第 2 节
作者:
使劲儿 更新:2022-08-21 16:33 字数:9322
scorn the marriage of ambition and convenience on the one hand; but on the
other; pursues with wrath and vengeance the law…breaker; the indiscriminate
love…winner; the wife…collector and wife…slayer; and; although women still
have a strange and persistent fancy for marriage; they might sometimes
avoid it if they realized that a violent death were the price。
We must first study the musical construction of the overture with which the
music…drama opens; as it is well known that Wagner in his Preludes prepares
the spectator's mind for the impressions that are to follow。 Several of the
leading motives appear in this _Vorspiel_ and must be appreciated to be
understood。 First we have the 〃_Blaubart_motiv_〃 (Bluebeard Motive)。 This
is a theme whose giant march gives us in rhythmic thunders the terrible
power of the hero。
'〃_Blaubart_motiv_〃'
The 〃_Blaubart_motiv_〃 should be constantly kept in mind; as it is a clue
to much of the later action; being introduced whenever Bluebeard budges an
inch from his doorstep。 We do not hear in it the majestic grandeur of the
Wotan or Walsungen motifs; and why? Simply because it was not intended to
illustrate godlike power; but _brute_force_。
Now if this were all; we had no more to say; but listen!
'Immer…wieder…heirathen Motiv'
What does this portendthis entrance of another theme; written for the
treble clef; played with the right hand; but mysteriously interwoven with
the bass? What but that Bluebeard is not to be the sole personage in this
music…drama; and we judge the stranger to be a female on account of the
overwhelming circumstantial evidence just given。
Bluebeard; when first introducedyou remember the movement; one of somber
grandeur leading upward to vague desire was alone and lonely。 Certainly the
first; probably the second。 If his mood were that of settled despair;
typical of a widower determined never to marry again no matter what the
provocation; the last note of the phrase would have been projected
_downward_; but; as you must have perceived; the melody terminates in a
tone of something like hope。 There is no assurance in itdo not
misunderstand me; there is no particular lady projected in the musical
textthat would have been indelicate; for we do not know at the moment
precisely the date when Bluebeard hung up his last wife; but there _is_ a
groping discontent。 At the opening of the drama we have not been informed
whether Bluebeard has ever been married at all or only a few times; but we
feel that he craves companionship; and we know when we hear this
〃_Immer_…_wieder_…_heirathen_Motiv_〃 (Always About to Marry Again Motive)
that he secures it。 The sex created expressly to furnish companionship will
go on doing so; even if it has to be hung up in the process。
Look again at the second theme; the 〃_Immer_…_wieder_…_heirathen_Motiv_〃
(Always About to Marry Again Motive)。 Do you note a mysterious reflection
of the first theme in it? Certainly; it would be evident even to a
chattering opera…party of the highest social circles。 But why is this; asks
the sordid American business man; who goes to the music…drama absolutely
unfitted in mind and body to solve its great psychological questions。 Not
because Wagner could not have evolved a dozen _Leit…Motive_ for every
measure; but for a more exquisitely refined and subtle reason。 The wife is
often found to be more or less a reflection of her husband; especially in
Germany; therefore an entirely new and original motive would have been out
of place。 It is this extraordinary insight into the human mind which brings
us to the feet of the master in reverential awe; and it detracts nothing
from his fame that his themes descriptive of average femininity would have
been quite different had he written them for the women of this epoch。 The
world moves rapidly。 This motive slips with a series of imperceptible
musical glides into the 〃_Siebente…Frau_Motiv_〃 (Seventh Wife Motive):
Bluebeard enters well in advance; Fatima; contrapuntally obedient; coming
in a little behind。
'Siebente…Frau Motiv'
This Fatima; or Seventh Wife Motive seems to be written in a curiously low
key if we conceive it to be the index to the character of a soprano
heroine; but let us look further。 What are the two principal personages in
the music…drama to be to each other?
