Valkrie Voices

Music attribution at bottom of transcript

That was a portion of ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner - and if you're old enough, like me, you might remember hearing that from cartoons - especially porky pig dressed in a hunting outfit and singing kill the wabbit , kill the wabbit about Bugs Bunny - but I digress
 
This is the first episode where I would like to explore the world of Richard Wagner.   The reason I say that this is the first episode, is that the more I delved into the life of Richard Wagner, I began to realize that there is no way that I could even begin to cover his life in one episode. Oh certainly I will have some more episodes later on as appropriate regarding the lives of Beethoven and Bach, but I wanted to have at least two episodes about Richard Wagner together - one after another - so stay with me as we look into the life of this unique composer.

Transcript

Music attribution at bottom of transcript

That was a portion of ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner - and if you're old enough, like me, you might remember hearing that from cartoons - especially porky pig dressed in a hunting outfit and singing kill the wabbit , kill the wabbit about Bugs Bunny - but I digress
 
This is the first episode where I would like to explore the world of Richard Wagner.   The reason I say that this is the first episode, is that the more I delved into the life of Richard Wagner, I began to realize that there is no way that I could even begin to cover his life in one episode. Oh certainly I will have some more episodes later on as appropriate regarding the lives of Beethoven and Bach, but I wanted to have several episodes about Richard Wagner together - one ride after another - so stay with me as we look into the life of this unique composer.

2 Ghost noise

And here is the ghost - or if you will - the spirit of Maestro Wagner.

First Maestro Wagner, could you tell us about your Family and your infancy?

First, Herr Bartley - let me express what a joy it is to be here. You ask about my Family?  Well, I was born on May 22, 1813, in Leipzig, Germany. My father, Carl Friedrich Wagner, a police clerk, died of typhus just a few months after my birth.  And my mother, Johanna, soon remarried Ludwig Geyer, an actor, painter, and playwright. Some scholars believe Geyer may have been my biological father, though this is debated.

Maestro Wagner, could you tell us about your childhood?

Ah, Herr Bartley, I grew up in Dresden under Geyer’s roof, surrounded by the theater world. Geyer died when I was only 8 years old, leaving me without much paternal guidance.  My family was musical but not professional; and I showed little sign of being a musical prodigy in the way that Mozart or Mendelssohn did. Instead, my early passions were literature, drama, and theater.  And during my youth, one might say that I devoured Greek tragedies, Shakespeare, and German Romantic writers. In fact, initially, I dreamed of being a playwright rather than a composer.  But then
around 1828 - when I was 15 years of age, I decided to become a composer.

So see the childhood of Richard Wagner wasn't all that different from most of the other composers that we have been talking about.
Now, Maestro Wagner, were there any specific musicians who influenced you during your youth?

Ja, Herr Bartley, I was extremely influenced by Beethoven’s music, especially the Seventh and Ninth Symphonies. Beethoven became a lifelong model. I taught myself orchestration by studying scores— trying to orchestrate Beethoven’s works without much formal training. 

3 Beethoven's fifth Symphony

And at 16 years of age, I wrote my first plays and a full-length tragedy in the style of Shakespeare, complete with as many deaths as Hamlet and King Lear combined.

Shall I continue Herr Bartley?

Certainly, Maestro Wagner.

Herr Bartley, in 1831, I enrolled at the University of Leipzig to study music theory under Thomas Kantor Theodor Weinlig, who gave him solid grounding in composition. Weinlig saw my raw talent and helped me refine it. It is said that my earliest surviving compositions include piano sonatas, overtures, and a Symphony in C major (1832), which showed heavy Beethoven influence.

4 Symphony in C major

My ambition was enormous: even as a teenager, I dreamed of writing operas that could rival the greats. So in short: unlike some of my contemporaries, I wasn’t a child genius. I came to music later, through drama and literature, and only in my mid-teens turned with real passion toward composing — a path fueled by theater, Beethoven, and what some have called my gigantic sense of ambition.

Maestro Wagner, at this point were you obtaining professional jobs in music?

Ja, ja, ja - Herr Bartley - In 1833 - when I was 20 years of age ) I procured my first professional job as a chorus master in Würzburg.

