Teaching Materials
Using Parsifal to Teach Music
Motivation/Discussion Exercises
Use of leitmotifs:
What does a kiss really mean? (The turning point of the drama)
Use of leitmotifs:
Richard Wagner used a series of leitmotifs, or leading melodies or phrases, which are designed to represent specific characters, objects, emotions or moods. Through various repetitions, alterations, fragmentations and transformations of these leitmotifs, the listener is given musical hooks and guidelines with which to follow the characters and events as they develop in the story. Here are some of the main leitmotifs which occur in this opera. Some of them are introduced for the first time in the Prelude. An examination of these leitmotifs can provide a musical summary of the essence of the opera.
Example #1 - The opening phrase of the opera begins with a theme known as the Love Feast motive. It will also accompany the Eucharist in Act I, scene i where the bread and wine are served in the hall of the Grail. Note how this theme is syncopated, with most of the pulses falling between the beats, giving a mysterious feeling of the rhythmic freedom of medieval plainsong.
The seemingly indeterminate rhythm of this unaccompanied melody without supporting harmony gives the listener a feeling of being placed in a world totally removed from mundane everyday reality. This was Wagner's intention, to put the listener in an ethereal, mystical world. Later on in the opera this theme is sung to the following words, "Take this my body, take this my blood." This forms the centerpiece of the Eucharist ceremony in the re-enactment of the Last Supper in Act I, scene ii.
But this extended phrase can be broken up into three components. Phrase A is associated with the Grail; phrase B represents the physical and spiritual torment of the wounded Amfortas, ruler of the Knights of the Brotherhood of the Grail Kingdom; segment C pertains to the spear that the evil Klingsor used to inflict a wound on Amfortas. At the end of the opera, when Parsifal takes the spear point and touches the bleeding wound of Amfortas, he exclaims, "Only one weapon can heal the hurt, the weapon that caused it." The bleeding stops. The spear point and the Grail begin to glow. The opening theme returns, but without the middle fragment (B), because th themes of the cup and the spear are no longer separated by suffering.
Having been played in the key of A flat major and embellished with flowing woodwind and string arpeggios, this entire leitmotif is then repeated in the key of C minor. With great intensity, the solo trumpet takes this motif to its upper limit, while the strings play shimmering arpeggios in support, creating a mystical ethereal effect.
Example #2 - The next motif denotes the sanctity of the Holy Grail. It is first presented by the brass and then repeated immediately one octave higher by the woodwinds. It concludes with a cadence known as the "Dresden Amen." It is repeated in various guises, sometimes in fragmented form, whenever there is mention of the Grail.
Example #3 - For the first time in the opera the dynamics are now marked forte. The brass instruments peel out a heavily accented, descending melody with a full cadence on the dominant, marked fortissimo. This represents the promise of redemption through faith. It is repeated a minor third higher, and there is another repetition with an extension a minor third yet higher.
Example #4 - The Prelude continues with a description of the suffering and yearning of Amfortas and his fall from grace. The thirty-second note turn bears a striking resemblance to a similar turn of phrase in the opera which epitomizes yearning, Tristan und Isolde. The Prelude ends on a prolonged unresolved harmony of the dominant seventh. This harmony doesn't reach its final resolution until the conclusion of the opera with a series of shimmering arpeggio-filled tonic chords, ending in the key in which the opera started-- A flat major. Perhaps this concept of harmonic resolution serves as a metaphor for the final closure, a fulfillment of what seems like an endless longing.
Example #5 - Two basic themes represent Parsifal himself and the nature of his character. His name, as Kundry describes it in Act I, is derived from two Arabian words, "Fal" and "Parsi", meaning "Pure Fool". Only a pure fool can bring a cure to Amfortas's unhealable wound. "Made wise through pity, the blameless fool, wait for him, my chosen one." Note the opening descent of a diminished fifth, a jagged interval, soon straightened out by the more solid perfect fifths which follow. The chromatic harmonies which support this motif suggest the mystification of this young "fool." This melody is first sung by Gurnemanz, a knight of the Grail, and is soon taken up in harmony by the four Esquires.
Example #6 - when Parsifal first appears, he appears as an impetuous hero a la the young Siegfried, with fanfare-like arpeggios played by four French horns.
Near the end of the opera, Parsifal has returned to the hall of the Grail with the spear which he has miraculously caught in mid-air after being thrown by Klingsor. After he has cured Amfortas by touching his wound with the point of this spear, he places the spear near the Grail and this heroic theme peels out powerfully with majestic splendor.
What does a kiss really mean? (The turning point of the drama):
Kundry the sorceress is an enigmatic character. She is a metaphysical being, a woman who has been cursed to live forever unless and until she can find someone who can resist her charms. She was punished for laughing at Jesus at the time of his crucifixion. In the opera she is a kind of "double agent" under the rule of Klingsor the magician who can resist her because of his self-mutilation. It was Kundry who seduced King Amfortas, causing him to be vulnerable to Klingsor, who wounded Amfortas with the holy spear. But Kundry also serves the Knights of the Brotherhood who do not know of her other sinister life. Her schizophrenic type of personality drives her to seek both salvation and damnation.
