R. Wagner is the largest German composer of the 19th century, who had a significant influence on the development of not only music European tradition, but also world artistic culture as a whole. Wagner did not receive a systematic musical education and in his development as a master of music owes a decisive degree to himself. The composer's interests, entirely focused on the opera genre, emerged relatively early. From his early work, the romantic opera The Fairies (1834), to the musical mystery drama Parsifal (1882), Wagner remained a staunch adherent of serious musical theater, which through his efforts was transformed and updated.
At first, Wagner did not think of reforming the opera - he followed the established traditions of musical performance and sought to master the achievements of his predecessors. If in “Fairies” the German romantic opera, so brilliantly represented by “The Magic Shooter” by K. M. Weber, became a role model, then in the opera “The Ban of Love” (1836) he was more oriented towards the traditions of French comic opera. However, these early works did not bring him recognition - Wagner led in those years hard life theater musician who wandered around different cities of Europe. For some time he worked in Russia, in the German theater of the city of Riga (1837-39). But Wagner... like many of his contemporaries, was attracted by the cultural capital of the then Europe, which was then universally recognized as Paris. Rainbow hopes young composer faded when he came face to face with the unsightly reality and was forced to lead the life of a poor foreign musician doing odd jobs. A change for the better came in 1842, when he was invited to the position of conductor at the famous opera house in the capital of Saxony, Dresden. Wagner finally had the opportunity to introduce his works to theater audiences, and his third opera, Rienzi (1840), won lasting recognition. And this is not surprising, since the model of the work was the French grand opera, the most prominent representatives of which were the recognized masters G. Spontini and G. Meyerbeer. In addition, the composer had performing forces of the highest rank - vocalists such as tenor J. Tihaček and the great singer-actress V. Schröder-Devrient, who became famous in her time in the role of Leonora in L. Beethoven’s only opera “Fidelio,” performed in his theater.
The 3 operas adjacent to the Dresden period have a lot in common. Thus, in “The Flying Dutchman” (1841), completed on the eve of the move to Dresden, the old legend about a wandering sailor cursed for previous atrocities, whom only devoted and pure love can save, comes to life. In the opera “Tannhäuser” (1845), the composer turned to the medieval legend about the minnesinger singer, who gained the favor of the pagan goddess Venus, but earned the curse of the Roman church for this. And finally, in Lohengrin (1848) - perhaps the most popular of Wagner's operas - a bright knight appears who descended to earth from the heavenly abode - the Holy Grail, in the name of fighting evil, slander and injustice.
In these operas, the composer is still closely associated with the traditions of romanticism - his heroes are torn apart by conflicting impulses, when purity and purity are opposed to the sinfulness of earthly passions, boundless trust is opposed to deceit and betrayal. Romanticism is also associated with the slowness of the narrative, when it is not so much the events themselves that are important, but the feelings that they awaken in the soul of the lyrical hero. This is where the important role of detailed monologues and dialogues of the characters comes from, revealing the internal struggle of their aspirations and motivations, a kind of “dialectics of the soul” of an extraordinary human personality.
But even during the years of work in the court service, Wagner had new plans. The impetus for their implementation was the revolution that broke out in a number of European countries in 1848 and did not escape Saxony. It was in Dresden that an armed uprising broke out against the reactionary monarchist regime, led by Wagner's friend, the Russian anarchist M. Bakunin. With his characteristic passion, Wagner took an active part in this uprising and after its defeat was forced to flee to Switzerland. A difficult period began in the composer’s life, but very fruitful for his work.
Wagner rethought and comprehended his artistic positions; moreover, he formulated the main tasks that, in his opinion, faced art in a number of theoretical works (among them the treatise “Opera and Drama” - 1851) is especially important. He embodied his ideas in the monumental tetralogy “The Ring of the Nibelung” - the main work of his entire life.
The basis grandiose creation, which fully occupies 4 theatrical evenings in a row, was composed of tales and legends dating back to pagan antiquity - the German “Song of the Nibelungs”, Scandinavian sagas included in the Elder and Younger Edda. But pagan mythology with its gods and heroes became for the composer a means of knowledge and artistic analysis problems and contradictions of contemporary bourgeois reality.
The content of the tetralogy, which includes the musical dramas “Das Rheingold” (1854), “Walkyrie” (1856), “Siegfried” (1871) and “Death of the Gods” (1874), is very multifaceted - the operas feature numerous characters who enter into conflict with each other complex relationships, sometimes even into cruel, irreconcilable struggle. Among them is the evil Nibelung dwarf Alberich, who steals a golden treasure from the daughters of the Rhine; The owner of the treasure, who managed to forge a ring from it, is promised power over the world. Alberich is opposed by the light god Wotan, whose omnipotence is illusory - he is a slave to the agreements he himself has concluded, on which his dominion is based. By taking the golden ring from the Nibelung, he brings upon himself and his family terrible curse, from which only a mortal hero who owes him nothing can save him. His own grandson, the simple-minded and fearless Siegfried, becomes such a hero. He defeats the monstrous dragon Fafner, takes possession of the treasured ring, awakens the sleeping warrior maiden Brunhilda, surrounded by a sea of fire, but dies, struck down by meanness and deceit. Along with him, the old world, where deception, self-interest and injustice reigned, also perishes.
Wagner's grandiose plan required completely new, previously unheard of means of implementation, a new operatic reform. The composer almost completely abandoned the hitherto familiar number structure - complete arias, choruses, ensembles. Instead, they were replaced by lengthy monologues and dialogues of the characters, unfolded into an endless melody. Broad melodiousness merged with declamation in vocal parts of a new type, in which a melodious cantilena and catchy speech characteristics were incomprehensibly combined.
The main feature of Wagner's operatic reform is associated with the special role of the orchestra. He is not limited to just supporting the vocal melody, but leads his own line, sometimes even coming to the fore. Moreover, the orchestra becomes the bearer of the meaning of the action - it is in it that the main musical themes- leitmotifs that become symbols of characters, situations, and even abstract ideas. The leitmotifs smoothly transform into each other, are combined in simultaneous sound, are constantly modified, but each time they are recognized by the listener, who has firmly grasped the semantic meaning assigned to us. On a larger scale, Wagnerian musical dramas are divided into developed, relatively complete scenes, where broad waves of emotional ups and downs, tension build-ups and releases occur.