In 1834, I met the actress Minna Planer, who became my partner (and eventually wife). Our relationship was quite stormy from the start, marked by separations, reconciliations, and my occasional infidelity.  And yes, I admit that I developed a lifelong tendency to spend money that I did not have. By my twenties, I was already living well beyond my means, constantly chased by creditors.

That same year, Minna and I married, but financial troubles and Minna’s doubts about my career weighed heavily.

Maestro Wagner - Minna was an actress - correct.

Herr Bartley - ja, ja - she was an excellent actress.

I began working as a conductor in small theaters, moving frequently between cities in Germany. Each stop was an attempt to climb up the ladder, but I often left under difficult circumstances. Today you might say I was on the move. In Riga (modern-day Latvia), I worked as music director of a theater, but creditors pursued me so aggressively that Minna and I were forced to flee secretly in 1839, leaving everything behind.  Minna and I set out for Paris, hoping that I would find success there. However, the journey nearly killed  us: during the sea voyage from Riga to London - our ship was caught in violent storms. I later revisited this terrible experience and the wild ocean music of mine opera The Flying Dutchman.

Overture - The Flying Dutchman

Maestro Wagner, I trust that you eventually did land in Paris.
Ja, Herr Bartley, but becoming successful was most difficult.
Between 1839–1842, Minna and I lived in near-poverty, writing articles, making piano reductions of other composers’ operas, and even arranging dance music to make ends meet. I even tried to ingratiate myself with Giacomo Meyerbeer, the most powerful opera composer in Paris, but what some have called my pride and abrasive personality apparently sabotaged me. 

So Maestro Wagner, how would you describe yourself at this point?

I was certainly married, deeply in debt, artistically ambitious, but mostly unknown -  yet out of all this came the seeds of my great operas: the stormy sea for The Flying Dutchman, the grandiosity for Rienzi, and my obsession with drama fused with music such as in The Steersman’s Song from The Flying Dutchman

So by my early 30s, I was already married, deeply in debt, artistically ambitious but mostly unknown — yet out of all this came the seeds of my great operas: the stormy sea for The Flying Dutchman, the grandiosity for Rienzi, and my obsession with drama fused with music.

Ah, Herr Bartley - and in 1834, I became conductor of a small theater troupe in the town of Magdeburg. It was not a prestigious post — the company was underfunded, badly managed, and mostly made up of traveling actors and singers. I met a beautiful lady by the name of Minna Planer there, the troupe’s leading actress.  Our stormy romance began in this chaotic environment. But I must relate to you and your listeners the disaster of the premiere of Das Liebesverbot  - a work staged in March 1836 in Magdeburg.  Now one must remember that the production was plagued by problems:  The singers were under-rehearsed. The theater itself was so financially strapped that costumes and sets were cheap and incomplete. My score was certainly demanding, but the musicians weren’t up to it. At the first performance, the audience was small and indifferent.

And by the second performance, things fell apart: Minna (then my lover, soon to be my wife) was caught up in a romantic scandal with another man, causing backstage drama.

Ultimately, the performance was so poorly attended that it had to be abandoned mid-run, and the opera closed after two attempts — effectively, it was a total flop.

I know this must've been personally devastating, but how did you react?

Herr Bartley, I was totally humiliated. I had aimed to launch myself into the operatic world with something flashy, but instead, the fiasco exposed how shaky my professional footing actually was.  Remember that my personal life was already messy: Minna left me briefly for another man, a taste of the turbulent marriage to come.

Das Liebesverbot was never revived in my lifetime, and while the opera might show me at my most ambitious, it also shows me at my most  unprepared — reaching for Paris and Milan while stuck in a provincial backwater with a second-rate company. But it also shows how early I was drawn to drama, sensuality, and scandal — all things that would define my mature works.

But the collapse of Das Liebesverbot left me unemployed and financially unstable. I did marry Minna Planer in 1836, but almost immediately it was obvious that our relationship would be rocky: she left me briefly after falling in love with another man, though she did return.  During this time, it could be said that I bounced between conducting posts, never quite finding steady ground.

However, in 1837, I secured work as music director of a theater in Riga -  which was then part of the Russian Empire. The job gave me some security, but soon debts piled up again. I must admit that my lavish lifestyle and impulsive spending habits kept me perpetually hounded by creditors.
And by 1839, the situation was so desperate that Minna and I were forced to flee Riga secretly at night to avoid arrest for debt.

