Act III. The third act opens with a stormy introduction in which the
Motive of the Ride of the Valkyrs accompanies the Motive of the Gods' Stress, the Compact, and the Erda motives. The introduction reaches its climax with the =Motive of the Dusk of the Gods=:
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Then to the sombre, questioning phrase of the Motive of Fate, the action begins to disclose the significance of this _Vorspiel_. A wild region at the foot of a rocky mountain is seen. It is night. A fierce storm rages. In dire distress and fearful that through _Siegfried_ and _Brünnhilde_ the rulership of the world may pass from the gods to the human race, _Wotan_ summons _Erda_ from her subterranean dwelling. But _Erda_ has no counsel for the storm-driven, conscience-stricken god.
The scene reaches its climax in _Wotan's_ noble renunciation of the empire of the world. Weary of strife, weary of struggling against the decree of fate, he renounces his sway. Let the era of human love supplant this dynasty, sweeping away the gods and the Nibelungs in its mighty current. It is the last defiance of all-conquering fate by the ruler of a mighty race. After a powerful struggle against irresistible forces, _Wotan_ comprehends that the twilight of the gods will be the dawn of a more glorious epoch. A phrase of great dignity gives force to _Wotan's_ utterances. It is the =Motive of the World's Heritage=:
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_Siegfried_ enters, guided to the spot by the bird; _Wotan_ checks his progress with the same spear which shivered _Siegmund's_ sword. _Siegfried_ must fight his way to _Brünnhilde_. With a mighty blow the young Wälsung shatters the spear and _Wotan_ disappears 'mid the crash of the Motive of Compact--for the spear with which it was the chief god's duty to enforce compacts is shattered. Meanwhile the gleam of fire has become noticeable. Fiery clouds float down from the mountain. _Siegfried_ stands at the rim of the magic circle. Winding his horn he plunges into the seething flames. Around the Motive of Siegfried the Fearless and the Siegfried Motive flash the Magic Fire and Loge motives.
The flames, having flashed forth with dazzling brilliancy, gradually pale before the red glow of dawn till a rosy mist envelops the scene. When it rises, the rock and _Brünnhilde_ in deep slumber under the fir-tree, as in the finale of "The Valkyr," are seen. _Siegfried_ appears on the height in the background. As he gazes upon the scene there are heard the Fate and Slumber motives and then the orchestra weaves a lovely variant of the Freia Motive. This is followed by the softly caressing strains of the Fricka Motive. _Fricka_ sought to make _Wotan_ faithful to her by bonds of love, and hence the Fricka Motive in this scene does not reflect her personality, but rather the awakening of the love which is to thrill _Siegfried_ when he has beheld _Brünnhilde's_ features. As he sees _Brünnhilde's_ charger slumbering in the grove we hear the Motive of the Valkyr's Ride, and when his gaze is attracted by the sheen of _Brünnhilde's_ armour, the theme of Wotan's Farewell. Approaching the armed slumberer under the fir-tree, _Siegfried_ raises the shield and discloses the figure of the sleeper, the face being almost hidden by the helmet.
Carefully he loosens the helmet. As he takes it off _Brünnhilde's_ face is disclosed and her long curls flow down over her bosom. _Siegfried_ gazes upon her enraptured. Drawing his sword he cuts the rings of mail on both sides, gently lifts off the corselet and greaves, and _Brünnhilde_, in soft female drapery, lies before him. He starts back in wonder. Notes of impassioned import--the Motive of Love's Joy--express the feelings that well up from his heart as for the first time he beholds a woman. The fearless hero is infused with fear by a slumbering woman. The Wälsung Motive, afterwards beautifully varied with the Motive of Love's Joy, accompanies his utterances, the climax of his emotional excitement being expressed in a majestic crescendo of the Freia Motive. A sudden feeling of awe gives him at least the outward appearance of calmness. With the Motive of Fate he faces his destiny; and then, while the Freia Motive rises like a vision of loveliness, he sinks over _Brünnhilde_, and with closed eyes presses his lips to hers.
_Brünnhilde_ awakens. _Siegfried_ starts up. She rises, and with a noble gesture greets in majestic accents her return to the sight of earth. Strains of loftier eloquence than those of her greeting have never been composed. _Brünnhilde_ rises from her magic slumbers in the majesty of womanhood:
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With the Motive of Fate she asks who is the hero who has awakened her. The superb Siegfried Motive gives back the proud answer. In rapturous phrases they greet one another. It is the =Motive of Love's Greeting=,
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which unites their voices in impassioned accents until, as if this motive no longer sufficed to express their ecstasy, it is followed by the =Motive of Love's Passion=,
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which, with the Siegfried Motive, rises and falls with the heaving of _Brünnhilde's_ bosom.
These motives course impetuously through this scene. Here and there we have others recalling former portions of the cycle--the Wälsung Motive, when _Brünnhilde_ refers to _Siegfried's_ mother, _Sieglinde_; the Motive of Brünnhilde's Pleading, when she tells him of her defiance of _Wotan's_ behest; a variant of the Walhalla Motive when she speaks of herself in Walhalla; and the Motive of the World's Heritage, with which _Siegfried_ claims her, this last leading over to a forceful climax of the Motive of Brünnhilde's Pleading, which is followed by a lovely, tranquil episode introduced by the =Motive of Love's Peace=,
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succeeded by a motive, ardent yet tender--the =Motive of Siegfried the Protector=:
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These motives accompany the action most expressively. _Brünnhilde_ still hesitates to cast off for ever the supernatural characteristics of the Valkyr and give herself up entirely to _Siegfried_. The young hero's growing ecstasy finds expression in the Motive of Love's Joy. At last it awakens a responsive note of purely human passion in _Brünnhilde_ and, answering the proud Siegfried Motive with the jubilant Shout of the Valkyrs and the ecstatic measures of Love's Passion, she proclaims herself his.
