Richard Wagner, 1813-1883. Chorale and Finale from the opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, arranged by Max Duetzmann. Completed 1867, first performance June 21st, 1868, in Munich. The excerpt is scored for 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, snare drum, triangle, cymbals, tympani, and strings.
Before there was Beethoven, or Mozart or Bach or even the Gregorian chants of the Renaissance, minstrels wandered through Europe entertaining royalty and commoners alike with their songs of love and heroism. Toward the end of the Middle Ages, guilds of ``Master Singers,'' descended from the minstrel tradition, arose in southern Germany. Unlike most Medieval guilds, Mastersinging was not a profession, but rather a hobby for middle-class citizens. But the amateurs took their art very seriously, rating each other on their adherence to the strict rules of their craft and even holding an occasional singing competition before the townspeople.
Three centuries later, in 1845, Richard Wagner, short of funds as usual and desperate for a subject that would be more accessible to audiences than the failed Flying Dutchman and the difficult and unproduced Tannhäuser, came across a description of the history of the Master Singers and the rules of their guild. With the dramatic instinct that was perhaps his greatest gift, he immediately saw that this could be the roots of a comedy that might repopularize him and rescue him from his financial straits. He lost no time in producing a first draft of the scenario for the work. Before he could pursue it further, however, other events intervened to distract him, including a small revolution which forced him into exile.
Sixteen years would elapse before Wagner could return to his subject. In the interim he wandered through Europe, wrote Tristan und Isolde and a significant portion of the Ring cycle, lost his first wife, Minna, met Cosima von Bülow (the daughter of Franz Liszt), who would become his second spouse, and matured tremendously as a composer and poet. This last was probably critical to the eventual success of Die Meistersinger, for the plausibility of the entire work hangs upon the audience's ability to believe in the greatness of the climactic ``Prize Song''. Eventually Wagner returned to Germany, encouraged and funded by the new young King of Bavaria (``Mad'' Ludwig II, who was so fond of Wagner's music that he included a small opera theater when he built the world's most famous castle at Neuschwanstein), and completed the composition.
The plot of the opera involves a young knight, Walther von Stolzing, who visits Nuremberg, falls in love with Eva, a local maiden, and (after many complications) enters and wins a competition in which the prize is her hand in marriage. (In an anachronistic blow for equality, Eva is given the option of refusing the winner if he is not to her liking, an eventuality which Walther of course need not fear.) The lovers are aided in their quest by Hans Sachs, an actual historical figure who composed more than 4275 Master Songs.
The current excerpts are drawn from the final act of the opera. The first comes just before the beginning of the competition, after the Master Singers assemble before the crowd. Hans Sachs steps up to address the people, but before he can speak they burst into song to honor the most eminent member of the Guild. Following this, we hear the final grand chorus from the opera, when the people hail the Masters and their art. Together, these two passages serve as perfect examples of Wagner's mastery of mass choral writing.
© 1994, Geoff Kuenning
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