5.5 The storm at sea storm effect?

Our escape to Paris took us on a harrowing journey across the Baltic and North Seas. Our ship was battered by violent storms — Minna terrified, I was quite seasick but oddly inspired.  And I do believe that this near-death experience planted the seed for one of my most enduring works: The Flying Dutchman.

So, Maestro Wagner, how would you describe your life in Paris?

Herr Bartley, The Paris years were initially one of hunger and frustration. Paris may have been the glittering center of European music, but I arrived as a nobody. I tried to win over Giacomo Meyerbeer, the reigning king of grand opera, who gave him some support but no real opportunities.  I eventually earned a pittance by arranging operas and writing articles. Minna and I lived in near-poverty, often pawning belongings to eat. 

Then, in 1842, I finally had a stroke of luck: my opera Rienzi was accepted for performance at the Dresden Court Theatre. Its premiere in October 1842 was a spectacular success, earning me both fame and a solid post as Royal Saxon Court Conductor in Dresden. Almost overnight, I went from poverty in Paris to being celebrated as a rising star. In 1843, The Flying Dutchman premiered in Dresden. The audience wasn’t sure what to make of it, but it marked the beginning of my mature voice: myth, obsession, and redemption through love.

So, Maestro Wagner,  by your early 30s, your had gone from flop (Das Liebsverbot), to fugitive debtor, to struggling artist in Paris, and finally to overnight fame in Dresden with Rienzi.

Ja, Herr Bartley, and it's important to remember that the Dresden years were crucial, because my success as a composer collided with some may consider my radical politics, setting up one of the most dramatic turning points in my life. 

Maestro Wagner, would you elaborate?

Ya, Herr Bartley, I was appointed Royal Saxon Court Conductor in Dresden - giving me financial stability and a platform to mount ambitious productions. In quick succession, Dresden audiences were able to see The Flying Dutchman (1843) and Tannhäuser (1845). Both works puzzled critics and audiences at first, but they signaled my shift toward mythic subjects, leitmotifs, and the fusion of music and drama.

Flying Dutchman (1843) and Tannhäuser (1845)

Ya, Herr Bartley, my reputation was definitely rising, but not without resistance. Many thought my works too strange, too demanding, too untraditional.  And personally, I was never genuinely content: I was impatient with my position, craved more recognition, and often complained about being misunderstood.

Some have said that part of the problem might've been - what I'll refer to as your political awakening.

Ja, Herr Bartley - it IS true that in Dresden, that I became increasingly interested in political and social philosophy. I read the works of Ludwig Feuerbach and other radicals, who argued for freedom, equality, and the overthrow of oppressive systems. And I must admit that my own frustrations with monarchy and the rigid hierarchies of German opera houses fed into this political passion.  One must note that with revolutionary uprisings sweeping across Europe in 1849, the city of Dresden became a flashpoint. Naturally, I sided with the revolutionaries: I wrote political pamphlets, gave fiery speeches, and even helped man the barricades during the May Uprising of 1849.

Gunfire

However, the revolution failed. Government troops crushed the uprising, and I found himself a wanted man — there was even a warrant for my arrest. I fled Dresden in disguise and began a long exile, unable to return to Germany for more than a decade. So in Dresden, I rose from brilliant court conductor to political fugitive. Artistically, I was finding my mature voice with Tannhäuser and laying the groundwork for Lohengrin. Politically, I was burning bridges with the establishment that I so desperately needed.

Maestro Wagner, it seems that as a political fugitive in Dresden, you could very well have been arrested!

Ja, Herr Bartley, that is why I fled Germany!  I therefore spent time moving between various cities before finally settling in Zurich, Switzerland, a neutral haven where revolutionary thinkers and artists congregated.

And I arrived with almost nothing with the exception of political enemies, debts, and a wife and family to support. I spent hours reading, writing, and revising musical theories, producing essays that would later influence generations of musicians and thinkers.  I wrote my Oper und Drama (1851) — a manifesto laying out his revolutionary ideas about opera as a “total work of art”, fusing music, poetry, drama, and stagecraft.  I also wrote essays on on German mythology, heroic legend, and the role of myth in modern life, reflecting my belief that contemporary culture could be renewed through these ancient stories.

