RICHARD WAGNER

By Wesley Huf

RICHARD WAGNER

Born: 22 May 1813

Died: 13 February 1883

MUSIC AND EARLY LIFE

MUSIC AND EARLY LIFE

EDUCATION

WORK LIFE

FINANCIAL DISTRESS

Avoiding
debts and
creditors
created
problems for
him and his
wife

PERSONAL LIFE

THE DEATH OF WAGNER

THE FLYING DUTCHMAN

3 ACTS, due to change in location/stage

No Intermission, continuous plot.

LISTENING GUIDE
Eine Faust-Ouvertre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIkbXKx_sXo

EINE FAUST-OUVERTRE- LG

0:00- Tuba and bass in unison, accompanied by drums.

0:30- Strings enter into a repetitive theme that is revisited
throughout the song.
1:07- Flute enters accenting the string instruments, giving a higher
pitch to the overall tone of the song.
1:36- Strings begin to repeat theme from start of the song and
scaling up to bridge into the next section.
2:01- Tone of the music changes, starts to rise, give hope or contrast
to the gloomy theme of the music. Flutes begin to take over the
melody for a brief moment, almost battling the string instruments,
going back and forth.
2:50- Strings take back control and the theme is repeated.
3:20- Drums strike hard with a surpise
3:30- Tempo starts to pick up, building towards a rise in pitch and
beat.
3:39- Very high notes repeating and bridging into the next section

EINE FAUST-OUVERTRE- LG

3:50- Futes enter and are the focus and slow the melody with a fast rhythm
of string instruments in the background. The Strings gain in volume and
power scaling up and up as the flute fades of
4:02- In harmony strings begin to create a 2 note rhythm that scales down
creating a climax for the listener. This climax then repeats itself multiple
times and acts as a bridge into the next part of the song.
4:26- Wind instruments take over the melody, slowing the rhythm and pace
of the song preparing the listener for the next story through the music.
5:05- 5 note repetition begins and tempo makes you think it will speed up
and then it is followed by a slow steady rhythm to lead into the wind
instruments to take over.
5:15- softly the notes rise with a steady pace painting a softer picture
through the music.
5:30- Very subtly the string instruments begin to take over as the pitch
continues to rise, fading out on a high note while the wind instruments
enter in.
6:03- Tone in the song gives a temporary resolution to the music.

EINE FAUST-OUVERTRE- LG

6:15- Tone of the music begins to show sorrow and

passion
6:42- Wind instruments and brass and strings combine
in this next part, taking turns, the winds and brass
playing long and steady, ofset by the strings fast
tempo and high rising notes.
7:40- The same pattern of back and forth continues,
the dialogue between the two sides start to difer and
complicate.
8:20- The brass begins to scale up and ends at an
abrupt high note.
8:36- As the section comes to an end music fades out,
a brass instrument being drowned out by white noise.

EINE FAUST-OUVERTRE- LG
8:43-

after the pause the music is picked back up by a flute, tempo is slow and then
cuts out and back in multiple times with single notes followed by a brief follow-up
from the strings.
9:26- tempo changes, speeding up drastically and strings add to the flow of the
music cutting in and out and begins to go back and forth at 9:48.
10:01- Music starts to scale upwards followed by the notes scaling down, the music
paints a vivid picture of a downward spiral, a moment of panic possibly.
10:36- Marks the bottom of this spiral and acts as a defining moment of doom or
demise.
11:02- The music changes from a gloomy end to a softer higher tone, giving the
listener some hope.
11:23- The hopeful tone then starts to scale up, feeling like once again the music is
giving a sensation of rise or achievement.
12:00- At this moment in the composition the tempo starts to slow and stop scaling
upwards with a climactic tone growing at 12:14
12:53- After a few moments of silence, the wind instruments pick up again, tempo
returned to slow, steady notes, beginning to rise. This last minute of music
concludes the piece and
ends on a high melody, giving the feeling of victory or accomplishment.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Richard Wagner Biography."The Biography.com.

A&E Television Networks. Web.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIkbXKx_sXo

Artist Biography by Rovi Staf. (n.d.). Retrieved

from http://www.allmusic.com/artist/richardwagner-mn0000958980/biography

Wikipedia,. (2015). Richard Wagner. Retrieved 9

November 2015, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wagner