EXPLORE

EX. 1: HUNDING

EX. 2: GOLDEN APPLES

EX. 3: ALBERICH’S THREAT

EX. 4: SIEGFRIED’S ANGER

2. The fundamental symbol in The Ring is the world of nature, from which everything arises and to which everything returns. And Wagner’s basic motive for this ultimate source of existence is that fundamental element in music – the major chord. This chord, spread out melodically as a rising major arpeggio by the horns, forms the mysterious Nature Motive which opens the whole work.

This is the original form of the Nature Motive. It soon undergoes a simple melodic transformation into a peacefully undulating string theme; and the result is what may be called the definitive form of the Nature Motive, since this is the form in which it will recur throughout the whole work.

The next transformation is that this definitive form of the Nature Motive simply begins to move at twice the speed, and in so doing it becomes a new motive — the surging motive of the River Rhine.

Tracing further the family of motives generated by the basic Nature Motive we must pass on now to Scene Four of Rhinegold for the next transformation. Here the Nature Motive, by turning from major to minor, and a flowing 6/8 to slow 4/4 time, becomes the dark motive of Erda – the earth-goddess.

So far the transformations of the Nature Motive have been simple ones, but the next is more radical; the motive turns upside-down, implying its own opposite. When Erda begins to warn Wotan of the end in store for the gods, the orchestra accompanies her with her own motive – itself a simple transformation of the Nature Motive as we have heard; but as she comes to the .point the orchestra changes her rising motive into a falling one. The motive of life and growth becomes the motive of decay and death. Here is the whole passage: the orchestra has two statements of Erda’s rising motive followed by its inversion, the falling motive of The Twilight of the Gods.

The strings accompany Erda’s voice very softly here, only hinting at the gods’ mortality. We can hear what happens more clearly if we have the accompaniment played by the orchestra alone: first the rising Erda Motive and then immediately its inversion – the falling motive of The Twilight of the Gods.

This mysterious falling, fading motive, like so many of the others, recurs at many points in The Ring. Naturally, it permeates the final part of the work – The Twilight of the Gods, Götterdämmerung – and inevitably it introduces the final scene, when Brünnhilde steps forward to perform the decisive actions that bring about the end of the gods.

3. Returning now to the Nature Motive and its further transformations: after Erda and her warning in Rhinegold, we have to wait until Act One of Siegfried for the next transformation, another simple one. This occurs when Wotan speaks to Mime of the all-powerful spear that he cut from the World’s great Ash-Tree-the Tree of Life, guarded by Erda’s daughters, the Norns. The orchestra accompanies his words with anew rhythmic variant of the Nature Motive, in the minor and in 3/4 time. Here first, as a reminder, is the Nature Motive again.

And here is the swaying motive of the World Ash-Tree as it is introduced to accompany Wotan in Act One of Siegfried. Listen to the orchestra.

EX. 13: THE WORLD ASH-TREE IN GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG

EX. 14: FOREST MURMURS (EMBRYONIC)

EX. 15: FOREST MURMURS (INTERMEDIATE)

EX. 16: FOREST MURMURS (DEFINITIVE)

4. A number of further motives in the Nature family are evolved, not from the definitive form of the Nature Motive with which we have been concerned so far, but from its original form — the rising major arpeggio on the horns which opens The Ring, and with which we started. These further motives are free transformations of the original Nature Motive in that they themselves are forms of the rising major arpeggio. First, a reminder of the Original Nature Motive.

The first free transformation of this Original Nature Motive is the important motive of The Gold, which is introduced by the horns in Scene One of Rhinegold.

The next free transformation of the Original Nature Motive is the bold motive of Donner. He himself sings this as he calls up the storm in Scene Four of Rhinegold, and he is echoed by the horns.

A third transformation of the Original Nature Motive is the rising and falling arpeggio of the theme representing The Rainbow Bridge, again in Scene Four of Rhinegold, though this is hardly a motive in the strict sense, since it never appears again.

A further transformation of the Original Nature Motive is the heroic trumpet motive of The Sword which is also introduced in Scene Four of Rhinegold. This major arpeggio is almost identical in shape with the arpeggio of the Original Nature Motive, as we can em in the same key. Here is the Original Nature Motive as it recurs for the only time — near the beginning of Act Three of The Twilight of the Gods.

And here is the motive of The Sword as it recurs in Act Three of Siegfried when Siegfried uses the sword to cut away the steel breast-plate from the sleeping Brünnhilde.

5. This completes the family of motives evolved from the Nature Motive-either from its definitive, flowing form, or from its original arpeggio form. A second, much smaller family is closely associated with this – the pentatonic family of the voices of nature. The first vocal utterance in The Ring is a voice of nature-that of the first Rhinemaiden-Woglinde; and her falling and rising pentatonic theme is the motive which is to be associated with The Rhinemaidens.

This Rhinemaidens’ Motive is slightly transformed and speeded up to produce the motive of The Woodbird in Act Two of Siegfried. The Woodbird is evidently first cousin to the Rhinemaidens.