Example #7 - When we first meet Kundry, the music which represents her is a jarrying dissonance followed by a jagged downward sweeping phrase.
Stage directions call for her to enter wearing a "wild garment, a girdle of snakeskin and eyes that are black and piercing, sometimes flashing wildly, but more often fixed in a stare like that of the dead." Yet she comes bringing balsam to ease the suffering of Amfortas, whose sickness and weariness is represented by example #8.
Amfortas thanks Kundry for her efforts, but to a flash of the frenzied #7 in the orchestra, she says, "Don't thank me."
Throughout Gurnemanz's long narration to acquaint the audience of everything that led up to this point, there is a hint of #7 indicating that Kundry was the instrument of Klingsor's magic and that it was she who caused the downfall of Amfortas.
In the pivotal scene in Act II, Kundry tells Parsifal of the history of his youth and of his parents, especially that of his mother Herzeleide, whose name means "Heart of Sorrow." Kundry tries to seduce Parsifal by arousing his longing for his mother, then transferring that longing to herself. As she sings "der Liebe ersten Kuss" ("love's first kiss"), the sinister, winding, chromatic motif of Klingsor underscores the moment as if the orchestra is warning us that evil lurks beneath that kiss (Ex. #9).
We have arrived at the turning point in the drama. A shaft of blinding light shoots through Parsifal. A great defining moment of revelation has come over him. As he presses his hand over his heart in seeming pain, he now senses the secret of the agony of Amfortas. He now understands everything and his sole mission becomes to make Amfortas whole again by using the very same spear which injured him. He transfers any affection that might have been aroused by Kundry to Amfortas as her theme (ex. #7) has taken on a more subdued guise (Ex. #10).
From here on, the role of Kundry becomes subservient to the knights and to Parsifal. She is relegated to only two words in the entire third act--"dienen, dienen" ("to serve, to serve") as the sublime forces of good and healing cure Amfortas in the end. The voices of the knights, the squires and the choir boys rise heavenward as Kundry falls lifeless to the ground. Parsifal holds the Grail aloft, displaying its splendor to the Brotherhood of the Grail as the orchestra soars ever higher to a final resolution of the opening theme.
Use of leitmotifs:
What does a kiss really mean? (The turning point of the drama)
Use of leitmotifs:
Richard Wagner used a series of leitmotifs, or leading melodies or phrases, which are designed to represent specific characters, objects, emotions or moods. Through various repetitions, alterations, fragmentations and transformations of these leitmotifs, the listener is given musical hooks and guidelines with which to follow the characters and events as they develop in the story. Here are some of the main leitmotifs which occur in this opera. Some of them are introduced for the first time in the Prelude. An examination of these leitmotifs can provide a musical summary of the essence of the opera.
Example #1 - The opening phrase of the opera begins with a theme known as the Love Feast motive. It will also accompany the Eucharist in Act I, scene i where the bread and wine are served in the hall of the Grail. Note how this theme is syncopated, with most of the pulses falling between the beats, giving a mysterious feeling of the rhythmic freedom of medieval plainsong.
The seemingly indeterminate rhythm of this unaccompanied melody without supporting harmony gives the listener a feeling of being placed in a world totally removed from mundane everyday reality. This was Wagner's intention, to put the listener in an ethereal, mystical world. Later on in the opera this theme is sung to the following words, "Take this my body, take this my blood." This forms the centerpiece of the Eucharist ceremony in the re-enactment of the Last Supper in Act I, scene ii.
But this extended phrase can be broken up into three components. Phrase A is associated with the Grail; phrase B represents the physical and spiritual torment of the wounded Amfortas, ruler of the Knights of the Brotherhood of the Grail Kingdom; segment C pertains to the spear that the evil Klingsor used to inflict a wound on Amfortas. At the end of the opera, when Parsifal takes the spear point and touches the bleeding wound of Amfortas, he exclaims, "Only one weapon can heal the hurt, the weapon that caused it." The bleeding stops. The spear point and the Grail begin to glow. The opening theme returns, but without the middle fragment (B), because th themes of the cup and the spear are no longer separated by suffering.
Having been played in the key of A flat major and embellished with flowing woodwind and string arpeggios, this entire leitmotif is then repeated in the key of C minor. With great intensity, the solo trumpet takes this motif to its upper limit, while the strings play shimmering arpeggios in support, creating a mystical ethereal effect.
Example #2 - The next motif denotes the sanctity of the Holy Grail. It is first presented by the brass and then repeated immediately one octave higher by the woodwinds. It concludes with a cadence known as the "Dresden Amen." It is repeated in various guises, sometimes in fragmented form, whenever there is mention of the Grail.