Wagner began to implement his great plan during the years of Swiss emigration. But the complete impossibility of seeing on stage the fruits of his titanic work, truly unparalleled in power and tirelessness, broke even such a great worker - the writing of the tetralogy was interrupted for long years. And only an unexpected turn of fate - the support of the young Bavarian king Ludwig, inspired new strength in the composer and helped him complete, perhaps, the most monumental creation of the art of music, which was the result of the efforts of one person. To stage the tetralogy, it was built in the Bavarian city of Bayreuth, where the entire tetralogy was first performed in 1876 exactly as Wagner intended it.
In addition to The Ring of the Nibelung, Wagner created in the second half of the 19th century. 3 more capital works. This is the opera “Tristan and Isolde” (1859) - an enthusiastic hymn to eternal love, sung in medieval legends, colored with anxious forebodings, permeated with a sense of the inevitability of a fatal outcome. And along with such a work immersed in darkness, the dazzling light of the popular festival crowned the opera “Die Meistersinger of Nuremberg” (1867), where in an open competition of singers the most worthy, marked by a true gift, wins, and self-satisfied and stupidly pedantic mediocrity is put to shame. And finally, the master’s last creation - “Parsifal” (1882) - an attempt to musically and scenically represent the utopia of universal brotherhood, where the seemingly indestructible power of evil was defeated and wisdom, justice and purity reigned.
Wagner occupied a completely exceptional position in European music of the 19th century - it is difficult to name a composer who would not have been influenced by him. Wagner's discoveries influenced the development of musical theater in the 20th century. - composers learned lessons from them, but then moved in different ways, including those opposite to those outlined by the great German musician.
M. Tarakanov
The significance of Wagner in the history of world musical culture. His ideological and creative appearance
Wagner is one of those great artists whose work had a great influence on the development of world culture. His genius was universal: Wagner became famous not only as the author of outstanding musical works, but also as a wonderful conductor, who, along with Berlioz, was the founder of the modern art of conducting; he was a talented poet-playwright - the creator of librettos for his operas - and a gifted publicist and musical theater theorist. Such versatile activity, combined with ebullient energy and a titanic will in establishing his artistic principles, attracted widespread attention to Wagner’s personality and music: his ideological and creative achievements caused heated debate both during the composer’s lifetime and after his death. They have not subsided to this day.
“As a composer,” said P. I. Tchaikovsky, “Wagner is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable personalities in the second half of this (that is, the 19th. - M.D.) centuries, and his influence on music is enormous." This influence was multifaceted: it extended not only to the musical theater, where Wagner worked most of all as the author of thirteen operas, but also to expressive means musical art; Wagner's contribution to the field of program symphony is also significant.
“...He is great as an opera composer,” said N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. “His operas,” wrote A. N. Serov, “... entered the German people and became a national treasure in their own way, no less than the operas of Weber or the works of Goethe or Schiller.” “He was gifted with a great gift of poetry, mighty creativity“, his imagination was enormous, his initiative was strong, his artistic skill was great...” - this is how V. V. Stasov characterized the best sides of Wagner’s genius. The music of this remarkable composer, according to Serov, opened up “unknown, immense horizons” in art.
Paying tribute to the genius of Wagner, his daring courage as an innovative artist, leading figures of Russian music (primarily Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Stasov) criticized some tendencies of his work that distracted from his tasks real image life. Wagner's general artistic principles and his aesthetic views as applied to musical theater were subjected to especially fierce criticism. Tchaikovsky briefly and aptly said about this: “While I admire the composer, I have little sympathy for what is the cult of Wagner’s theories.” Wagner's favorite ideas, images of his operatic work, and methods of their musical embodiment were also disputed.
However, along with well-aimed critical remarks, there is an intense struggle for the assertion of national identity Russian musical theater, so different from German opera art, sometimes caused biased judgments. In this regard, M. P. Mussorgsky very correctly noted: “We often criticize Wagner, but Wagner is strong and powerful because he probes art and tugs at it...”.
An even more fierce struggle arose around the name and cause of Wagner in foreign countries. Along with enthusiastic fans who believed that from now on theater should develop only along Wagner’s path, there were also musicians who completely rejected the ideological and artistic value of Wagner’s works and saw in his influence only detrimental consequences for the evolution of musical art. The Wagnerians and their opponents took irreconcilably hostile positions. While sometimes expressing fair thoughts and observations, with their biased assessments they rather confused these issues rather than helping to resolve them. Such extreme points of view were not shared by the largest foreign composers of the second half of the 19th century - Verdi, Bizet, Brahms - but even they, recognizing Wagner’s genius, did not accept everything in his music.
Wagner's work gave rise to conflicting assessments, because not only his multifaceted activity, but also the composer's personality itself was torn apart by severe contradictions. By one-sidedly emphasizing any one aspect of the complex image of the creator and man, Wagner’s apologists, as well as detractors, gave a distorted idea of his significance in the history of world culture. To correctly determine this meaning, one must understand Wagner's personality and life's work in all its complexity.
A double knot of contradictions characterizes Wagner. On the one hand, these are contradictions between worldview and creativity. Of course, one cannot deny the connections that existed between them, but the activities composer Wagner was far from coinciding with the activities of Wagner, the prolific writer-publicist, who expressed many reactionary thoughts on issues of politics and religion, especially in last period life. On the other hand, both his aesthetic and socio-political views are sharply contradictory. A rebellious rebel, Wagner already arrived at the revolution of 1848-1849 with an extremely confused worldview. It remained so during the years of the defeat of the revolution, when reactionary ideology poisoned the composer’s consciousness with the poison of pessimism, gave rise to subjectivist sentiments, and led to the establishment of national-chauvinist or clerical ideas. All this could not but affect the contradictory nature of his ideological and artistic quests.