The Woodbird unlike the Rhinemaidens, is not represented by a single motive but by several other figures as well, each having the character of a bird-call. The most important of these is a phrase which is particularly associated with the Woodbird’s message to Siegfried about the sleeping Brünnhilde.

One other motive belongs to this small family-that of the Sleeping Brünnhilde in Act Three of Walküre. Brünnhilde, in her magic sleep, may not be a voice of nature but she is a latent, inspiring force of nature; and this motive of the Sleeping Brünnhilde is a rhythmic variant of the opening five notes of the motives of the Rhinemaidens and the Woodbird... Here is a reminder of the beginning of the Rhinemaidens’ Motive.

And here is the rhythmic variant of the first five notes of that motive which is the motive of the Sleeping Brünnhilde.

6. So much for nature. Standing out against this background of nature are the human actions that constitute the drama: and the intentions behind the various types of action are represented on the stage by several central symbols – Alberich’s ring, Wotan’s spear, Siegfried’s sword, and so on.

EX. 26: THE RHINEMAIDENS’ JOY IN THE GOLD

EX. 27: THE RHINEMAIDENS’ LAMENT

EX. 28: THE RHINEMAIDENS’ LAMENT IN ‘SIEGFRIED’

EX. 29: ‘HEIAJAHEIA!’

EX. 30: ‘HEIAJAHEIA’ (LOGE VERSION)

EX. 31: ‘HEIAJAHEIA’ CHANGING TO NIBELUNGS

EX. 32: THE NIBELUNGS

THE RHINEMAIDENS’ JOY IN THE GOLD-EX. 26

EX. 33: THE RHINEMAIDENS’ JOY IN THE GOLD (LOGE VERSION)

EX. 34: THE POWER OF THE RING

EX. 35: ‘RHINEGOLD!’

EX. 36: SERVITUDE

EX. 37: SERVITUDE (MIME VERSION)

EX. 38: ‘HOI-HOI!’

7. The cause of the deterioration of the gold, from a life-giving inspiration to an agent of misery and death, is of course the ring of absolute power which Alberich makes from the gold and puts to such evil use.

EX. 39: THE RING (EMBRYONIC)

EX. 40; THE RING (INTERMEDIATE)

EX. 41: THE RING (DEFINITIVE)

EX. 42: THE RING (HARMONIC BASIS)

EX. 43: THE RING (OUTLINE)

EX. 44: SCHEMING

EX. 45: THE RING (DIMINISHED TRIAD)

EX. 46: RESENTMENT

THE POWER OF THE RING - EX. 34

EX. 47: THE POWER OF THE RING (HAGEN FORM)

The dissonance which begins this form of the motive is quite simply the full harmonic basis of the Ring Motive, which our first special illustration will recall to us.

As can be heard, this is the exact dissonance which begins the motive of the Power of the Ring in the form associated with Hagen.

The dissonance which begins this form of the motive permeates Götterdämmerung and generates a new motive in Act Two. It acts as the starting point of the savage theme known as the motive of Murder, which is heard on the orchestra when Alberich incites Hagen to kill Siegfried and get back the ring.

So this dissonance permeates Götterdämmerung, creating an atmosphere of progressive dissolution. Wagner made the sinister harmony of the Ring Motive eat its way more and more into the fabric of the score, to reflect the fact that the sinister symbol of the ring itself eats its way more and more into the fabric of the drama.

EX. 49: THE RING MOTIVE (FIRST FOUR NOTES)

EX. 50: THE CURSE

Through the vow Siegfried puts himself entirely in the power of Hagen, who uses it as a pretext for murdering him to get possession of the ring. Both these motives are direct transformations of the first four notes of the Ring Motive, which we will hear again now.

Now here is the stern motive of Hunding’s Rights, which is introduced vocally by Hunding himself to the words – ‘Sacred is my hearth: Sacred to you be my home’.

EX. 51: HUNDING’S RIGHTS

And here is the tragic motive of the Vow of Atonement, as introduced by Gunther
and Siegfried in Act One of Götterdämmerung.

10. Two further motives are evolved from the other segment of the Ring Motive - its last three rising notes. Both enter in Scene Three of Rhinegold: the first is that of the Hoard of Treasure, which appears when Alberich tells Wotan about the Hoard, and how he will use it to make himself master of the world.

THE RING—EX. 41

EX. 53: THE HOARD

EX. 54: THE DRAGON

EX. 55: FAFNER AS DRAGON

EX. 56: THE RING (CHANGING TO VALHALLA)

EX. 57: VALHALLA (FIRST SEGMENT)

But the phrase we have just heard is only the first segment of the Valhalla Motive, though the most important one: there are other segments which are also to recur on their own. Two of these soon follow the first one: a repeated falling phrase and a series of alternating chords.

The final segment of the Valhalla Motive, which is a kind of summing-up of its noble character, does not enter until the end of Wotan’s actual apostrophe to Valhalla itself. It appears on the trumpet at the words – ‘Noble, splendid fortress’.

