Hello Bubba7,
Thank you for your question.
I believe you’re referring to ““Der Ring des Nibelungen” or The Ring
of the Nibelung” by Richard Wagner.
“The Ring of the Nibelung or, in the original German, Der Ring des
Nibelungen, is a series of four epic operas. Both the libretto and the
music were written by Richard Wagner over the course of twenty-six
years, from 1848 to 1874.”
Here is a brief description:
“The plot revolves around a magic ring which grants the power to rule
the world, forged by the dwarf Alberich from gold stolen from the
river Rhine. Several mythic figures struggle for possession of the
Ring, including Wotan (Odin), the chief of the Gods. The hero
Siegfried wins the Ring, but he is betrayed and slain, and the Ring is
returned to the Rhine.”
Source: Wikipedia Encyclopedia
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ring_of_the_Nibelung
The four operas in the Ring cycle are:
Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold)
http://ring.mithec.com/eng/das_rheingold.html
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rhinegold
Die Walküre (The Valkyrie)
http://ring.mithec.com/eng/walkure.html
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Walkure
Siegfried
http://ring.mithec.com/eng/siegfried.html
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_(opera)
Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods)
http://ring.mithec.com/eng/gotterdammerung.html
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotterdammerung
“Richard Wagner: German composer of some of the most visionary music
of the 19th century, his music changed the world of music forever, he
was unique in his field as he not only composed the music but he wrote
the words and left stage directions for every aspect of the production
of his works, and even designed and built the theater to stage his
opera's and music drama's.”
http://www.pnc.com.au/~marlan/wagner/wagner.htm
The State Opera of South Australia affirms:
“Composer Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, is the stuff of
legend and genius. A cycle of four separate operas make up the entire
work. Each opera is a complete and independent story, yet together
they create a mythical story of epic proportions - some sixteen hours
of glorious music in all. (..) Wagner was one of the most innovative
and influential of all composers. For The Ring he created a score
equal to his subject matter and devised subtle musical themes to
convey the emotional and dramatic ideas. He also wrote his own highly
original libretto, combining archaic and modern language, and like
Shakespeare, invented his own words where necessary.
Source: The State Opera of South Australia
http://www.saopera.sa.gov.au/ringcycle.htm
Here are some interesting facts:
“The Ring consists of not one but four operas — Das Rheingold, Die
Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung — which require the audience to
attend on four evenings for a total of 15 to 16 hours of music”
“Wagner worked on it over a period of more than 25 years (1848-74)”
“He wrote not only the music, but also the libretto (as he did for his
other operas)”
“It required a special theatre to be built for it — the Festspielhaus
at Bayreuth”
“It has 27 principal singing roles, plus 40 extra parts, a chorus of
over 80 and the voices of about a dozen children — to say nothing of
an orchestra up to 110-strong.”
Source: Bikwil's Website
http://www.bikwil.zip.com.au/Vintage10/Why-All-Fuss.html
Additional information that may interest you:
A Comprehensive Biography of Richard Wagner by the Harvard
Biographical Dictionary of Music
http://web.archive.org/web/20011130052253/http://www.hup.harvard.edu/HBDM/hbdm.wagner.html
Sound Samples:
http://ring.mithec.com/eng/wagner.html
Walküre Act Two Praelude ("The ride of the Valkyries")
http://ring.mithec.com/media/sample01.mp3
Siegfried Act Three Praelude ("The Wanderer")
http://ring.mithec.com/media/sample02.mp3
Götterdämmerung Prologue Introduction
http://ring.mithec.com/media/sample03.mp3
Search Criteria:
Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner +rings
I hope you find this helpful and if there is anything that I've
written that needs clarification, please ask before you rate this
answer.
Best Regards,
Bobbie7-ga |