But Wagner is truly great in that, despite subjective reactionary views, despite their ideological instability, objectively reflected the essential aspects of reality in artistic creativity, revealed - in an allegorical, figurative form - the contradictions of life, exposed the capitalist world of lies and deceit, exposed the drama of great spiritual aspirations, powerful impulses for happiness and unaccomplished heroic deeds, broken hopes. Not a single composer of the post-Beethoven period in foreign countries of the 19th century was able to raise such a large complex of burning issues of our time as Wagner. Therefore, he became the “ruler of thoughts” of a number of generations, and his work absorbed large, exciting problems of modern culture.
Wagner did not give a clear answer to his questions. life questions, but his historical merit lies in the fact that he put them so sharply. He was able to do this because he permeated all his activities with a passionate, irreconcilable hatred of capitalist oppression. Whatever he expressed in theoretical articles, whatever reactionary political views he defended, Wagner in his musical work was always on the side of those who sought the active use of their powers in establishing a sublime and humane principle in life, against those who were mired in the swamp bourgeois well-being and self-interest. And, perhaps, no one else has been able to show with such artistic persuasiveness and power the tragedy of modern life, poisoned by bourgeois civilization.
A sharply expressed anti-capitalist orientation gives Wagner's work enormous progressive significance, although he was unable to understand the complexity of the phenomena he depicted.
Wagner is the last major romantic artist of the 19th century. Romantic ideas, themes, images were entrenched in his work even in the pre-revolutionary years; they were developed by him later. After the revolution of 1848, many prominent composers, under the influence of new social conditions, as a result of a sharper exposure of class contradictions, switched to other topics and switched to realistic positions in their coverage (most bright that example - Verdi). But Wagner remained a romantic, although his inherent inconsistency was reflected in the fact that at different stages of his activity, either the features of realism or, conversely, reactionary romanticism more actively appeared.
This commitment to romantic themes and the means of expressing them placed him in a special position among many of his contemporaries. The individual properties of Wagner’s personality, who was always dissatisfied and restless, also had an effect.
His life is full of unusual ups and downs, passions and periods of boundless despair. I had to overcome countless obstacles to promote my innovative ideas. Years, sometimes decades, passed before he was able to hear the scores of his own compositions. One had to have an ineradicable thirst for creativity in order to work in these difficult conditions the way Wagner worked. Serving art was the main motivation of his life. (“I exist not to earn money, but to create,” Wagner proudly declared). That is why, despite cruel ideological mistakes and breakdowns, relying on the progressive traditions of German music, he achieved such outstanding artistic results: following Beethoven, he sang the heroics of human daring, like Bach, with an amazing richness of shades he revealed the world of human spiritual experiences and, following the path Weber, embodied images of German folk legends and tales in music, and created magnificent pictures of nature. Such a variety of ideological and artistic solutions and perfection of mastery are characteristic of the best works Richard Wagner.
Themes, images and plots of Wagner's operas. Principles of musical dramaturgy. Features of musical language
Wagner as an artist emerged in the conditions of social upsurge in pre-revolutionary Germany. During these years, he not only formalized his aesthetic views and outlined ways to transform musical theater, but also defined a circle of images and subjects close to himself. It was in the 40s, simultaneously with Tannhäuser and Lohengrin, that Wagner thought through the plans for all the operas he worked on in the following decades (The exceptions are “Tristan” and “Parsifal”, the concept of which matured during the years of the defeat of the revolution; this explains the stronger influence of pessimistic moods than in other works.). He mainly drew material for these works from folk legends and tales. Their content, however, served him original a point for independent creativity, not ultimate purpose. In an effort to emphasize thoughts and moods close to modern times, Wagner subjected folk poetic sources to free processing, modernized them, because, he said, every historical generation can discover in myth my topic. His sense of artistic proportion and tact betrayed him when subjectivist ideas took precedence over the objective meaning of folk legends, but in many cases, when modernizing plots and images, the composer managed to preserve the vital truth of folk poetry. In the mixture of such different tendencies lies one of the most characteristic features of Wagnerian dramaturgy, both its strengths and weak sides. However, referring to epic plots and images, Wagner gravitated towards them purely psychological interpretation - this, in turn, gave rise to an acutely contradictory struggle between the “Siegfried” and “Tristan” principles in his work.
Wagner turned to ancient legends and legendary images because he found great tragic plots in them. He was less interested in the real situation of distant antiquity or the historical past, although here he achieved a lot, especially in “Die Meistersinger of Nuremberg”, in which realistic tendencies were more pronounced. But above all, Wagner sought to show the spiritual drama of strong characters. A modern epic of the struggle for happiness he consistently embodied in various images and plots of his operas. This is the Flying Dutchman, persecuted by fate, tormented by his conscience, passionately dreaming of peace; this is Tannhäuser, torn apart by a contradictory passion for sensual pleasure and for a moral, harsh life; this is Lohengrin, rejected and not understood by people.
The struggle of life in Wagner's view is full of tragedy. Passion burns Tristan and Isolde; Elsa (in Lohengrin) dies after breaking the prohibition of her beloved. The inactive figure of Wotan is tragic; through lies and deceit he achieved illusory power, which brought grief to people. But the fate of Wagner’s most vital hero, Sigmund, is also tragic; and even Siegfried, far from the storms of life's dramas, this naive, powerful child of nature, is doomed to a tragic death. Everywhere and everywhere - a painful search for happiness, a desire to accomplish heroic deeds, but they are not allowed to come true - lies and deceit, violence and deceit have entangled life.
According to Wagner, salvation from suffering caused by a passionate desire for happiness lies in selfless love: in her is the highest manifestation of the human principle. But love should not be passive - life is affirmed in achievement. Thus, the calling of Lohengrin - the defender of the innocently accused Elsa - is the fight for the rights of virtue; feat is Siegfried's ideal in life; his love for Brünnhilde calls him to new heroic deeds.
All Wagner's operas, starting with his mature works of the 40s, have features of ideological community and unity of musical and dramatic concept. The revolution of 1848-1849 marked an important milestone in the ideological and artistic evolution of the composer, increasing the inconsistency of his creativity. But basically the essence of the search for means of embodying a certain, stable range of ideas, themes, and images remained unchanged.