We can hear this final segment of the Valhalla Motive more clearly by having the passage played by the orchestra alone.

This final segment of the Valhalla Motive also occurs frequently on its own. It has a habit of attaching itself to the ends of other motives as a cadence. For example, when Wotan conceives the idea of the Sword in Scene Four of Rhinegold it rounds off the trumpet’s Sword Motive with the effect of setting a seal of majesty on the new conception.

Although the complete Valhalla Motive and its various segments recur throughout the whole work, the motive does not generate a family of motives. This is because Wotan’s castle is only a static symbol of his power, not a dynamic symbol of the agency of his power, akin to Alberich’s ring. The agency of Wotan’s power is his spear: this is the other central power-symbol of the drama, and it has its own basic motive, which does generate a whole family of motives.

Wotan’s spear is the symbol of his will towards uncontrolled, unlawful world-domination, just as Alberich’s ring is the symbol of his will towards uncontrolled, unlawful world-domination. And so the basic power- motive associated with the spear should take the name of the symbol itself, just as the basic power-motive associated with the ring is called the Ring Motive.

EX. 62: THE SPEAR (FIRST VERSION)

Later in the same scene, when Donner lifts his hammer to crush the Giants, Wotan stretches out his spear and imposes the law by the main force of his will; and here the definitive form of the Spear Motive, beginning on a strong beat, enters powerfully on the trombones.

Before considering the family of motives generated by this, main Spear Motive we should notice that it has another segment, concerned specifically with the irrevocable character of the treaties sworn on the spear. This is introduced vocally by Fasolt when he warns Wotan that he must keep faith.

Before considering the family of motives generated by the descending scale of the main Spear Motive is a subsidiary one which represents Wotan’s actual contract with the Giants. This is the real Treaty Motive: Fasolt introduces it vocally, echoed by the cellos and basses, when he warns Wotan to fulfil the contract.

When Fasolt goes on to warn Wotan that his whole power resides in the laws engraved on the spear, the Spear Motive enters in the bass below a series of pulsating chords. This is the embryonic form of the motive of the Power of the Gods.

An intermediate form of this motive enters on the orchestra in Act One of Siegfried when Wotan tells Mime how he rules the world with the spear which he cut from the World Ash-Tree. This time, underneath the pulsating chords, the descending scale of the Spear Motive alternates with its inversion – a rising scale.

In Götterdämmerung the rising scale detaches itself from the descending one to become the definitive form of the motive of the Power of the Gods. This enters during the Norns’ scene in the Prelude: but it rises to its full strength in the final scene of the work, when Brünnhilde orders the funeral pyre to be built for Siegfried, which will finally bring the power of the gods to an end.

12. Along another, more complex line of transformation the Spear Motive continually generates new motives throughout Walküre. These are derived from the opening six-note segment of the Spear Motive: they are those of the Storm, and of Siegmund — Wotan’s son and unwitting agent, who at the beginning of Walküre is running through the storm for his life.

Here first of all is another special illustration presenting the first descending six- note segment of the Spear Motive.

Now here is the Storm Motive. It consists of the first descending six-note segment of the Spear Motive played swiftly, in alternation with its inversion—the same notes rising upwards.

Out of the Storm Motive emerges the very similar motive of Siegmund, who is to rebel against Wotan’s authority. This also enters in the bass; and again the first descending segment of the Spear Motive is checked and contradicted by a rising motion.

A little later, in Act One of Walküre, Siegmund’s falling and rising motive is joined by the rising and falling one of Sieglinde: as the mood grows more tender the upward motion, contradicting the Spear Motive’s descent, grows stronger.

13. In Act Two of Walküre Wotan’s authority is effectively thwarted by Fricka, who argues him into abandoning Siegmund, and the plan of which Siegmund is the unwitting agent. The gloomy motive associated with Wotan here is generally known as ‘Discouragement’: but it might be called ‘The Frustration of Wotan’s Will’, since it is a twisted form of the first descending six-note segment of the Spear Motive. Here is the segment again as a reminder.

This segment, ireeiy transiormea, generates the motive or Wotan’s Frustration. The motive begins with a little turn, twisting moodily around the first note; and not only is the descending motion opposed by a rising one, but it is also hindered by being turned around on itself.

Incidentally, this motive, like several others, takes on a new form in Götterdämmerung. The tragic happenings in that work are felt to be at least partly the result of Wotan’s change of mind after his humiliation by Siegfried.

EX. 74: WOTAN’S FRUSTRATION (SECOND FORM)

This motive recurs many times in Götterdämmerung especially in conjunction with Hagen’s plotting to destroy Siegfried, since this act will set in motion the series of events that is to lead to the restoration of the gold to the Rhinemaidens.

14. Returning now to Act Two of Walküre – after Fricka’s exit, Wotan rages against her thwarting of his will, and here the motive of his frustration is inverted, moving upwards instead of downwards. Moreover, it moves straight upwards without convolutions: and in doing so it generates the furious motive of Wotan’s Revolt, which is thus a free inversion of the whole original Spear Motive. It always merges into the motive of the Curse, as here, on its first appearance.

