod. The verse draft of Der junge Siegfried was completed in May 1851. By October, he had made the momentous decision to embark on a cycle of four operas, to be played over four nights: Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Der Junge Siegfried and Siegfrieds Tod.

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1850 - 1851

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The text for all four operas was completed in December 1852, and privately published in February 1853. In November, Wagner began the composition draft of Das Rheingold. Unlike the verses, which were written as it were in reverse order, the music would be composed in the same order as the narrative. Composition proceeded until 1857, when the final score up to the end of Act II of Siegfried was completed. Wagner then laid the work aside for twelve years, during which he wrote Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

Related Topics:
1852 - 1853 - 1857 - Tristan und Isolde - Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

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By 1869, Wagner was living at Tribschen on Lake Lucerne, sponsored by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. At this point, he returned to Siegfried, and, remarkably, was able to pick up where he left off. In October, he completed the final opera, Götterdämmerung, as Siegfried's Tod had been renamed, since the gods were now (in accordance with the new pessimistic thrust of the cycle) destroyed, rather than being redeemed (as in the original optimistic ending). These changes, together with the decision to show onstage the events of Die Walküre and Das Rheingold, which had hitherto only been presented as back-narration in the other two operas, resulted in some discrepancies which it is impossible to reconcile, but which do not diminish the value of the cycle.

Related Topics:
1869 - Tribschen - Lake Lucerne - King Ludwig II of Bavaria

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First productions

On King Ludwig's insistence, and over Wagner's objections, "special previews" of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre were given at the Munich Court Theater, before the rest of the Ring. Thus, Das Rheingold premiered on September 22 1869, and Die Walküre on June 26 1870.

Related Topics:
Munich - September 22 - 1869 - June 26 - 1870

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Wagner had long desired to have a special festival opera house, designed by himself, for the performance of the Ring. In 1871, he decided on a location in the Bavarian town of Bayreuth. In 1872, he moved to Bayreuth, and the foundation stone was laid. Wagner would spend the next two years attempting to raise capital for the construction, with scant success; King Ludwig finally rescued the project in 1874 by donating the needed funds. The Bayreuth Festspielhaus opened in 1876 with the first complete performance of the Ring, which took place from August 13 to August 17.

Related Topics:
1871 - Bavarian - Bayreuth - 1872 - 1874 - Bayreuth Festspielhaus - 1876 - August 13 - August 17

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