Wagner permeated his operas unity of dramatic expression, for which he unfolded the action in a continuous, continuous stream. The strengthening of the psychological principle, the desire for a truthful transmission of the processes of mental life, necessitated such continuity. Wagner was not alone in such quests. This was also achieved, each in his own way, by the best representatives of opera art of the 19th century - Russian classics, Verdi, Bizet, Smetana. But Wagner, continuing what his immediate predecessor in German music Weber had outlined, most consistently developed the principles end-to-end development in the musical and dramatic genre. He merged individual opera episodes, scenes, even paintings together into a freely developing action. Wagner enriched the means of operatic expression with the forms of monologue, dialogue, and large symphonic structures. But paying more and more attention to depicting the inner world of the characters by depicting externally scenic, effective moments, he introduced into his music features of subjectivism and psychological complexity, which in turn gave rise to verbosity and destroyed the form, making it loose and amorphous. All this exacerbated the inconsistency of Wagnerian dramaturgy.
One of the important means of its expressiveness is the leitmotif system. It was not Wagner who invented it: musical motifs that evoked certain associations with specific life phenomena or psychological processes were used by the composers of the French Revolution of the late 18th century, by Weber and Meyerbeer, and in the field of symphonic music by Berlioz, Liszt and others. But Wagner differs from his predecessors and contemporaries in his broader, more consistent use of this system (The fanatical Wagnerians made a fair mistake in studying this issue, trying to give every theme, even intonation, a leitmotif meaning and endow all leitmotifs, no matter how brief, with almost comprehensive content.).
Any mature Wagner opera contains twenty-five to thirty leitmotifs that permeate the fabric of the score (However, in operas of the 40s the number of leitmotifs does not exceed ten.). He began composing the opera by developing a musical theme. So, for example, in the very first sketches of “The Ring of the Nibelung” the funeral march from “The Death of the Gods” is depicted, which, as said, contains a complex of the most important heroic themes of the tetralogy; First of all, the overture was written for “Die Meistersinger” - it consolidates the main thematic theme of the opera, etc.
Wagner's creative imagination is inexhaustible in inventing themes of remarkable beauty and plasticity, in which many essential phenomena of life are reflected and generalized. Often these themes provide an organic combination of expressive and figurative principles, which helps to concretize the musical image. In the operas of the 40s, the melodies are extended: the leading themes-images outline different faces phenomena. This method of musical characterization continues in later works, but Wagner’s predilection for vague philosophizing sometimes gives rise to impersonal leitmotifs that are intended to express abstract concepts. These motives are brief, devoid of the warmth of human breath, incapable of development, and have no internal connection with each other. So along with themes-images arise themes-symbols.
Unlike the latter, the best themes of Wagner's operas do not live separately throughout the work, they do not represent unchanging, isolated formations. Quite the opposite. The leading motifs contain common features, and together they form certain thematic complexes that express shades and gradations of feelings or details of a single picture. Wagner brings together different themes and motifs through subtle changes, comparisons or combinations of them at the same time. “The composer’s work on these motifs is truly amazing,” wrote Rimsky-Korsakov.
Wagner's dramatic method and his principles of symphonization of opera scores had an undoubted influence on the art of subsequent times. The largest composers of musical theater in the second half of the 19th and 20th centuries took advantage, to one degree or another, of the artistic achievements of the Wagnerian leitmotif system, although they did not accept its extremes (for example, Smetana and Rimsky-Korsakov, Puccini and Prokofiev).
The interpretation of the vocal principle in Wagner's operas is also noted for its originality.
Fighting against superficial, uncharacteristic melody in a dramatic sense, he argued that vocal music should be based on the reproduction of intonations, or, as Wagner said, accents of speech. “Dramatic melody,” he wrote, “finds support in verse and language.” There are no fundamentally new points in this statement. During the 18th-19th centuries, many composers turned to the embodiment of speech intonations in music in order to update the intonation structure of their works (for example, Gluck, Mussorgsky). Wagner's sublime declamation introduced a lot of new things into music of the XIX century. From now on, it was impossible to return to the old patterns of operatic melody. Singers performing Wagner's operas also faced unprecedentedly new creative challenges. But, based on his abstract and speculative concepts, he sometimes unilaterally emphasized declamatory elements to the detriment of song elements, subordinating the development of the vocal element to symphonic development.
Of course, many pages of Wagner's operas are filled with full-blooded, varied vocal melody, conveying the finest shades of expressiveness. The operas of the 40s are rich in such melodicism, among which “The Flying Dutchman” stands out for its folk-song composition, and “Lohengrin” for its melodiousness and heartfelt warmth. But in subsequent works, especially in “Die Walküre” and “Die Meistersinger,” the vocal part is endowed with great content and acquires leading importance. One can recall Sigmund’s “spring song”, the monologue about the sword Notung, the love duet, the dialogue between Brünnhilde and Sigmund, Wotan’s farewell; in "Die Meistersinger" - Walter's songs, Sax's monologues, his songs about Eve and the shoemaker angel, quintet, folk choirs; in addition - songs of sword forging (in the opera “Siegfried”); Siegfried's story on the hunt, Brünnhilde's dying monologue (“Death of the Gods”), etc. But there are also pages of the score where the vocal part either takes on an exaggeratedly pompous tone, or, on the contrary, is relegated to the role of an optional appendage to the orchestral part. Such a violation of the artistic balance between the vocal and instrumental principles is characteristic of the internal inconsistency of Wagner's musical dramaturgy.
Wagner's achievements as a symphonist are indisputable; he consistently affirmed the principles of programming in his work. His overtures and orchestral introductions (Wagner created four operatic overtures (for the operas “Rienzi”, “The Flying Dutchman”, “Tannhäuser”, “Die Meistersinger”) and three architecturally completed orchestral introductions (“Lohengrin”, “Tristan”, “Parsifal”).), symphonic intermissions and numerous paintings provided, according to Rimsky-Korsakov, “the richest material for visual music, and where Wagner’s texture turned out to be suitable for a given moment, there he turned out to be truly great and powerful in the power of the plasticity of his images, thanks to the incomparable , its brilliant instrumentation and expression.” Tchaikovsky equally highly regarded Wagner’s symphonic music, noting its “unprecedentedly beautiful instrumentation” and “amazing richness of harmonic and polyphonic fabric.” V. Stasov, like Tchaikovsky or Rimsky-Korsakov, who condemned Wagner’s operatic work for many things, wrote that his orchestra “is new, rich, often dazzling in color, in poetry and charm of the strongest, but also the most delicate and sensually charming colors... ."