EX. 77: WOTAN’S FRUSTRATION/BRÜNNHILDE’S REPROACH

EX. 78: BRÜNNHILDE’S REPROACH

Later on in the Third Act this motive of Brunnhilde’s Reproach turns to the major, to become a new motive representing the positive symbol she is opposing to the authority of Wotan’s Spear – compassionate love. The motive enters on the orchestra as Brünnhilde tells Wotan that what has made her defy his orders was the feeling of love which he himself had breathed into her, and which had been awakened by her realisation of Siegmund’s love for Sieglinde.

So the repressive descending minor scale of the Spear Motive is finally transformed into the expansive, soaring motive associated with Brünnhilde’s compassionate love: and this is the last of the family of motives generated by the basic motive of the Spear.

And this condition has its own motive-a tragic one in the minor key. It enters in Scene One of Rhinegold; it is sung by the Rhinemaiden Woglinde, when she tells Alberich that only the man who is prepared to renounce love can make the ring from the gold.

This motive of the Renunciation of Love recurs at various points in the drama - most surprisingly perhaps, in Act One of Walküre. Siegmund sings it as he draws the sword from the tree – the decisive action which proclaims his identity as the brother of Sieglinde, and her true lover.

Ring has begun in a world without love; and this is symbolised by the Renunciation Motive. The claims of love only begin to assert themselves in Act One of Walküre, and they are only established in Act Three in the compassionate love of Brünnhilde, represented by the motive we heard a little earlier.

This stems from the second of the two phrases in the original motive: and the agent of transformation is Fricka in Scene Two of Rhinegold, when she tells Wotan that his bartering away of Freia shows his contempt for love. Flere is the second phrase of the Renunciation Motive as sung originally by Woglinde.

When Fricka accuses Wotan of despising love, the orchestra plays the first phrase of the Renunciation Motive, but her utterance ends by hinting harmonically at this second one.

16. Later in the same scene Loge acts as the final agent of transformation, when he says that in all the world he has been unable to find anything valuable enough to serve as a substitute wage for the Giants, instead of the goddess of love, Freia. Here he adapts the phrase of Fricka, which we have just heard, into the second form of the Renunciation Motive which is to be associated with Wotan, and later with other characters.

This second form of the Renunciation Motive often recurs as a mournful cadence, expressing futility. One of the many examples is to be found in Act Two of Walküre when Wotan, having realised his own lovelessness, describes himself as the unhappiest of men. Here is the whole passage leading up to the use of the Renunciation Motive as a cadence.

But the Renunciation Motive, in both its forms, only represents love in a negative light: it stands for the general lovelessness prevailing in the power-ridden world of the drama. The basic love-motive — the positive, dynamic motive of love in action, in opposition to absolute power- is the one associated with the central symbol of love in the drama: the goddess of love herself, Freia. Her motive first enters on the orchestra in Scene Two of Rhinegold, when she runs on, pursued by the Giants. Fricka describes her approach, and as Freia enters her motive is introduced in the violins.

We can hear Freia’s swift motive more clearly from another special illustration — the violin part played on its own, a little more slowly.

17. Freia’s Motive has two independent segments; we may begin by considering the first – the rising one.

This first segment of Freia’s Motive is swift here, and in the minor, to portray Freia’s agitation as she flees from the Giants: but it soon establishes its definitive, slow major form. This stands out clearly for the first time when it introduces Loge’s ‘hymn to love’ a little further on in the same scene.

This definitive, sinuous form of the first segment of Freia’s Motive recurs on its own throughout The Ring, in association with the sensuous aspect of love between man and woman. For example, in Act One of Walküre, after Siegmund’s first fully impassioned utterance to Sieglinde, it ascends sweetly on the violins.

No new motives are generated from this first segment of Freia’s Motive – it remains itself throughout The Ring. The whole family of motives representing the various aspects of love is generated by the second segment of her motive, which we will recall now.

This second segment of Freia’s Motive was identified wrongly by the very first commentator on The Ring – Hans von Wolzogen. He labelled it ‘Flight’, and every commentator since has followed him unthinkingly. The whole motive enters in conjunction with Freia, and as with many other motives its segments apply equally to the symbol it is attached to: it was not Wagner’s practice to detach segments of his motives from the symbols they are initially associated with, and give them quite different meanings.

EX. 92: ‘FLIGHT’

However, the characters in flight here — Siegmund and Sieglinde — are symbols of love, as Freia herself is, even when fleeing from the Giants. And if we examine this second segment of Freia’s Motive we find that it functions exactly like the first segment, as a love motive. In conjunction with the first segment it soon establishes a definitive, slow major form. Here is the original Freia Motive again, complete.

19. When Fasolt, in Scene Two of Rhinegold, explains to Wotan that he looks forward to having Freia as a wife in his home, the oboe accompanies his vocal line with the whole of Freia’s Motive, both first and second segments, in the definitive, slow major form.