Herr Bartley, Zurich was also a period of intense compositional planning. I began my first sketches for the Ring cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen), drawing on Norse sagas, German epic poetry, and my own philosophical ideas.  And I must point out that I envisioned the Ring not as separate operas, but as a unified tetralogy - of those three operas - exploring power, love, greed, and redemption.

And Herr Bartley, during those years, I also composed:

Lohengrin in 1850, —a work that I believe showed my early mastery of leitmotifs and mythic storytelling.

Music from Lohengrin

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg -  though Final completion would not occur until decades later.

Music from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

I often worked  late into the night while surrounded by family chaos and financial anxiety.Herr Bartley, as one might imagine, money was always tight. I was forced to rely on a small circle of patrons and friends, most famously King Ludwig II of Bavaria. I also taught piano and gave lessons to support myself. Despite the financial and social hardships, these years in Zurich were intellectually liberating: free from censorship, politics, and the constant pressures of the theater world.

And by the late 1850s, hi had mapped out most of the Ring cycle in sketches, and my ideas about leitmotif, musical drama, and mythic structure were fully formed — even if the full composition would take decades.

Maestro Wagner, it is generally agreed that the ring cycle is the centerpiece of your life work, so it might be helpful to focus on its conception, structure, and the ideas behind it,

But realistically Maestro Wagner, we have not really even begun to talk about what is generally agreed to be your greatest work in any meaningful way/  I must interject here that this podcast episode has run over it's a lot of time, observations. I think we might need another episodes at least.

Herr Bartley, I would be most willing to return for another episode or two if necessary. 
  
Herr Wagner, I am certainly honored that you have spoken about your earthly life, but realize that we have not even really begun to talk about the full cycle of the ring and your experiences with King Ludwig the second of Bavaria. Perhaps it might be more to have another episode covering you and King Ludwig.  I am certain that I can't get the ghost or if you will the spirit of King Ludwig to talk during our next episode, and certainly hope that you can be here as well.

Yes, Herr Bartley - that would be an excellent idea.  And you do think that you are realistically able to summon the ghost or spirit of King Ludwig?  

Yes, Herr Wagner - you might say, as easily as I can summon your ghost - or if you will - your spirit.

Yah, then I am looking forward to seeing the good King Ludwig again.  To be honest, I would've not been able to produce some of my finest works without his financial assistance.

Yes, that is one of the things that I would like to discuss.  And that would also solve the problem of the fact that there is so much left in your earthly life that I would like to discuss. - end it would be fun to meet the spirit of King Ludwig and attempt to communicate his - shall we say - unique character.  And for all my listeners, developing the character of King Ludwig may take a bit of time - although it will be fun - so it might be at least a day or two before I get the episode about Wagner and King Ludwig out.
Join celebrate creativity for episode 490 - when we look at two characters or if you will spirits - interacting - Richard Wagner and a unique individual who was referred to as the mad King Ludwig.

Ja, Herr Bartley - as you may have surmised, while in exile in Zurich (1849–1859), I conceived the Ring of the Nibelung, a cycle of four operas based on Norse sagas and the German epic Nibelungenlied.

My goal was not just to tell a story, but to redefine opera: I wanted a “total work of art,” where music, poetry, and stagecraft were fused to create a profound dramatic experience. The themes that I explored were monumental: power, greed, love, betrayal, redemption, and the corrupting influence of wealth (symbolized by the cursed ring).

Die Walküre, WWV 86B - Ride of the Valkyries University of Chicago Orchestra https://musopen.org/music/5108-ride-of-the-valkyries-die-walkure-wwv-86b/#google_vignette, License: Public Domain (composition) / Creative Commons (recording).

Ode to Joy from the Ninth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, https://pixabay.com/
https://cdn.pixabay.com/download/audio/2021/09/24/audio_1259eaab4a.mp3?filename=richard-wagner-flying-dutchman-classical-remix-8662.mp3 License: Public Domain (composition) / Creative Commons (recording).

Overture from the Flying Dutchman by Richard Wagner performed by   Nesrality, Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/download/audio/2021/09/24/audio_1259eaab4a.mp3?filename=richard-wagner-flying-dutchman-classical-remix-8662.mp3, License: Public Domain (composition) / Creative Commons (recording).