Speranza
Prelude to Act 1
He plays
me the Prelude, from the orchestral sketch! My emotion lasts long - then he
speaks to me about this feature, in the mystery of the Grail, of blood turning
into wine, which permits us to turn our gaze refreshed back to earth, whereas
the conversion of wine into blood draws us away from the earth.
[Cosima's
Diary, 26 September 1877]
Programme Note for King Ludwig: "Love
- Faith - Hope?"
First theme: "Love"
"Take ye my body, take my blood, in
token of our love!" (Repeated in faint whispers by angel-voices.)
"Take ye my
blood, my body take, in memory of me!" -- (Again repeated in
whispers.)
Prelude to Act I (ogg format, mono, duration 14 minutes)
"Faith" and "Hope"
Promise of redemption through faith. Firmly
and stoutly faith declares itself, exalted, willing even in suffering.-- To the
promise renewed Faith answers from the dimmest heights -- as on the pinions of
the snow-white dove -- hovering downwards -- usurping more and more the hearts
of men, filling the world, the whole of Nature with the mightiest force, then
glancing up again to heaven's vault as if appeased. But once more, from out the
awe of solitude, throbs forth the cry of loving pity: the agony, the holy sweat
of Olivet, the divine death-throes of Golgotha -- the body pales, the blood
flows forth, and glows now in the chalice with the heavenly glow of blessing,
shedding on all that lives and languishes the grace of ransom won by Love. For
him who -- fearful rue for sin at heart -- must quail before the godlike vision
of the Grail, for Amfortas, sinful keeper of the sacred relic, we are made
ready: will redemption heal the gnawing torments of the soul? Once more we hear
the promise, and -- we hope!
[Richard Wagner, 1880]
Source
Melody
The last of Wagner's music dramas, although it may not be immediately
apparent to the listener, is constructed from very little raw material: many of
the themes can be derived, or related to, elements of the first six bars of the
entire work (1), which has been regarded as a concatenation of three
motives:
Figure 1 Opening melody of the Prelude to Act 1.
Redemption - the melody to which, at the end of the work, the
chorus sing, "Erlösung dem Erlöser" (2 - motif 1A in the Guide). With a small
modification, this rising phrase is used to represent the Grail Knights and,
omitting the first note, Communion (3).
The second phrase of the
melody (1B), containing a falling fifth, is related to the Guilt of
Amfortas.
The third phrase (1C) is the motif of the Spear. This motif
is important in the third act prelude, when Parsifal is bearing the sacred
spear.
It is interesting to note how, already in the first bars of the
work, uncertainty has been established, with the ambiguity between A flat major
and c minor. This uncertainty is a characteristic of the domain of the Grail as
the work begins. Note also that this melody ends on the mediant: one of the
unusual features of Parsifal is the relative importance of mediant key
relationships.
Form
It is not difficult to find the traditional
forms of opera beneath Wagner's music. The prelude may be considered as a
derivative of the classical, three movement overture. The first movement is in
two sections of 19 bars each, the second being a developed restatement of the
first; it is followed by a broader movement of 39 bars; and the final movement
begins at bar 78, lasting (apparently) for 36 bars.
The prelude differs from a
classical overture in at least one important respect: instead of returning to
the opening tonality of A flat major, it ends on the dominant (unless the
concert ending is played). Structurally, the end of the prelude is reached at
the sixth bar of the first act, with Gurnemanz's words so wacht es mindest am
Morgen. Hence the prelude is tightly linked to the first
act.
First Movement
The first section of the prelude presents
the rich source theme described above, in the initial tonality of A flat major.
Wagner blends the timbres of wind instruments (clarinet and bassoon, joined by
cor anglais) with strings (violins and celli). The second section is essentially
a repeat, with the key raised to the mediant, c minor, and only small changes in
orchestration.
The second movement begins at
bar 39 with a new idea, the ethereal motif of the Holy Grail (motif 2 in the
Guide), in the original key of A flat, although we soon hear other keys (G flat
major and D major). The theme of Faith (motif 3 in the Guide) is revealed in a
grand, wind chorale; the Grail theme returns, followed by an extended,
sequential meditation on the idea of Faith (1 below). Already it is obvious
that, in his orchestrational technique, Wagner has returned to the more blocked
style of his earlier works.
Figure 2. Faith (motif 3), Devotion
(motif 30) and Nature's Healing (motif 9)
Third Movement
ushed,
tremolando strings introduce the final movement of the prelude at bar 78, which
returns to the source theme. It is the third attempt to develop this theme;
there seem to have been two failures in the first movement; perhaps this attempt
will be successful? Parts of it are now developed, thematically and
rhythmically, although the developments do not seem to lead anywhere. New ideas,
later to be related to the pain and Agony (3A above, motif 14 in the Guide) of
Amfortas, are subtly introduced into the fabric, suggesting that beneath the
confident, sunlit surface, all is not well in the domain of the Grail.
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