And the second segment of Freia’s Motive, in exactly the same way as the first, detaches itself in its definitive, slow major form and recurs as a pure love-motive in association with Siegmund and Sieglinde in Act One of Walküre. Here is the second segment again, in its original swift minor form.

EX. 94: FREIA (2ND SEGMENT. SIEGMUND AND SIEGLINDE)

There are certain passages where the swift minor form of the motive might seem to imply flight, or at least pursuit, devoid of any associations with love; but these have been misunderstood. An example is the descent of Wotan and Loge to Nibelheim between Scenes Two and Three of Rhinegold. Here, the second segment of Freia’s Motive is repeated over and over, very swiftly in the minor; and the suggestion is that Wotan and Loge are in flight in some abstruse sense, or at least that they are in swift pursuit of Alberich and the ring.

To understand the true significance of this passage we have to realise that the origin of this second segment of Freia’s Motive-the basic love-motive-goes back beyond Freia herself to Scene One of Rhinegold. Here a short, embryonic form of it is introduced in association with the thwarting of Alberich’s passion by the Rhinemaidens.

EX. 96: FREIA (2ND SEGMENT, ALBERICH)

EX. 97: ALBERICH’S LAMENT

EX. 98: FREIA SECOND SEGMENT/DECENT TO NIBELHEIM

It is clear that when this passage begins, just after the music associated with Loge in Scene Two, Wagner employs a flash-back technique, which he often uses’ in orchestral interludes. He turns away from Wotan and Loge, and their descent to Nibelheim, and picks up Alberich on his descent to Nibelheim, from the Rhine, after Scene One.

20. A little later in this interlude the basic love-motive enters in a new and more powerful form on the brass. It is still in the minor but now it is slow and drawn out, like the lament of love itself, expelled from this world of naked power.

This powerful form of the basic love-motive, slow and in the minor, attaches itself to Wotan in Act Two of Walküre where he realises his own lovelessness. He sings it at the beginning of a passage we heard earlier-the one illustrating the use of the second form of the Renunciation Motive as a cadence expressing futility.

This lamenting form of the basic love-motive also attaches itself to Siegmund and Sieglinde in a more lyrical way. In Act One of Walküre when Siegmund momentarily feels that his love for Sieglinde is a forlorn hope, the definitive, slow major form of the basic love-motive, which has been associated with their falling in love, now turns sadly to its minor form.

The definitive, slow major form of the basic love-motive later transforms itself freely to generate two new motives associated with the love of Siegfried and Brünnhilde in Act Three of Siegfried. First it forms the basis of the exultant theme known as the motive of ‘Love’s Greeting’; they introduce this vocally when they hail the memory of Sieglinde, as the mother of Siegfried.

EX. 103: LOVE’S GREETING AND FREIA (2ND SEGMENT)

This motive is again a free transformation of the basic love-motive; its origin is the brilliant orchestral passage at the end of Act One of Walküre when Siegmund and Sieglinde fall into one anothers’ arms. The basic love-motive enters here in the major, but quickly: then it is developed in a swift, telescoped form to express the joyful passion of the two lovers.

It is this swift telescoped form of the basic love-motive that broadens out majestically on the horns, at the end of Siegfried, to become the motive of Love’s Resolution.

This ends the family of motives generated by the basic love-motive, but there are several other motives associated with the symbol of love which are quite independent. First, there, is the’ moving motive which represents the Bond of Sympathy between the Volsungs – Siegmund and Sieglinde – and later attaches itself to their son Siegfried. It is first heard in Act One of Walküre; it enters in the bass with Sieglinde’s motive above it, when Siegmund and Sieglinde find themselves partners in distress.

This motive is developed in several different ways throughout the whole drama. When it later attaches itself to Siegfried it takes on a quick, excited form to express his agitation during his love scene with Brünnhilde.

Another independent love-motive associated with Siegmund and Sieglinde is the melody of Siegmund’s song of Spring – ‘Wintersstürme’.

One of the independent love-motives is associated with Wotan’s affection for Brünnhilde: he sings it near the end of Walküre just before he plunges Brünnhilde into her magic sleep.

2. There are several independent love-motives attached to Siegfried and the love between him and Brünnhilde. First there is the yearning one associated with Siegfried’s longing for human love and companionship.

EX. 110: SIEGFRIED’S LONGING FOR LOVE

EX. 111: LOVE’S ECSTASY

EX. 112: THE IMMORTAL BELOVED

EX. 113: THE WORLD’S TREASURE

This motive does recur; and derive from it is the final independent love-motive – the one associated with Siegfried and Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung and known as the motive of Heroic Love.

Here we finish with the motives associated with the central symbols of love.

And the basic motive, or basic phrase, which generates the family of motives associated with these heroic characters, is the last three-note segment of the motive of Erda herself. Erda’s Motive is in the minor key, and so are the heroic motives derived from it; but they are all powerful brass motives, and so the minor key here is an expression not so much of pure tragedy as of tragic heroism.