With a love duet--nothing puny and purring, but rapturous and proud--the music-drama comes to a close. _Siegfried_, a scion of the Wälsung race, has won _Brünnhilde_ for his bride, and upon her finger has placed the ring fashioned of Rhinegold by _Alberich_ in the caverns of Nibelheim, the abode of the Nibelungs. Clasping her in his arms and drawing her to his breast, he has felt her splendid physical being thrill with a passion wholly responsive to his. Will the gods be saved through them, or does the curse of _Alberich_ still rest on the ring worn by _Brünnhilde_ as a pledge of love?
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG
DUSK OF THE GODS
Music-drama in a prologue and three acts, words and music by Richard Wagner. Produced, Bayreuth, August 17, 1876.
New York, Metropolitan Opera House, January 25, 1888, with Lehmann (_Brünnhilde_), Seidl-Kraus (_Gutrune_), Niemann (_Siegfried_), Robinson (_Gunther_), and Fischer (_Hagen_). Other performances at the Metropolitan Opera House have had, among others, Alvary and Jean de Reszke as _Siegfried_ and Édouard de Reszke as _Hagen_.
CHARACTERS
SIEGFRIED _Tenor_ GUNTHER _Baritone_ ALBERICH _Baritone_ HAGEN _Bass_ BRÜNNHILDE _Soprano_ GUTRUNE _Soprano_ WALTRAUTE _Mezzo-Soprano_ FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD NORN _Contralto, Mezzo-Soprano, and Soprano_ WOGLINDE, WELLGUNDE, AND FLOSSHILDE _Sopranos and Mezzo-Soprano_
Vassals and Women.
_Time_--Legendary.
_Place_--On the Brünnhilde-Rock; Gunther's castle on the Rhine; wooded district by the Rhine.
THE PROLOGUE
The first scene of the prologue is a weird conference of the three grey sisters of fate--the _Norns_ who wind the skein of life. They have met on the Valkyrs' rock and their words forebode the end of the gods. At last the skein they have been winding breaks--the final catastrophe is impending.
An orchestral interlude depicts the transition from the unearthly gloom of the Norn scene to break of day, the climax being reached in a majestic burst of music as _Siegfried_ and _Brünnhilde_, he in full armour, she leading her steed by the bridle, issue forth from the rocky cavern in the background. This climax owes its eloquence to three motives--that of the Ride of the Valkyrs and two new motives, the one as lovely as the other is heroic, the =Brünnhilde Motive=,
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and the =Motive of Siegfried the Hero=:
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The Brünnhilde Motive expresses the strain of pure, tender womanhood in the nature of the former Valkyr, and proclaims her womanly ecstasy over wholly requited love. The motive of Siegfried the Hero is clearly developed from the motive of Siegfried the Fearless. Fearless youth has developed into heroic man. In this scene _Brünnhilde_ and _Siegfried_ plight their troth, and _Siegfried_ having given to _Brünnhilde_ the fatal ring and having received from her the steed Grane, which once bore her in her wild course through the storm-clouds, bids her farewell and sets forth in quest of further adventure. In this scene, one of Wagner's most beautiful creations, occur the two new motives already quoted, and a third--the =Motive of Brünnhilde's Love=.
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A strong, deep woman's nature has given herself up to love. Her passion is as strong and deep as her nature. It is not a surface-heat passion. It is love rising from the depths of a heroic woman's soul. The grandeur of her ideal of _Siegfried_, her thoughts of him as a hero winning fame, her pride in his prowess, her love for one whom she deems the bravest among men, culminate in the Motive of Brünnhilde's Love.
_Siegfried_ disappears with the steed behind the rocks and _Brünnhilde_ stands upon the cliff looking down the valley after him; his horn is heard from below and _Brünnhilde_ with rapturous gesture waves him farewell. The orchestra accompanies the action with the Brünnhilde Motive, the Motive of Siegfried the Fearless, and finally with the theme of the love duet with which "Siegfried" closed.
The curtain then falls, and between the prologue and the first act an orchestral interlude describes _Siegfried's_ voyage down the Rhine to the castle of the Gibichungs where dwell _Gunther_, his sister _Gutrune_, and their half-brother _Hagen_, the son of _Alberich_. Through _Hagen_ the curse hurled by _Alberich_ in "The Rhinegold" at all into whose possession the ring shall come, is to be worked out to the end of its fell purpose--_Siegfried_ betrayed and destroyed and the rule of the gods brought to an end by _Brünnhilde's_ expiation.
In the interlude between the prologue and the first act we first hear the brilliant Motive of Siegfried the Fearless and then the gracefully flowing Motives of the Rhine, and of the Rhinedaughters' Shout of Triumph with the Motives of the Rhinegold and Ring. _Hagen's_ malevolent plotting, of which we are soon to learn in the first act, is foreshadowed by the sombre harmonies which suddenly pervade the music.