Musical drama
Music drama is a term introduced by Theodor Mundt in 1833 for opera as a “unity of poetry and music”.
Definitions in general and with reference to Richard Wagner
Mundt formulated his definition explicitly in contrast to the "musical drama in which the music only played as an intermezzo".
Later (and until today) the term music drama was associated with the works of Richard Wagner and his successors. Poetry, music and scenic representation are not arbitrarily combined, as can be the case especially in the number opera , but form an inseparable unit, which Wagner also called a total work of art .
Wagner himself resisted the term music drama, which is a shortening of the absurd expression "musical drama", namely "a drama [...] which either makes music itself, or is also suitable for making music, or even understands music, like ours musical reviewers. ”According to the meaning of the word, a musical drama is a drama“ for the purpose of music ”, just like a conventional libretto . Conversely, Wagner wanted to put music entirely at the service of drama. The drama is inseparable even in its original ancient form of music.
Nevertheless, the term musical drama has become common. A characteristic of musical dramas is their formal unity, which manages without interruptions or strung together, only self-contained forms and movements (such as trios , finals , etc.). Recurring motifs ( leitmotifs ) create the context. The music is no longer divided into aria and recitative , but constantly supports and interprets the text that continues as in the spoken drama. Wagner called this process, as a musical variant of the term drama , "deeds of music that have become apparent".
A prime example in this sense is Wagner's work Tristan und Isolde, which premiered in 1865 and is no longer an “opera” but rather a “plot” . At the end of the 19th century, musical drama became the norm for “serious” opera composers. Even Engelbert Humperdinck's fairy tale opera Hansel and Gretel (1893) is modeled on Wagner's musical drama (Humperdinck was Wagner's assistant in the Bayreuth Festival Theater ). In the 1920s, the musical drama disintegrated into newer or rediscovered older forms of musical theater. For Richard Strauss , however, it remained a role model throughout his life.
Emergence
In his extensive work Opera and Drama (1851), Wagner thought about a renewal of the opera, which must go hand in hand with a political and social renewal. With this, Wagner designed a program that he would carry out over the next few decades, particularly with his main work The Ring of the Nibelung . Wagner wants to accept as dramatic poetry only that which can be completely absorbed in musical expression. Musical is only what serves to express the poetic intention. The orchestra is indispensable for this as the carrier of the drama, as an accompanist and commentator of the plot. It thus takes on the function that the choir had in ancient tragedy .
See also
- Musical drama (a special older form of "musical drama" which is inconsistent with Mundt's definition cited above).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Riemann Musiklexikon , Mainz 1967, subject part, p. 605.
- ↑ Richard Wagner, "About the naming music drama", in: Ders., Gesammelte Schriften und Dichtungen , Leipzig: Siegel 1907, Vol. 9, p. 303
- ↑ Richard Wagner, "About the naming music drama", in: Ders., Gesammelte Schriften und Dichtungen , Leipzig: Siegel 1907, Vol. 9, p. 306
literature
- Theodor Mundt : Fight of a Hegelian with the Graces. A philosophical humoresque. In: Theodor Mundt: Critical Forests. Sheets for evaluating the literature, art and science of our time. Wolbrecht, Leipzig 1833, pp. 33–58.
- Carl Dahlhaus : Wagner's conception of the musical drama. Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag et al., Munich et al. 1990, ISBN 3-423-04538-8 .