Already in the early works of the 40s, Wagner achieved brilliance, fullness and richness of orchestral sound; introduced a triple cast (in “The Ring of the Nibelung” - a quadruple cast); used the range of strings more widely, especially due to the upper register (his favorite technique is the high arrangement of string chords divisi); gave a melodic purpose to brass instruments (such is the powerful unison of three trumpets and three trombones in the reprise of the Tannhäuser overture or the unisons of brass on a moving harmonic background of strings in Ride of the Valkyries and The Spell of Fire, etc.). By mixing the sound of the three main groups of the orchestra (strings, wood, brass), Wagner achieved flexible, plastic variability of the symphonic fabric. High contrapuntal skill helped him in this. Moreover, his orchestra is not only colorful, but also characteristic, sensitively reacting to the development of dramatic feelings and situations.
Wagner also appears to be an innovator in the field of harmony. In search of the strongest expressive effects, he increased the tension musical speech, saturated it with chromaticisms, alterations, complex chord complexes, created a “multi-layered” polyphonic texture, and used bold, extraordinary modulations. These quests sometimes gave rise to exquisite tension in style, but never acquired the character of artistically unjustified experiments.
Wagner sharply opposed the search for “musical combinations for their own sake, only for the sake of their inherent sharpness.” Addressing young composers, he implored them to “never turn harmonic and orchestral effects into an end in themselves.” Wagner was an opponent of groundless daring; he fought for the truthful expression of deeply human feelings and thoughts and in this regard maintained contact with the progressive traditions of German music, becoming one of its most outstanding representatives. But throughout its long and difficult life in art he was sometimes carried away by false ideas and deviated from the right path.
Without forgiving Wagner for his errors, noting the significant contradictions in his views and creativity, rejecting the reactionary features in them, we highly value the genius German artist, who principledly and confidently defended his ideals, enriched world culture wonderful musical creations.
M. Druskin
If we want to make a list of characters, scenes, costumes, objects that abound in Wagner's operas, a fairy-tale world appears before us. Dragons, dwarfs, giants, gods and demigods, spears, helmets, swords, trumpets, rings, horns, harps, banners, storms, rainbows, swans, doves, lakes, rivers, mountains, fires, seas and ships on them, miraculous phenomena and disappearances, bowls of poison and magical drinks, disguises, flying horses, enchanted castles, fortresses, duels, inaccessible peaks, sky-high heights, underwater and earthly abysses, flowering gardens, sorceresses, young heroes, disgusting evil creatures, immaculate and eternally young beauties, priests and knights, passionate lovers, cunning sages, powerful rulers and rulers suffering from terrible spells... There is no need to say that magic, witchcraft reigns everywhere, and the constant background of everything is the struggle between good and evil, sin and salvation, darkness and light. To describe all this, the music must be magnificent, dressed in luxurious clothes, full of small details, like a great realistic novel, inspired by the fantasy that feeds adventure and chivalric novels in which anything can happen. Even when Wagner narrates ordinary events commensurate with ordinary people, he always tries to get away from everyday life: to depict love, its charms, contempt for dangers, unlimited personal freedom. All his adventures arise spontaneously, and the music turns out natural, flowing as if there were no obstacles in its path: it has a power that dispassionately embraces all possible life and turns it into a miracle. She easily and outwardly nonchalantly moves from pedantic imitation of pre-19th century music to the most stunning innovations, to the music of the future.
Name: Richard Wagner
Age: 69 years old
Place of Birth: Leipzig, Germany
A place of death: Venice, Italy
Activity: composer, conductor
Family status: was married
Richard Wagner - biography
Wilhelm Richard Wagner is not a simple composer, he is an art theorist, one who influenced the whole European culture music and reformed opera.
Childhood, Wagner family
Richard's father was an official, but it turned out that the boy was raised by his stepfather, actor Ludwig Geyer. Nine children were born into the Wagner family, but two children died, and when the future composer was born, his father died. The head of the family was a fan of the Melpomene temple, and in his honor, four of the children connected their lives with the theater.
In the biography of Richard's childhood, a lot of space and time was devoted to music, which the child began to learn very early. There was an explanation for this: everyone in the family was musically trained. Richard's passion for drawing puzzled his parents. He portrayed fairy-tale creatures with incredible imagination.
But one day the boy watched Weber's opera about a hunter, and from that moment he truly fell in love with music. This piece of music fully corresponded to his childhood fantasies: the scene was replete with evil spirits and ghosts. The music enchanted and bewitched. He wanted to create the same enchanting sounds himself. Therefore, I took up studying the theory on my own, simultaneously imitating the great Beethoven. Elementary education Richard received his education at the Leipzig school. From the age of 18, he began to combine all musical sounds into symphonies and sonatas. The young man could not sit still, he leaves hometown. For a long time he worked as a choirmaster and conductor in theaters in various cities from Magdeburg to Paris.
Immortal creativity of the composer
Wagner composed brilliant overtures and operas. The Royal Saxon court became a refuge for the composer for some time, where he worked as a bandmaster. Often Wagner's music reflected the feelings and emotions that filled the composer's world. More than any other composer, he called for turning to one’s nature, to the strong connection that exists between man and all of nature as a whole.
Wagner's ideas
Art is created by man and for man - the idea of Wagner's entire work. The Opera Theater now began to be perceived as the highest form of reproduction of works of art, as a temple. And what happened on the stage in the temple of art bore the new name of musical drama. It embodied the combination of words and music. This became the meaning of the composer’s entire life. “The Flying Dutchman”, “Tannhäuser” and “Lohengrin”, “Tristan and Isolde”, “The Ring of the Nibelung” and “Parsifal” are a number of masterpieces created by the German maestro.
Orchestra at the opera
The composer’s entire biography is a life in music, in opera and in its improvement. Wagner brought the art of opera closer to life, denying excessive pomp and falsehood in classical opera. In addition, he devoted Special attention not the vocal performance of the parts, but the music, which was intended to reveal the feelings and experiences of the heroes of the work. The orchestra in his operas played a separate role; it gave a musical characterization to each hero, living creature, and symbolic object. The viewer does not have the opportunity to relax, he is constantly tense, since the musical denouement will only be at the end of the work.
