Review (PDF) Gotterdammerung In Full Score
Melding literary, philosophical, and political — as well as musical — influences in his works, Richard Wagner (1813–83) brought the expressive power of German romantic opera to new heights — indeed, his music was its crowning glory. George Bernard Shaw, a critic not given to hyperbole, acknowledged Wagner's preeminent status in The Perfect Wagnerite: "He was the summit of the nineteenth-century school of dramatic music."In Der Ring des Nibelungen, Wagner drew on a medieval German epic, the Nibelungenlied, and Norse mythology to create a new synthesis of music and drama on the largest scale. Of the four works in the Ring cycle, Götterdämmerung is perhaps the grandest and most sweeping of all. Although it is the final work in the series, the opera was actually first sketched out by Wagner in 1848, under the title Siegfrieds Tod. As it turned out, dramaturgic difficulties forced the composer to expand the tragedy of Siegfried into the four-part Ring. In 1851 he amplified Siegfrieds Tod with Der junge Siegfried (later Siegfried), and the following year wrote the texts of Die Walküre and Das Rheingold. In effect, the text of the Ring cycle was written in reverse order.Wagner began composing the musical drafts of Götterdämmerung in 1869. Five years later, the work was complete — the capstone of an epic masterpiece that aroused near-religious fervor among its devotees. Shaw opined of the Ring as a whole: "The musical fabric is enormously elaborate and gorgeous," while Grove's Dictionary offers this comment on the special appeal of Götterdämmerung: "It is in the epic and reflective passages of Götterdämmerung, the narratives and orchestral epic of the Funeral March, that there unfurls that 'associative magic' praised so highly by Thomas Mann."Götterdämmerung has never been available in the United States in full operatic score — until now. Reprinted directly from the rare 1877 first edition, this is the score that Wagner himself approved with the instrumentation he intended. Except for the original title page, the German-language front matter has been omitted in this edition for reasons of space and replaced by an English translation.New admirers of Wagner, opera enthusiasts, and all music lovers can savor the full heroic impact of this majestic musical achievement in Dover's characteristically inexpensive, superbly produced edition.
Series: Dover Music Scores
Paperback: 615 pages
Publisher: Dover Publications (March 1, 1982)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0486242501
ISBN-13: 978-0486242507
Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 1.3 x 12.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #719,938 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #55 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Composers > Wagner #151 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Forms & Genres > Ballet & Dance #231 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Historical Period > Late Romantic
This is an immense work of Herculean intensity. At its worst this opera can be a little thick but even the worst music here is beautiful! The scoring is superb, the harmonies rich. This is the only part of The Ring to use a chorus. The first moments of the piece set the tone of apocalyptic drama.It's a big work but once you get involved in the action (this takes a few seconds at most), the time flies by and before you know it, it is over. It is a great idea to equip oneself with the score for most productions as, unfortunately, there are very few good productions of this ever. It is a complicated score, exhausting and difficult to sing and interpret. A pity, for when Gotterdammerung is done right there are few things as powerful and beautiful in the world.
This is a great score at a very affordable price, I believe you can get the entire Ring Cycle through these Dover reprints
The reviewer who praised this reprint before my post here has said all that needs to be said in favour of this work!! My only quibbles - and the reason I can't give this edition a full 5 stars - have to do with Schott's fonts and the ordering of their staves in the systems.[For details, please see my equivalent review for "Siegfried in Full Score", which Dover reprint is from the same first-edition source as this one.]Nevertheless, warmly recommended!
great would do business again
i purchased the kindle edition of this book and read it in less than 3 hours. there are many other much better books on the German demise at the end of WWII. see for example Michael Jones works or better yet the epic work by Cornelius Ryan; the last battle. about the only positive things i can say about this book is that it contains very good photographs and illustrations. but that is hardly reason to purchase it. it feels as if it doesn't even have a string of narrative that connects it from beginning to end.in closing there's mo better books to buy on the last battle in Berlin than this onel
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