Gauldin1979 Wagner's Parody Technique Traume PDF
Gauldin1979 Wagner's Parody Technique Traume PDF
Gauldin1979 Wagner's Parody Technique Traume PDF
Numerous authors have noted those passages of common arrived, Wagner plunged into the composition of Act I, the full
musical material in Wagner's "Traume" and the Love Duet score of which eventually was completed the following April.
("0 sink' hernieder, Nacht der Liebe") which occurs about the During the fall of 1857 Mathilde showed Wagner some of the
middle of the second scene in Act II of Tristan and Isolde . 1 lyric poems she had written in imitation of the Tristan poem. He
Aside from obvious thematic borrowings, there appear to exist proceeded to set these "pretty verses sent over to me" at various
deeper and more subtle relationships between the two works times during the next seven months. The autograph for
which suggest a kind of parody technique. In addition, it is ` `Trāume, " the second of the Fiinf Gedichte fair eine
possible that certain harmonic and linear functions embedded Frauenstimme, is dated December 5, 1857 . 2 The first version of
within the song provide the seeds for important tonal relations the song (December 4) began with the sixteenth bar; in his
which appear in expanded form later in the opera. revision the following day Wagner borrowed the music from the
In April of 1857 Wagner was invited by the Wesendonks to piano coda to serve as an introduction, appending the first six
live at Asyl, a cottage on their estate. It was here that the bars with its melodic outlining of the Tristan chord (E-flat) F
celebrated "affair" between Richard and Mathilde continued to A-flat C-flat E-flat. Two other songs from the series furnished
blossom and supply the composer with much of the impetus and thematic material for the opera ("Schmerzen" and "Im
inspiration for Tristan. The poem of the opera was finished and Treibhause"); however, the subtitle Studie zu Tristan and Isolde
read to a gathering in September of 1857. Once his new piano was not added to ` `Traume" and "Im Treibhause" until the
publication of the collection some five years later. Although
sketches for the first scene of Act II date from this period, we
1 All page references are taken from the Dover reprint of the full score of
Tristan (New York: Dover Publications, 1973). The measure numbers for the
Love Duet begin with the Massig langsam on p. 348. 2 Facsimile of the autograph (Leipzig: VEB Deutscher Verlag fiir Musik).
36 Music Theory Spectrum
may safely assume that the composition of "Traume" precedes Borrowed Material from ` `Triiume"
any early drafts of the Love Duet. Four distinct sections of the song are reset in the Love Duet
Several relations between the texts of the two pieces may be with only minor alterations. These include the piano introduc-
noted. Both contain five stanzas of four lines each with identical tion (mm. 1-16 = 1-21), the E-flat dominant cadential chord at
poetic meter. 3 In ` `Traume" the author looks forward to each the conclusion of the third stanza (mm. 48-49 = 42-45), the
3 An additional line is added in the Duet for the vocal closing section (mm.
86-94) .
4 Note the gradual descent of the Tag motive in mm. 34-39 of the Duet,
suggesting the last glimmering light of day.
5 See Ellis, Life of Richard Wagner, (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner
and Co., 1908), VI, 313.
Wagner's Parody Technique 37
It is not difficult to appreciate the reasoning behind Wagner's The harmonic framework of the piano introduction is strictly
inclusion of these specific portions of the song in Tristan. Aside retained in its orchestral resetting. The rhythmic treatment is
from the obvious melodic outlining of the Tristan chord in the particularly interesting, since it represents one of the first in-
first measures, the harmonic language of the opening and clos- stances in which Wagner forsook a straightforward reiterated
ing parts of Triiume is more compatible with the general chro- eighth-note accompaniment (as found in the song and many of
m. 1-4 m.5- 14 n A m. 61 - 68
6 - 5
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6 Another passing reference to "Traume" (p. 404 of the Dover score) retains a
similar syncopated accompaniment. (Wagner noted that "the `Trsume flit close
by. ") Also compare p. 325 to the opening bars of the song.
38 Music Theory Spectrum
"coda-like" in nature, with its extended tonic pedal and insis- omitting only the D-flat before climaxing on the upper dominant
tence upon the tonicization of the subdominant area. For this 6 extension . 9
with a final 8-3
reason, I have chosen to concentrate on that section which lies This ascending motion is also paralleled in two other lines
between the introduction and the interior E-flat cadential chord (the upper beaming in the treble staff, which represents for the
(mm. 17-49). A reduction of these first three stanzas is given in most part the peak tones of the vocal line, and the interior
Ex. 2. Voice leading and tonal scheme of the first three stanzas of
` `Trume"
m.17 m.33 m.42
7
1 v 7 /v V 'Vl Vl V^
Stanza I (mm. 17-32) Stanza II (mm. 33-41) Stanza III (mm. 42-49)
1
TrAum\ ^ Traumej Traume
8m. 8m. 9 m. 8 m.