EX. 115: ERDA

EX. 116: THE VALKYRIES

ERDA – EX. 115

EX. 117: THE VOLSUNG RACE (MAIN SEGMENT)

EX. 118: THE VOLSUNG RACE (FIRST SEGMENT)

The final segment of Erda’s Motive generates another heroic motive associated with the Volsungs. This is the dark one introduced in Act Two of Walküre, when Brünnhilde warns Siegmund of his impending death. It is later attached to Siegfried as doomed hero in Götterdämmerung. Here is the special illustration of Erda’s Motive again:

And here is the motive of The Annunciation of Death as it recurs on the orchestra near the end of Götterdämmerung, when Brünnhilde calls for a funeral lamentation worthy of the dead Siegfried. It too rises slowly out of the final segment of Erda’s Motive.

The culminating heroic motive generated by the last segment of Erda’s Motive is the indomitable one of Siegfried. Here is the special illustration of Erda’s Motive once more.

And here is Siegfried’s Motive. Like the Valkyrie Motive it springs boldly out of the last segment of Erda’s Motive.

4. One further motive belongs to this heroic family - perhaps surprisingly; this is the motive of Gunther in Götterdämmerung. Gunther does not belong to the offspring of Wotan and Erda in any sense.

EX. 121: GUNTHER

5. The Sword Motive recurs many times in the drama, but now we must consider it as another of the basic motives, which generates a whole family of motives associated with heroism in action. It first enters on the trumpet in Scene Four of Rhinegold, when Wotan conceives the idea of the Sword, and of the hero who shall wield it; and we may notice that the musical interval on which it revolves is a downward-leaping octave.

This is merely the first segment of the Sword Motive. There is a much fiercer second one following immediately: and this too is based on the interval of a downward-leaping octave. It is sung by Wotan as he explains the purpose of the sword – to secure Valhalla against any attack by enemies: and like the first segment it recurs later in the drama.

EX. 123: THE PURPOSE OF THE SWORD

EX. 124: THE PURPOSE OF THE SWORD (SIEGMUND)

EX. 125: ‘WÄLSE!’

EX. 126: ‘NOTHUNG !’

EX. 127: ‘NOTHUNG !’ (SIEGFRIED)

EX. 128: HONOUR

EX. 129: THE PURPOSE OF THE SWORD (SECOND HALF)

EX. 130: THE PURPOSE OF THE SWORD (SECOND HALF. SIEGMUND)

EX. 131: FRICKA IN ’VALKYRIE’

EX. 132: FRIENDSHIP

EX. 133: HAGEN

EX. 134: SEDUCTION

EX. 135: GUTRUNE

EX. 136: THE GIBICHUNG HORN-CALL

EX. 137: SIEGFRIED’S HORN-CALL

EX. 138: SIEGFRIED’S HORN-CALL (SECOND VERSION)

EX. 139: THE SWEARING OF THE OATH

EX. 140: THE WORLD’S INHERITANCE

One of the most important of these is that of Siegfried’s Mission, which consists of a descending phrase of four notes, repeated in falling sequence. It follows him on the orchestra as he dashes away into the forest in Act One of Siegfried, on discovering to his delight that he can be free of Mime, who has no claim on him at all.

This motive of Siegfried’s Mission achieves its definitive broad form in the Prelude to Götterdämmerung. He sings it himself in his duet with Brünnhilde, when he declares that he is no longer Siegfried but Brünnhilde’s arm.

Another form of this motive, with the falling phrases in rising sequence, is introduced by Wotan in Act Two of Siegfried. He sings it when he assures Alberich that Siegfried is an entirely free agent, who must stand or fall by his own powers.

EX. 143: SIEGFRIED’S MISSION (WOTAN VERSION)

In this form the motive of Siegfried’s Mission forms the basis of the blood- brotherhood duet in Act One of Götterdämmerung. It enters when they sing of their freedom swearing the oath; and the effect is one of dramatic irony, since they are both acting mere pawns in Hagen’s plot.

The relationship of this passage to the motive of Siegfried’s Mission makes clear that the descending main theme of the blood-brotherhood duet is itself generated by the motive.

This main theme of the blood-brotherhood duet itself occurs with great dramatic irony in Act Two of Götterdämmerung. It enters powerfully on the horns when Gunther, finding himself inextricably involved in Hagen’s plot to kill Siegfried, remembers oath of blood-brotherhood he swore with him.

9. Complementary to this symbol is that of the inspiration given to heroes by women, which is represented by the main female characters of the drama – Fricka, Sieglinde and Brünnhilde, each of whom has a motive of this kind. As with the symbol of love, the symbol of women’s inspiring power begins on a subdued level in the power-ridden world of Rhinegold.

