Richard Wagner: Parsifal: Opera: Score

Vocal score for Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal for Voice and Piano accompaniment.

Facsimile of the autograph score from the National Archive of the Richard Wagner Foundation Bayreuth. Par WAGNER RICHARD. Knowledge, pity, redemption: Richard Wagner took up these major themes in “Parsifal”, the music drama that he completed 13 months before his death and referred to as his “most conciliatory work”. Already celebrated for its compositional technique and mystical sonorities at the premiere, its world of ideas has stimulated new debates and interpretations over and over again to the present day. Wagner wrote the autograph score almost entirely in violet ink, a colour he preferred to use in the final years of his life. He meticulously planned the layout of the pages and finally gave the autograph to his wife Cosima - it always remained in the family's possession as a guarded treasure. The facsimile edition in high-quality four-colour printing reproduces the extensive score in its original size. Act and bar numbers on every page facilitate its use without diminishing the overall bibliophile appearance. In an accompanying essay (Ger/Eng), Ulrich Konrad elucidates the special features of the work and the manuscript./ Répertoire / Opéra

A First Book of Wagner. The music of Richard Wagner can be daunting to beginning pianists, but this collection offers an accessible approach to the famous nineteenth-century composer's works. The arrangements focus on Wagner's melodies and style, presenting manageable excerpts from the more abstract works in simplified keys and with suggested fingerings.More than 30 pieces consist chiefly of selections from Wagner's operas. Highlights include the thrilling Ride of the Valkyries from Die Valküre, the second of the four Ring Cycle operas. Other pieces from the epic musical series include Siegfried the Hero from Siegfried and Song of the Rhine Daughters from Götterdämmerung. The collection also features pieces from Parsifal,Tannhäuser, The Flying Dutchman,Rienzi, Lohengrin, and Tristan und Isolde, as well as other works. Each selection features a brief Introduction that provides historical context and, in some cases, suggestions for performance.