Opera Background

Wagner's use of Leitmotifs in the Ring
Stabreim in the Ring

The Ring and its Literary Sources

An avid reader, Wagner drew from many literary sources to create the story of The Ring of the Nibelungen, including the Edda (ancient Icelandic literature), fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, and a work called "The Song of the Nibelungen". He began in 1848 to tell his own version of the latter. Wagner wanted to tell the story of Siegfried's death, and this part of his writing eventually became the text for Götterdämmerung, the last opera in the cycle.

Wagner realized that he wanted to explain Siegfried's background a little bit, and envisioned the opera Siegfried as a comedic prelude to the story of his death. As he worked, he wanted to explain more of Siegfried's origins (Siegfried); he also recognized that he would need to introduce the characters and their relationships in a "Vorabend", or preliminary evening: Das Rheingold. Wagner finished the entire libretto for the four operas of the Ring in 1853, working backwards from the end to the beginning!

Another important literary element in the Ring stems from Wagner's love of the classic Greek tragedies, especially those by Aeschylus. One aspect of Greek plays he particularly admired was their use of the chorus. Although there are no choruses anywhere in the Ring, Wagner used the orchestra in its place. Through a complex system of leitmotifs, the orchestra acts almost as another character, commenting on the action.

- HOME

top of page