EX. 147: DOMESTIC BLISS

EX. 148: REDEMPTION

EX. 149: BRÜNNHILDE AS MORTAL WOMAN

10. One last central symbol remains to be considered — the sense of the mysterious and inscrutable that surrounds human life. The central character here is Loge, the central symbol his Magic Fire; and his flickering chromatic motive is the basic one which generates the rest of this family. It enters on the orchestra in Scene Two of Rhinegold when he himself makes his long-awaited entry, much to Wotan’s relief.

EX. 151: MAGIC FIRE

This is the segment of Loge’s Motive which dominates the final scene of Walküre, where Wotan calls on Loge to surround the sleeping Brünnhilde with a wall of magic fire.

In the meantime this segment of Loge’s Motive has already generated a new motive of magic – that of the Tamhelm, introduced by muted horns in Scene Three of Rhinegold. This is based on the harmonic progression of the Magic Fire segment of Loge’s Motive, slowed down, in the minor, and without its flickering figuration.

The Tarnhelm Motive itself becomes the starting-point of another new motive of magic in Götterdämmerung. In Act One, when Hagen explains the powers of the magic potion to Gutrune, we hear the Tarnhelm Motive in the background with two statements of the sensuous segment of Freia’s Motive in the foreground; and after the second statement of Freia’s Motive the Tarnhelm Motive straightway transforms itself into the elusive new motive of The Potion.

EX. 155: LOGE (CHROMATIC SCALE SEGMENT)

EX. 156 THE MAGIC SLEEP

EX. 157: THE WANDERER

EX. 158: FATE

EX. 159: FATE (END OF VALKYRIE)

EX. 160; FATE (BRÜNNHILDE)

EX. 161: BRÜNNHILDE AWAKES

12. There are one or two motives which lie outside the main families, representing simple characters rather than symbols. One of these is the motive attached to Hunding which we heard right at the start; another is the brass motive associated with the Giants in Rhinegold. which is appropriately heavy and forceful.

EX. 163: FAFNER AS GIANT TURNED DRAGON

When Alberich enters in Scene One of Rhinegold we hear some uneasy music in the depths of the orchestra, portraying his awkward attempts to clamber up out of Nibelheim into the waters of the Rhine.

Those furious little descending figures on the cellos are in fact Alberich’s personal motive; we can hear them more clearly from an illustration played by the cellos alone, a little more slowly.

This personal motive of Alberich’s forms part of the general transformation of the music of Scene One of Rhinegold into that of Scene Three which we noticed earlier. When Alberich enters in the Nibelheim scene, this furious descending motive of his accompanies the blows he inflicts on Mime. Once more the music reveals that the thwarting of his desire for the Rhinemaidens has been transformed into a sadistic lust to get his own back on everybody.

EX. 167: MIME’S ‘STARLING-SONG’

EX. 168: SIEGFRIED’S MISSION

One example of many is the motive representing the Dawn in Act Two of Götterdämmerung, when Hagen wakes up after his nocturnal communion with his father Alberich. As first introduced by the bass clarinet, this motive’s arpeggio- shape proclaims it an offshoot of the nature family.

Soon however this Dawn Motive is developed forcibly by the horns and its main figure eventually assumes a rather brutal character, much more in keeping with the personality of Hagen than with the simple natural phenomenon of dawn. The day that is dawning is going to be Hagen’s day.

Later this motive forms the choral song of the Vassals as they sing Hagen’s praises and declare themselves ready to stand by him. By now it clearly is Hagen’s day.

14. Quite a number of the subsidiary motives are not so much recurrent themes representing symbols as recurrent figurations portraying movement and activity. There is one group in particular which is a kind of family representing various aspects of nature in motion. The starting-point is a swift rising and falling major-key figuration on the violins in Scene One of Rhinegold: it is repeated over and over to portray the waters of the Rhine rippling around the swimming Rhinemaidens.

We can identify the shape of this motive more clearly if we have it played by the violins alone, and a little more slowly. It is a swift surge upwards followed by a longer and not quite so swift descent – like the flow and ebb of a wave.

In Scene Two of Rhinegold, when Loge refers to the universal burgeoning of nature, the orchestra transforms this flowing and ebbing Wave-Motion shape into a much slower undulation, more appropriate to the earth.

This is the definitive form of the motive of Nature in Motion, the form in which it will usually recur. We hear it when Siegfried is in the forest, feeling nature all around him, and when Wotan addresses Erda as the wise woman who knows all the secrets of nature. And it transforms itself to generate other motives portraying different aspects of nature in motion.

EX. 175: THE STORM

EX. 176: WAVE-MOTION (GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG)

The first is a combination of elements from two motives which could hardly be in greater contrast with each other – those of Valhalla and Loge. It occurs in Scene Three of Rhinegold when Loge is pretending to be impressed by Alberich’s ambitions to rule the world instead of Wotan. Let us remind ourselves first of the main segment of the Valhalla Motive and notice how it proceeds by repeating a short phrase over and over.

And now let us hear one of the many segments of Loge’s Motive — one that first enters when he is making fun of Alberich in Scene Three of Rhinegold.

