After a portrait by Herkomer, etched by himself.
]
The central and the most picturesque character of “The Rheingold” is
Loge, the god of fire. In this prologue of the tetralogy he appears as
the evil counsellor of Wotan, and while his character is indicated in
many striking ways, his entrance is heralded by a purely scenic bit of
music known as the magic fire music.
[Illustration: [Music]]
This music is intended solely to represent the flickering, ascending
fire. It reappears with most picturesque effect at the close of “Die
Walküre,” when Wotan, having put Brünnhilde to sleep upon her rock,
summons the fire from the earth to keep her couch inaccessible to all
save the yet unborn hero who shall know no fear.[19] Examples of the
free descriptive or scenic music, composed without leading motives, may
be found in “Tristan” (the sailors’ music, and the shepherd’s piping),
in “Siegfried” (the familiar “Waldweben”), and in “Parsifal” (the dance
of the flower maidens). Of the class of music a step higher in respect
of significance,—that in which an inanimate object is represented by an
appeal to the emotions associated with it,—the most brilliant example is
the sword motive. The sword of Siegmund, which is to be welded anew by
Siegfried and used by him in wresting the Rhine treasure from the grasp
of the giant Fafner, is one of the most potent agents in the advancement
of the action of the tetralogy. It is always indicated musically by this
bold, martial theme, whose brilliant challenge rings with the pride of
combat:—
[Illustration: [Music]]
It is a notable evidence of the depth of Wagner’s artistic purpose that
he first uses this motive in “Das Rheingold,” before the sword has been
fashioned, when only the idea of creating the race of Siegmund has
dawned in Wotan’s mind. Another motive of this kind is that which
represents the tarn helm, the magic cap whose possessor can make himself
invisible or change his appearance. The motive is so uncertain in its
tonality—a quality obtained by the use of the empty fifth—that it
adequately depicts the mysterious nature of the tarn helm.
[Illustration: [Music]]
But the most beautiful and significant development of this remarkable
musical system is to be found in the construction of those motives which
are designed to illustrate the emotions and dramatic principles of the
plays. Of these there are some which have also a scenic aspect and at
first will seem to the new hearer of Wagner’s works to belong wholly to
the external class. The most easily comprehended is that commonly
described as the smithy motive. The Nibelungs were dwarfs, dwellers in
the hollows of the earth, and workers in precious metals. They were a
crushed, tyrannized race, and after one of their number, Alberich, had
obtained power over the worldly possession of a ring of Rhine gold, they
became the most abject of slaves. Two things appeal to us in the
contemplation of this race: first, ceaseless labor at the smithy;
second, the bitterness of spirit caused by the drudgery. Wagner invented
for the theme representative of this race the smithy motive, founded on
a rhythm imitative of the beating of hammers.
[Illustration: