Parsifal
ASO 38/39 (1982), COH (1981), ENOG 34 (1986), Rororo (1984).
- Geck, Martin, and Egon Voss. Dokumente zur Entstehung und ersten Auf-
führung des Bühnenweihfestpiels “Parsifal.” Richard Wagner. Sämtliche
Werke, 30. Mainz: Schott, 1970. 261p. ML410 .W145 G44.
Presents the source material on the opera: the musical and prose sketches and
the documents concerning the 1862 performances. Index. - Bauer, Hans-Joachim. Wagners “Parsifal”: Kriterien der Kompositiontechnik.
Berliner musikwissenschaftliche Arbeiten, 15. Munich: Katzbichler, 1977.
338p. ISBN 3-8739-7045-7. ML410 .W2 B345.
A useful survey of various musical elements in the work: Leitmotiven,melodic
structure, rhythmic structure, instrumentation, and harmony. Many citations
to Lorenz, not always in agreement, and to Ernst Kurth. Musical examples in
full score, poorly reproduced; bibliography of about 100 items; no index. - Kindermann, William. “Wagner’s Parsifal: Musical Form and the Drama of
Redemption.” JM4 (1986): 431–446; 5 (1987): 315–316.
Finds the analyses by Lorenz to be “almost always artificial.” It is more
promising to identify “tonal pairings”: two keys and the tension between them
for dramatic effect. In Parsifal,the keys of A-flat and C are the basis of organi-
zation for much of the Grail music. - Unger, Max. “The Cradle of the Parsifal Legend.” MQ18 (1932): 428–442.
Considers the Persian source of the tale. The epics were brought to France by
the Crusaders and were translated into French. The original story is summa-
rized and compared to that of Wolfram von Eschenbach. Montsalvat is
equated with a castle, still standing, in Persia (Iran) near the Lake of Hamun. - Emslie, Barry. “Woman as Image and Narrative in Wagner’s Parsifal: A Case
Study.” COJ3-2 (July 1991): 109–124.
Kundry “exposes the powerful and irreconcilable narrative and thematic con-
tradictions on which Parsifal rests.” The real agenda of the opera is a “ratio-
nale for masculine sexual and social freedom without loss of the dominant
male’s high moral and social status.”
See also Groos (#2067).
Rienzi
- Deathridge, John. Wagner’s “Rienzi”: A Reappraisal Based on a Study of
Sketches and Drafts.Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977. xvii, 199p. ISBN 0-19-
816131-X. ML410 .W132 D28.
Based on the author’s Oxford dissertation (1974). A thorough discussion of all
sources: sketches, drafts, fragments (with clear distinctions among cate-
gories—a fine approach to terminological consistency), and their library loca-
tions. Comparison of the draft with the 1844 vocal score of Gustav Klink. All
previous literature is considered; there are 199 backnotes in the main text and
Richard Wagner 379