By combining at top speed the repeated figure of the Valhalla Motive with this segment of Loge’s Motive, Wagner evolves the flippant composite motive which accompanies Loge’s mockery of Alberich’s ambitions.

Our second example of a Composite Motive is connected with Siegfried: it combines the motives of the Sword and Siegfried’s Horn, at top speed, to represent Siegfried’s indomitable vitality. Here first is the Sword Motive again.

And here is the motive of Siegfried's horn-call.

And now here is the Composite Motive combining the two, as Siegfried plays it on his horn and awakens the sleeping Fafner.

16. Our final example of a composite motive is a longer and more subtle one, connected with Wotan, which first appears in Act Two of Walküre. It is generally known as ‘The Need of the Gods’ and it represents Wotan’s search for a way out of his frustration.

The Twilight of the Gods, and Wotan’s Frustration. Here first is the motive of Erda followed by the motive of The Twilight of the Gods, a juxtaposition which occurs, as we have heard, during Wotan’s first encounter with Erda in Scene Four of Rhinegold.

WOTAN’S FRUSTRATION – EX. 73

EX. 181: THE NEED OF THE GODS (COMPOSITE MOTIVE)

First, here is part of the motive of the Rhinemaidens’ Joy in the Gold again – their cry of ‘Rhinegold’.

And here is the second segment of the Valhalla Motive again, or rather the part of it which consists of alternating chords.

These two motives are brought into conjunction in Act One of Götterdämmerung. ‘It happens when Waltraute comes to Brünnhilde to tell her of Wotan’s wish that the ring shall be returned to the Rhinemaidens, and that Valhalla shall be destroyed. When Waltraute sings the words ‘That would redeem the God and the World’, the horns refer very slowly and quietly to the Rhinemaiden’s cry of ‘Rhinegold’, and the brass follow this with the alternating chords of the Valhalla Motive.

17. In the final scene of Götterdämmerung, when Brünnhilde decides to carry out Wotan’s wish, this combination of motives is heard again, but now with further motives added. The first of these is the bass theme of The Need of the Gods, which we heard a little earlier. Here it is again.

And here is the final cadence of the Valhalla Motive again – the phrase that sets the seal of nobility on the motive.

Now we can turn to the final scene of Götterdämmerung, where Brünnhilde apostrophises Wotan, assuring him that she will now carry out his wish, and adding the solemn words ‘Rest, rest, thou God’. Accompanying these words in the orchestra we hear the same quiet reference to the Rhinemaidens’ cry of ‘Rhinegold’ followed by the alternating chords of the Valhalla Motive, that we heard in Act One, when Waltraute told Brünnhilde of Wotan’s wish.

EX. 183: ‘REST, REST, THOU GOD’

18. Even more masterly is the way that Wagner weaves his motives together on a large symphonic scale; and we may consider two final examples of this type. The first is the Prelude to Act Three of Siegfried, which prepares the way for the great scene between Wotan and Erda: this is built up as a symphonic development of nine different motives.

EX. 184: RIDING

ERDA — EX. 8

EX. 185: ERDA/THE RIDING MOTIVE

EX. 186: ERDA/THE NEED OF THE GODS

EX. 187: ERDA/THE SPEAR

And now Wagner begins a lengthy development of a particular combination of two motives which has not been heard since Wotan’s first meeting with Erda in Scene Four of Rhinegold. This is the combination of Erda’s own motive with that of the Twilight of the Gods which we will hear again now.

EX. 188: ERDA/THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS

THE WANDERER — EX. 157

EX. 189: ERDA/THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS/WANDERER

THE POWER OF THE RING—EX. 34

EX. 190: THE POWER OF THE RING/ERDA

These descending chords are a powerful version of the motive of the Magic Sleep the sleep into which Brünnhilde has been plunged, the sleep from which Erda will soon be awakening. Here is the Magic Sleep Motive again as a reminder.

Now if we listen again to the climax of the Prelude to Act Three of Siegfried, we hear the loud descending chords quieten down and become a simple restatement of the Magic Sleep Motive.

20. This masterly way of weaving several motives together into a large-scale symphonic development is a constant feature of The Ring, and nowhere is it used with greater mastery than in the closing pages of the work. During the final orchestral culmination the music is woven from a combination of four motives. First, the woodwind introduce the flowing motive of the Rhinemaidens, who are swimming on the surface of the Rhine, holding aloft the ring in triumph: at the same time, the strings are playing the rippling motive of the Rhine itself.

EX. 192: RHINEMAIDENS, RHINE, VALHALLA, REDEMPTION

At the very end of the work the music reaches its ultimate climax with a combination of the motives of Valhalla on the brass and The Power of the Gods in the bass, as both are consumed in the flames. Then the motive of the dead Siegfried bursts in for the last time as a glorious memory – but it gives way to a last statement of the motive of The Twilight of the Gods, which Is now accomplished, and all the motives disappear except one.

EX. 193: VALHALLA/THE POWER OF THE GODS/SIEGFRIED/ THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS/REDEMPTION