7 There are two passages where these appoggiatura figures appear in rhythmic 9 One may wish to point out the similarity of the appoggiatura line (E flat F G
diminution (mm. 33-34 and 43-44); the first instance uses the identical pitches. A-flat B-flat C E flat) to the tones in the opening Tristan chord (E flat F A flat
8 The phraseology is laid out in the following manner: C-flat E flat).
Wagner's Parody Technique 39
For the sake of comparison the remainder of the Love Duet is has already been anticipated in the opening bars of the Prelude
divided into two parts (Section I = mm. 22-45 and Section II (mm. 2-17), where the soprano chromatically fills a span from
mm. 46-85), each of which will be treated separately. Section I, G-sharp to the upper A via the appoggiatura B-A. The final
which is basically a development of the Tag motive, contains apotheosis occurs in the climax to the Liebestod; here the ex-
two striking relationships to "Traume." The stepwise motion of tended chromatic ascent culminates with the twofold 6-5 over
Love Duet
m. 22 26 30 34
Vocal
Orch.
Eng. H. Ob. II 1 y F l. I
Cl. 1 V1 n. I
Oh. I
40 Music Theory Spectrum
gt )
ab F6
Love Duet m. 46 - 51
The flat-6 relation, which has been lurking beneath the tonal the upper voice, which again fills in the E-flat—E-flat octave
fabric of the first measures of this section (mm. 46-48) now with the neighboring F. The last ten measures are particularly
becomes the means by which a long scale ascent of chromatic interesting; in the Love Duet the Tristan chord occurs above the
tonicizations is effected: flat-VI in A-flat = V in A). This F, which then moves to E 7 = Ger6 in A-flat enharmonically,
sequence continues upward to B-flat, where a new thematic eventually resolving to the dominant in m. 84. 11 The half-
element (the "Geborgenheit in Liebe" motive) re-articulates
the key. A tonal summary of this section is given in Example
6. 1 0 1969, pp. 453-57). Their reduction to a seies of 5-6 successions implies a
One is immediately struck by the similarity of the underlying reversal of the 6-5 noted previously. Unfortunately the analysis stops midway
framework to that of the first three stanzas of ` `Traume . " Note through the passage; I find it difficult to agree with their analysis of the A-flat 7 in
bar 19 as a bona fide tonic chord.
11 This is not as farfetched as it may appear at first, since Wagner does indeed
10A detailed layer analysis of the first 19 bars of this section appears in resolve it in a similar manner later in the act (see p. 448 in the Dover score). A
Salzer-Schachter Counterpoint in Composition (New York: McGraw Hill, rare example of an augmented sixth of an augmented sixth!
Wagner's Parody Technique 41
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diminished seventh chord over the pentultimate bass A-flat is Certain tonal aspects of ` `Traume" appear to have further
identical in both pieces. implications in the music of the opera to follow. An analysis of
The diagram in Example 7 serves as a summary of the Act I and the opening scene of Act II reveals that there is very
above-mentioned tonal relations noted between "Traume" and little use of the flat-6 (major third lower) and flat-3 (major third
the Love Duet. On this basis I do not feel that one is stretching higher) harmonic relations in terms of major keys. After the
the definition of the term in considering the Duet as a "parody" Love Duet, however, there are extensive passages that are
(either conscious or unconscious) of the song. literally permeated with these root movements. 12 The same
b•
. ^
Borrowed material
Section I Section II
1. Appoggiaturas E-flat-E-flat 1. Thematic transformation
2. Tonal exploration 2. Use of flat-6 as pivot
of flat-6 and flat-3 3. Basic harmonic scheme
4. Appoggiaturas E-flat-E-flat
12 For instance, see the familiar passage on p. 387 (Dover score) and its
recapitulation in the Liebestod.
42 Music Theory Spectrum
13 The only significant use in Act I is on pp. 193-94 (Dover score), and here
A A
the 6 refuses to resolve to 5 within the C major triad.
14 Reti's explanation of the keys employed in the Liebestod (A-flat and B)
hinges on the perfect fourths found within the first two Tristan chords of the
Prelude (A-flat—E-flat and B F sharp). See Reti, The Thematic Process in
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