Philosophy in Wagner's music
Passion for the ideas of the philosopher Schopenhauer can be traced in the works of Wagner. The composer believes that the universe is imperfect, meaningless and dysfunctional. Music should help you find true pleasure. If humanity continues to chase power and gold, then a world catastrophe may soon occur. Richard makes only two themes the most basic in his work: love and death. He links them inextricably in his operas. The system of leitmotifs was inherited not only by Wagner’s followers, but also by his contemporaries.
Even those who tried to criticize the musician’s work introduced Wagnerian theories into their orchestral sketches. Even N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov could not escape the influence German composer. A.N. Scriabin also succumbed to this modernized writing. All composers who imitated Wagner sought, like him, to expand the boundaries of expressiveness in music, including harmony, opera and orchestral writing.
Some great Russian musicians took the opposite position in relation to the music of the great reformer. These included M.P. Mussorgsky and A.P. Borodin. Wagner, in turn, was so individual that he did not want to take into account the work of some composers who had Jewish roots (F. Mendelssohn).
Richard Wagner - biography of personal life
In Magdeburg, Richard met the actress Minna Planer. Work in the theater did not go well for Wagner, the prima went to Berlin. This departure of his beloved woman forced the composer to confess his love and propose marriage. The marriage was hasty and unhappy. There was not enough money, the beloved was not an exalted person and did not live with dreams. She was four years older than her husband, had a very practical approach to life and did not understand her husband. The theater was closed, the composer lived in Riga for two years, taught French, dreamed of conquering France.
Having sold everything he could, somehow collecting money for food, the composer hoped that success and fame would come soon. Minna fell ill, Wagner went to prison for debt - this is how Paris greeted him. Success found the musician in Germany, where he received a position as director of a theater in Dresden. After the revolutionary unrest, the composer fled with his family to Switzerland. Minna saved, but it was difficult to do this with Wagner; the woman’s heart ached. Richard began to lead a wild life and fell in love with a married Englishwoman, Jessie Lossot. The composer became friends with Liszt, whose youngest daughter would become last love Wagner.
But this is a little later, while Richard was inflamed with feelings for Matilda Wesendonck, a married beauty and an exalted nature. This woman was always among the very first listeners of the musician’s works. But marital duty remained a true duty for Matilda; she did not leave her husband for Wagner. And Wesendonck forever remained a financial assistant and friend for the composer.
Both women left Richard. The time has come for true love. Cosima, having left her husband, gave all her tenderness to Wagner. He finally had heirs: Isolde, Eva, Siegfried. The happy father was incredibly happy and continued to create, and died at work from a broken heart. The funeral was with honors.
Wilhelm Richard Wagner (1813-1883) was a German composer who had a huge influence on musical culture Europe, especially for symphonic and opera genres. Art theorist, conductor, considered the greatest reformer of opera. This genius is called the most controversial among all composers who have lived to this day. Some admire his music, others are intimidated by it. And some even pronounce Wagner’s name with disgust, and only because Hitler was an ardent admirer of his work.
Birth and family
Richard was born on May 22, 1813 in the German city of Leipzig, in the family of an official. In total, the Wagners had nine children, but two of them died in infancy. In the year of Richard's birth, his father Karl Friedrich Wagner died suddenly; he was only 43 years old. The head of the family passionately loved theater and wanted his children to connect their future with this type of art. Almost all of them fulfilled their father’s will and chose a creative path in life.
The eldest girl, Rosalia, made her debut at the Leipzig theater at the age of sixteen and later became an actress. From the age of ten, her second daughter Louise, who also chose an artistic career, began performing on stage. The third girl, Clara, was already recognized as an excellent singer at the age of sixteen; this happened after successfully performing the role of Cinderella in Rossini’s opera. The eldest among the Wagner boys, Albert, was initially going to devote his life to medicine. But then his love for art overpowered him, and he became a theater director and singer.
Richard’s stepfather, Ludwig Geyer, was also directly related to art; he was an artist, actor and playwright. Geyer was friends with Karl Friedrich Wagner and after his death took over the care of the family of his deceased friend. Richard loved his stepfather very much and considered him his father; throughout his life he remembered Geyer with gratitude. On the composer Wagner's desk there was always a portrait of Ludwig Geyer, and on the wall hung a picture of his stepfather and mother Johanna Rosina.
Wagner loved his mother very much. Johanna Rosina was a poorly educated woman, but cheerful, simple and courageous. Having lost her husband and being left alone with seven children, she married Ludwig Geyer a second time, after which the family moved from Leipzig to Dresden.
Showing talent
The entire musical Wagner family tried to introduce little Richard to this art and teach him to play the piano. But the boy was not at all interested in music; he liked drawing and reading fairy tales more.
Everything changed on the day when little Wagner got to see the real opera “Freeshot” by Weber. The story of a hunter who made an alliance with the devil captured the child's imagination. He was scared to death when scary characters (ghosts and goblins) appeared on stage one after another, but he sat spellbound because the wonderful music sounded. The fairy-tale world beckoned him, and at the end of the opera, a small frail boy with tousled hair rushed out of auditorium behind the scenes. He carefully pulled back the curtain, walked inside and began to wander among the decorations. It seemed to little Wagner then that this was an enchanted country, and he was walking among its fantastic ruins.
Under the impression, strange pictures were drawn in his imagination, and, returning home, he grabbed a pencil. The boy couldn’t wait to depict on paper what was born in his head. The strange creatures he painted perplexed his mother and sisters.
But then he suddenly remembered the music sounding on stage and felt that it was not an ordinary combination of sounds, but the whole Universe, about which the boy still knew nothing. From that moment on, he was no longer interested in anything, only music, he wanted to compose it, intoxicating and enchanting, which would cause tears and laughter in listeners. This gift awoke in him suddenly, as if a secret door had opened somewhere in the depths of his soul.
The first one to guess life path The path through which Richard had to go was his stepfather Geyer. Unfortunately, he also passed away early. Young Wagner was only eight years old when his dying stepfather asked him to play the chorus from the opera Free Shooter on the piano. Listening to him play, Geyer told his wife: “The boy has a talent for music.”