Example #3 - For the first time in the opera the dynamics are now marked forte. The brass instruments peel out a heavily accented, descending melody with a full cadence on the dominant, marked fortissimo. This represents the promise of redemption through faith. It is repeated a minor third higher, and there is another repetition with an extension a minor third yet higher.
Example #4 - The Prelude continues with a description of the suffering and yearning of Amfortas and his fall from grace. The thirty-second note turn bears a striking resemblance to a similar turn of phrase in the opera which epitomizes yearning, Tristan und Isolde. The Prelude ends on a prolonged unresolved harmony of the dominant seventh. This harmony doesn't reach its final resolution until the conclusion of the opera with a series of shimmering arpeggio-filled tonic chords, ending in the key in which the opera started-- A flat major. Perhaps this concept of harmonic resolution serves as a metaphor for the final closure, a fulfillment of what seems like an endless longing.
Example #5 - Two basic themes represent Parsifal himself and the nature of his character. His name, as Kundry describes it in Act I, is derived from two Arabian words, "Fal" and "Parsi", meaning "Pure Fool". Only a pure fool can bring a cure to Amfortas's unhealable wound. "Made wise through pity, the blameless fool, wait for him, my chosen one." Note the opening descent of a diminished fifth, a jagged interval, soon straightened out by the more solid perfect fifths which follow. The chromatic harmonies which support this motif suggest the mystification of this young "fool." This melody is first sung by Gurnemanz, a knight of the Grail, and is soon taken up in harmony by the four Esquires.
Example #6 - when Parsifal first appears, he appears as an impetuous hero a la the young Siegfried, with fanfare-like arpeggios played by four French horns.
Near the end of the opera, Parsifal has returned to the hall of the Grail with the spear which he has miraculously caught in mid-air after being thrown by Klingsor. After he has cured Amfortas by touching his wound with the point of this spear, he places the spear near the Grail and this heroic theme peels out powerfully with majestic splendor.
What does a kiss really mean? (The turning point of the drama):
Kundry the sorceress is an enigmatic character. She is a metaphysical being, a woman who has been cursed to live forever unless and until she can find someone who can resist her charms. She was punished for laughing at Jesus at the time of his crucifixion. In the opera she is a kind of "double agent" under the rule of Klingsor the magician who can resist her because of his self-mutilation. It was Kundry who seduced King Amfortas, causing him to be vulnerable to Klingsor, who wounded Amfortas with the holy spear. But Kundry also serves the Knights of the Brotherhood who do not know of her other sinister life. Her schizophrenic type of personality drives her to seek both salvation and damnation.
Example #7 - When we first meet Kundry, the music which represents her is a jarrying dissonance followed by a jagged downward sweeping phrase.
Stage directions call for her to enter wearing a "wild garment, a girdle of snakeskin and eyes that are black and piercing, sometimes flashing wildly, but more often fixed in a stare like that of the dead." Yet she comes bringing balsam to ease the suffering of Amfortas, whose sickness and weariness is represented by example #8.
Amfortas thanks Kundry for her efforts, but to a flash of the frenzied #7 in the orchestra, she says, "Don't thank me."
Throughout Gurnemanz's long narration to acquaint the audience of everything that led up to this point, there is a hint of #7 indicating that Kundry was the instrument of Klingsor's magic and that it was she who caused the downfall of Amfortas.
In the pivotal scene in Act II, Kundry tells Parsifal of the history of his youth and of his parents, especially that of his mother Herzeleide, whose name means "Heart of Sorrow." Kundry tries to seduce Parsifal by arousing his longing for his mother, then transferring that longing to herself. As she sings "der Liebe ersten Kuss" ("love's first kiss"), the sinister, winding, chromatic motif of Klingsor underscores the moment as if the orchestra is warning us that evil lurks beneath that kiss (Ex. #9).
We have arrived at the turning point in the drama. A shaft of blinding light shoots through Parsifal. A great defining moment of revelation has come over him. As he presses his hand over his heart in seeming pain, he now senses the secret of the agony of Amfortas. He now understands everything and his sole mission becomes to make Amfortas whole again by using the very same spear which injured him. He transfers any affection that might have been aroused by Kundry to Amfortas as her theme (ex. #7) has taken on a more subdued guise (Ex. #10).
From here on, the role of Kundry becomes subservient to the knights and to Parsifal. She is relegated to only two words in the entire third act--"dienen, dienen" ("to serve, to serve") as the sublime forces of good and healing cure Amfortas in the end. The voices of the knights, the squires and the choir boys rise heavenward as Kundry falls lifeless to the ground. Parsifal holds the Grail aloft, displaying its splendor to the Brotherhood of the Grail as the orchestra soars ever higher to a final resolution of the opening theme.
- HOMEtop of page