MUL 2010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 49: Darth Vader, Nibelung
14 Apr 2018
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Document Summary
Closing scene of the valkyrie, second opera of a four cycle opera called the ring of nibelung; woton says bye to his daughter and punishes her by taking her away her powers and puts her in a coma. Wagner wanted to restore dramatic integrity to opera by creating singing that is musically satifisying and readily intelligible. He came up with leitmotif that are representing certain scenarios of the opera. In a wagnerian opera, vocal writing is mores syllabic and not so virtuosic, not so much repetition, more open ended melodies that avoid strong cadences. Events on stage is a reflection of what"s going on in the orchestra. Texture: stage events reflect orchestra; little repetition; more syllabic. Word-music relationships: wagner minimized virtuosity and projected text more clearly. Leitmotif: a brief musical phrase or idea connected dramatically to some person, event or idea in the drama (example: darth vader theme whenever he comes up)