Education
Richard decided to devote himself to music and stubbornly followed this path. On his own, using a book, without the help of teachers, he studied the theory of composition. He considered Beethoven his ideal in the musical world. From morning to evening, Wagner carefully rewrote his scores, trying to unravel the extraordinary secret of harmony that lay in the music of this great composer.
After the death of their stepfather, the Wagner family returned to Leipzig. Here Richard received his education in one of the oldest humanitarian and musical educational institutions Germany - St. Thomas School. In the Lutheran Church of St. Thomas, liturgical music was then led by cantor Theodor Weinlig, and in 1828, fifteen-year-old Wagner began to learn the basics of music from him. At this age he wrote his first significant work - the tragedy Leibald and Adelaide.
By the age of eighteen, Wagner had composed several symphonies, pieces for piano and orchestra, and sonatas. In 1831, Richard became a volunteer at the University of Leipzig as a music student.
Wandering period
In 1833, he left his native Leipzig and went to seek his fortune in Würzburg. Here Wagner worked as a theater choir director (choirmaster). But he did not stay in one place; a long period of wandering began.
The composer moved to Magdeburg, where he got a job at a small opera house as a choirmaster. He spent the entire theater season of 1834-1835 here. The new young conductor was loved by both the public and the artists. But the theater’s business was going badly, and revenues were falling. Despite Wagner's attempts to replenish the troupe and update the repertoire, many artists began to look for other places. Soon the theater director declared bankruptcy, but Richard still wanted to stage his new play"Ban of love." However, the premiere failed, and he left Magdeburg in despair.
From 1837 to 1839 he conducted musical theaters in Riga and Königsberg, then lived and worked for some time in Norway, London, and Paris. All this time, Richard was madly homesick and lived in terrible poverty. But he believed in his strength and great calling; dreamed that Paris would submit to him; there will be money, fame, success. At the same time, he either sold everything valuable or pawned it in a pawnshop, ran around the city all day long, begging creditors to delay the payment of debts, sometimes there was not even a piece of bread in his house.
The composer's triumph
In 1842, the composer returned to Germany. In the autumn of the same year, his opera “Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes” was staged in Dresden. The success was triumphant, noisy and luxurious, which became for Wagner a complete surprise. At the premiere, he could barely cope with his emotions - Richard felt hot and cold, he cried and laughed at the same time. The composer, who a few months ago was unknown and half-starved in Paris, became fashionable and in demand in his homeland. German newspapers published Wagner's biography with a portrait, and most importantly, he received a position as a conductor at the Dresden Theater. Thus the foundation for the fame of the great composer was laid.
In 1843 he received an appointment as bandmaster at the royal Saxon court. But he still devoted a lot of time and effort to creativity. After Rienzi, his operas were staged one after another:
- "The Flying Dutchman" (sad opera about a ghost ship);
- "Tannhäuser" (the sad story of a Catholic minstrel who was the lover of Venus);
- "Lohengrin" (opera about the divine knight).
Wagner had good money, but he was absolutely unable to save and save; he spent a lot at once and wastedly. He dined in expensive restaurants, bought gifts for women, and refined and luxurious outfits for himself - satin trousers, lace shirts, silk robes.
A good, comfortable life continued until 1848, when the revolution began in Germany. Wagner became her supporter, but after the defeat he was forced to flee to Switzerland, where he lived for nine years. I worked a lot literary activity, wrote articles on art history and theory, musical criticism. Here he composed two parts of his own famous work– opera tetralogy “The Ring of the Nibelung” (“Das Rheingold” and “Die Walküre”).
In the fall of 1857, Wagner completed work on the text of his most radical opera, Tristan and Isolde, and the score was ready in the summer of 1859. But the premiere of this work took place only six years later in Munich at the National Theater. Famous Vienna Opera refused this new and unusual production, considering it unperformable. The reason for this decision was the soloist who was supposed to sing the part of Tristan - after 77 rehearsals, he lost his voice and went crazy.
In 1864, Richard was again able to return to his homeland, having received the favor of the Bavarian king Ludwig II, who turned out to be a passionate admirer of the composer. The king paid off all of Wagner's debts, assigned a substantial allowance, and built Neuschwanstein Castle in his honor (now one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe). But most importantly, Richard now had the opportunity to invite the best artists and musicians and stage his operas at the Munich theater.
At home, the composer completed “The Ring of the Nibelung”, writing two more parts, “Siegfried” and “Death of the Gods.” He also composed a comic opera about the singing competition “The Mastersingers of Nuremberg.”
In 1876, Wagner was finally completely happy, as the opening of the opera festival theater in Bayreuth took place. Louis II allocated money for construction, and Richard himself supervised everything. The theater opened with the premiere of the tetralogy “The Ring of the Nibelung”.
Personal life
In 1834, while working at the theater in Magdeburg, Richard met the charming singer Wilhelmina (Minna) Planer. When she left for Berlin, Wagner almost went crazy and wrote her endless letters in which he begged her to become his wife. He said that if she refused, he would start drinking, give up all activities and quickly go to hell.
They were absolutely different people. Minna is a charming beauty and at the same time a down-to-earth, practical woman; next to her, Richard felt inexperienced and clumsy. Despite the fact that she worked as a singer, Planer was indifferent to art, while Wagner was obsessed with music. She always strived for a luxurious life, and the young and poor composer could not offer her this. Therefore, even for Richard it was surprising when in 1836 Minna Planer agreed to marry him.
Soon both realized that they had made an unforgivable mistake. This marriage became a burden for them and did not bring happiness. They had to wander all over Europe, sometimes lived in squalid corners and had no idea whether there would be food tomorrow. Wagner composed music, at these moments he forgot himself and was incredibly happy. But not a single theater wanted to stage his operas.
Wagner began to spin endless romance novels, used the services of courtesans while his wife began to develop heart disease. They eventually broke up.
The last but the most true love Richard became a daughter famous composer Liszt – Cosima Bülow. At the time they met, the young woman was married to conductor Hans von Bülow, with whom Wagner had friendly relations. This did not stop Richard from falling in love with Kozina, who was 24 years younger than him. She was unhappy in her marriage, so she quickly and sincerely responded to Wagner's advances.