If _enemies_; the phrase would have been written thus: 'separation of 5
octaves'
If _acquaintances_; thus: 'separation of 3 octaves'
If _friends_; thus: 'separation of 1 octave'
If _lovers_; thus: 'separation of less than one octave'
the ardent and tropical treble note leaving its own proper sphere and
nestling cozily down in the bass staff。 But the hero and heroine of the
music…drama were husband and wife; therefore the phrases are intertwined
sufficiently for propriety; but not too closely for pleasure。 We might also
say; considering Fatima's probable fate; that we cannot wonder that she
sings in a low key; and the exceedingly involved contrapuntal complications
in which the motive terminates hint perhaps at Wagner's opinion on the
momentous question;〃Is marriage a failure?〃
Next we have the 〃_Bruder_Hoch_zu_Ross_Motiv_〃 (Brothers on a High Horse
Motive); announced by sparkling Tetrazzini chromatics; always at sixes and
sevens; darting and dashing; centaur…like; in semi…demi…quavers; like
horses' manes and tails mounting skyward; whinnyingly。 Fatima's brothers
have come to make a wedding visit to their beloved sister; whom they
believe happily united to a nobleman of high degree。 They have also come
because in a music…drama action is demanded and choruses are desirable;
being noisy; impressive; popular; comparatively cheap; and the participants
less temperamental in character than soloists; therefore more easily
managed。
'Bruder Hoch zu Ross Motiv' (with devil…may…care speed。)
If you miss some of the wonderful sinuosity; some of the musical curvatures
of the similar 〃Horses in a Hurry Motive〃 in 〃Die Walku're;〃 I can only
suggest that the Brothers' mounts were not as the fleet steeds of the gods。
Fatima's people were living in genteel poverty; and the family horses were
doubtless some…what emaciated; therefore the musical realist could not in
honesty depict them other than in an angular rather than curved movement。
The overture next takes up the arrival of the Brothers; who; as the music
plainly assures us; dismount; feed their steeds; perform a simple toilette
at the stable…yard pump; and then come suddenly upon Bluebeard; whose
frenzy for disposing of fresh wives is as sudden and as all…absorbing as
his desire to annex them。 At the moment of the Brothers' opportune arrival
Bluebeard is on the point of severing Fatima's relations with the world。
The Brothers advance。 A cloud of dust envelops them; they rush forward;
dealing telling blows; and the frantic bleating of fleeing sheep is heard
in a wild double…tonguing of the united brass instruments; very effective;
especially in the open air; though a little trying to nervous ladies in the
front rows of an opera…house。 This is the celebrated
〃_Kilkennische_Katzen_Motiv_〃 (Motive of Mortal Combat)。 It is a syncopated
movement; and when given at the piano; is to be played furiously; first
with one hand and then with the other; till the performer is quite weary。
'Kilkennische Katzen Motiv' (ad infinitum; until one is deceased)
We find all through these measures most peculiar phrases; introduced by
half…formed musical rhythms; which are a presentiment of the mental unrest
and nervous prostration of Fatima; who does not know whether Bluebeard will
kill the Brothers or the Brothers will kill Bluebeard。 She has never been
an opera…goer and does not realize that there are inexorable laws in these
matters and that the villain always dies; that he agrees in his contract to
die; no matter how healthy he may be; no matter how much he dislikes it nor
how slight the provocation。 However; this scene is made notable by the
famous 〃Suspense Motive;〃 one hundred and seven…teen bars of doubt given by
the big brasses and contra…bassoons。
There is much in this sort of programme music that is not easily
intelligible to a young man who; having purchased an admission ticket; is
wandering from back to back of one opera…box after another; but when fully
comprehended; these special phrases are replete with emotion and insight。
Several motives are so dexterously woven into one gush of melody that they
cannot be disentangled by any ordinary method; and have to be wrenched
apart by the enthusiast; who employs; when milder means fail; a sort of
intellectual dynamite to extricate the meaning from the score。 With the aid
of this lecture; which is better than an ear…trumpet and a
magnifying…glass; we can; however; trace a 〃_Schwert_Motiv_〃 (Sword
Motive); showing the weapons used in the combat; the 〃_Glu'ckseligkeit_
_Motiv_〃 (Felicity Motive); well named; for we must remember that Fatima is
witnessing the duel from the castle window; her heart beating high at the
prospect of widowhood; and; toward the end; the famous
〃_Ausgespielt_Motiv_〃 (Motive of Spent Strength and Spilled Blood)。
'Glu'ckseligkeit Motiv'
'Ausgespielt Motiv'
The 〃_