Richard Wagner (1813–1883) was largely self taught in
music. The Meistersingers from Nuremburg, completed in
1867, was his only comedic opera, but this is not
evident in the “Prelude to Act III.”
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of
Nuremberg) is an opera in three acts, written and
composed by Richard Wagner. It is among the longest
operas still commonly performed today, usually taking
around four and a half hours.
Most of Wagner’s major works had ext...(+)
Richard Wagner (1813–1883) was largely self taught in
music. The Meistersingers from Nuremburg, completed in
1867, was his only comedic opera, but this is not
evident in the “Prelude to Act III.”
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of
Nuremberg) is an opera in three acts, written and
composed by Richard Wagner. It is among the longest
operas still commonly performed today, usually taking
around four and a half hours.
Most of Wagner’s major works had extended gestation
periods, and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The
Mastersingers of Nuremburg) was no exception. He began
thinking about it in 1845 as a comic companion for the
just premiered Tannhäuser, another opera about a
singing contest. But other projects – Lohengrin, the
Ring cycle, Tristan und Isolde – intervened and Die
Meistersinger had to wait over 20 years before it
reached the stage. A visit to a museum in Venice in
1861 revived Wagner’s interest in the 16th-century
world of the mastersingers, and he completed the
libretto the following year. He premiered some of the
music at the end of 1862, but did not finish the score
until 1867. The full work was finally – and
triumphantly – staged in Munich in 1868, with Hans
von Bülow conducting.
A generally mellow and optimistic work, Die
Meistersinger is also quite serious about its central
issue of musical innovation versus conservative
tradition. With the help of the mastersinger Hans
Sachs, the young knight Walther wins the singing
contest and gets the girl. Both Walther and Sachs were
based on historical models, and the work had enormous
appeal to burgeoning pan-Germanic sensibilities. The
brilliantly jubilant Prelude to Act III, another
example of Wagner’s deft hand with a brass melody
blazing through a whirl of strings, introduces the
wedding of Lohengrin and Elsa (and is followed in the
opera by the famous bridal march).
Although originally written for Orchestra, I created
this short arrangement for Piano Duet (2 Piano's 4
Hands) from the powerful theme using the orchestral
cues and for extra coloration.
PARTITION