MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

The aim of this presentation is to show the way in which the Wagnerian leitmotifs exemplify the action, underscore the dramatic structure, and in particular enrich the psychological understanding of the characters. To Wagner the purpose of the leitmotifs were to heighten the emotional impact of the music drama or, as Kirby writes: “the repetition, restatement, or recalling of music heard before puts the audience in mind of the circumstances – the character or characters and the situation – that obtained at the music’s initial appearance”. I will examine how Wagner uses leitmotifs to focus on the internal aspects of his characters, with emphasis on emotion, not on motivation, in order to make the music complement the drama , and show how his leitmotifs are used to make the entire performance seem a coherent symphonic whole. In this discussion, I will be focusing specifically on Das Rheingold, the opening opera of The Ring Cycle, in order to explore the function of leitmotifs in detail, and through this to demonstrate how the works of Richard Wagner mark a shift in the history of musical theatre and opera as a whole.