The immoral behavior of the lovers caused public outrage, and they had to leave Germany. In a secluded Swiss villa, the composer was surrounded by the care and attention of his beloved woman. Moreover, in his declining years he experienced the joy of true paternal feelings, as his wife gave him three children - two girls and a son. The boy was named Siegfried, as he was born on the day the composer finished work on the opera of the same name. Only in 1870 did Richard and Kozina manage to get married.
In this marriage, Wagner was incredibly happy, but not for very long. On February 13, 1883, he died suddenly of a broken heart; death overtook him at work. The composer was buried with truly royal honors. The wife survived Richard by almost half a century and all this time continued her husband’s work at the Bayreuth Theater.
Wagner Wilhelm Richard (1813-1883), German composer.
Born on May 22, 1813 in Leipzig into an artistic family, he was interested in literature and theater from childhood. His acquaintance with the work of L. van Beethoven had a huge influence on the formation of Wagner as a composer. Studying a lot on his own, he took piano lessons from organist G. Müller, and music theory from T. Weiling.
In 1834-1839 Wagner had already worked professionally as a bandmaster in various opera houses. In 1839-1842. lived in Paris. Here he wrote his first significant work - the historical opera Rienzi. In Paris, Wagner failed to stage this opera; it was accepted for production in Dresden in 1842. And until 1849, the composer worked as bandmaster and conductor of the Dresden Court Opera. Here in 1843 he staged his own opera “The Flying Dutchman”, and in 1845 - “Tannhäuser and the Wartburg Singing Competition”. One of Wagner's most famous operas, Lohengrin (1848), was written in Dresden.
In 1849, for participating in revolutionary unrest in Dresden, the composer was declared a state criminal and was forced to flee to Switzerland. The main ones were created there literary works, such as “Art and Revolution” (1849), “Artwork of the Future” (1850), “Opera and Drama” (1851). In them, Wagner acted as a reformer - primarily of the art of opera. His main ideas can be summarized as follows: in opera, drama should dominate music, and not vice versa; at the same time, the orchestra is not subordinate to the singers, but is an equal “actor”.
Musical drama aims to be universal a work of art capable of morally influencing the audience. And such an impact can only be achieved using philosophical and aesthetic concepts generalized in a mythological plot.
The composer always wrote the libretto for his operas himself. In addition, in Wagner, each character, even some objects important for the development of the plot (for example, a ring), have their own musical characteristics (leitmotifs). The musical outline of the opera is a system of leitmotifs. Wagner embodied his innovative ideas in a grandiose project - “The Ring of the Nibelung”. This is a cycle of four operas: Das Rheingold (1854), Die Walküre (1856), Siegfried (1871) and Twilight of the Gods (1874).
In parallel with his work on the tetralogy, Wagner wrote another opera, Tristan and Isolde (1859). Thanks to the patronage of the Bavarian king Ludwig II, who favored the composer since 1864, a theater was built in Bayreuth to promote Wagner's work. At its opening in 1876, the tetralogy “The Ring of the Nibelung” was staged in its entirety for the first time, and in 1882 it was released the last opera Wagner's "Parsifal", called by the author a solemn stage mystery.
Richard Wagner was born on May 22, 1813, in Leipzig, into a small bureaucratic family. Entering St. Thomas's School in 1828, he began his musical education. His first teacher was the church cantor T. Weinlig.
In 1831, Wagner became a student at the University of Leipzig.
Creative path
The period 1833-1842 was the most hectic and at the same time fruitful. Constantly in dire need of money, Wagner accepted the position of theater choirmaster in Würzburg.
He worked as a choirmaster and conductor in Norwegian, Paris and London theatres. While traveling around Europe, he created the “Faust” overture. Also at this time the opera “The Flying Dutchman” was written.
He received his well-deserved fame in 1842, when the Dresden premiere of his opera “Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes” took place. In 1843, he accepted the position of bandmaster at the court of the Saxon monarch.
In 1849 he took direct part in the May uprising. During the revolutionary actions, he met one of the founders of anarchy, M. A. Bakunin. When the uprising failed, Wagner fled to Switzerland. There the libretto of the tetralogy “The Ring of the Nibelung” was created.
There, in Zurich, the opera “Tristan and Isolde” was written.
Wagner's influence
The opera reform had a gigantic impact on music both in Europe and in Russia. Wagner was based on musical romanticism, while simultaneously laying the foundation for modernist movements.
Wagner's main propagandist in Russia was his close friend, A. N. Serov. In addition, the work of the outstanding German composer greatly influenced N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. “Wagnerian notes” can be clearly seen in the works of A. G. Rubinstein and A. N. Scriabin.
Last years of life and death
In 1864, Wagner became close to the Bavarian monarch, Ludwig II. The monarch paid off many of the composer's debts and provided him with full support.
Having moved to Munich, Wagner completed “The Ring of the Nibelungs” and created the comic opera “Die Meistersinger of Nuremberg.”
The premiere of the opera “The Ring of the Nibelungs” took place in 1876. 6 years later, the high-profile premiere of the mystery “Parsifal” took place.
In 1882, the German composer’s health deteriorated sharply and he went to Venice. The musician passed away in 1883 from a heart attack. Richard Wagner was buried in Bayreuth.
Other biography options
- Studying short biography Richard Wagner , you should know that he sympathized with the ideas of anti-Semitism. A little later, in Nazi Germany, an almost cult of the composer’s personality was created.
- While working on his operas, Wagner dressed in costumes that corresponded to the era in which he was interested. According to him, this way he “felt time” better.
- By his own admission, he saw music as an accessible method of expressing his philosophical ideas. Wagner sympathized with many of Schopegnauer's ideas, which was reflected in his unique work.
- Richard Wagner was officially married twice. Had many extramarital affairs. A loud, scandalous affair with K. von Bülow, who was illegitimate daughter composer F. Liszt, shocked European society. She became Wagner's second wife.
- The composer was known for his “total immersion” in creativity. This led to the fact that during the performance of the second act of the opera “Tristan and Isolde” at the Munich Opera, the conductor Wagner was struck by a heart attack.