Wagner, the Overture, and the Aesthetics of Musical Form

Author(s): Thomas S. Grey

Source: 19th-Century Music, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Summer, 1988), pp. 3-22
Published by: University of California Press
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Wagner, the Overture, and
the Aesthetics of Musical
THOMAS S. GREY
In his open letter of 1857 on Liszt's symphonic
poems, Wagner commented on the paradox
that, as a musical progressive, he had been
"thrown into the same pot" with composers of
program music. The public grouped him with
Berlioz and Liszt, even though he had explicitly
condemned symphonic program music (along
with nearly every other existing musical genre)
in Oper und Drama at the beginning of the de-
cade.' From the vantage point of the "total art-
work of the future," Wagnerfelt secure in look-
ing askance at those instrumental composers
since Beethoven who sought to create "new
19th-century Music XII/1(Summer1988).@by the Regents
of the University of California.
'RichardWagner,Siimtliche Schriftenund Dichtungen, ed.
Richard Sternfeld (Volksausgabe [Leipzig, 1911-16]), V,
193. Subsequent citations of Wagner'spublished writings
will appearin the text and will refer to this edition by vol-
ume and page number. All translations are original unless
otherwise indicated.
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Form
forms" in symphonic music in an effort to con-
quer a new and more distinct field of "content"
for their art. The modem composer, he had ar-
gued in Oper und Drama, was entitled to true
musical innovation only under the all-redeem-
ing aegis of the drama;those who clung to out-
moded instrumental genres must necessarily
remain more circumspect, above all with regard
to form.
From this platform, Wagner maintained a
pose of aloofness toward the growing controver-
sies over program music from the 1840s on-
ward. But despite the uncompromising theories
of a musical-dramatic artwork of the future
which formed the ideological preface to the
Ring, it would be a mistake to suppose that
Wagner categorically denied the expressive po-
tential of instrumental music, in 1851 or at any
other time. As is well known, he fancied him-
self the musical heir of Beethoven-not the
Beethoven of Fidelio, but that of the symphon-
ies and the Leonore Overtures.And throughout
3
 19TH his various writings, Wagner was generally
CENTURY much readier to sing the praises of the instru-
MUSIC
mental classics than of any existing operatic
music.2 This attitude should not be understood
merely as a policy of self-aggrandizement,meant
to promoteWagneras the only valid successorto
Beethoven, on one hand, and as the only compe-
tent composerof opera,on the other (evenif such
motives are not entirely lacking).For,of course,
an important thesis of Oper und Drama and of
subsequent writings is precisely that the dra-
matic composer "of the future"must assimilate
the advancesmade in the field of absolute music
since Beethoven-extension of harmonic lan-
guage and of orchestralpalette, flexibility of mo-
tivic or melodic development, and expansion of
formal design-in orderto overcome the expres-
sive limitations of traditional operatic genres
with their conventional, closed forms and regu-
lar, stereotypedphraseology.And it was Wagner
himself who gave the initial impetus to the now-
familiar notion of his works as "symphonic"
(most explicitly in the late essay, "Uber die
Anwendung der Musik auf das Drama," 1879).
If Wagner intended that the musical drama
should subsume both the compositional tech-
niques and the aesthetic status of the sym-
phony, it would be worthwhile to consider
more closely just what attitudes he maintained
toward contemporary instrumental genres. In
general, the position he took in his theoretical
writings permitted him to adopt a conservative
tone in speaking of nonoperatic music. Al-
though the appearance of Eduard Hanslick's
Vom Musikalisch-Sch6nen in 1854 probably
contributed in some degree to Wagner'sbeing
"thrown into the same pot" with composers of
program music, as he remarked in 1857,
Hanslick's and Wagner's respective assess-
ments of instrumental music and its popularly
accorded powers of expression are in fact quite
similar, even if they approached the issue of
"absolute music" from opposite sides.
Wagner's theoretical stances are, of course,
notoriously inconsistent, both among them-
selves and in relation to his musical and dra-
matic praxis. And perhaps even more problem-
2Cf. Egon Voss, Wagner und die Instrumentalmusik
(Wilhelmshaven, 1977), ch. 2, "WagnersBegeisterungfiir
die Instrumentalmusik,"pp. 11-42.
4
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atic than his much-discussed theories of opera
and musical drama,in this regard,arehis views
on instrumental musical expression and "repre-
sentation." The independent overtures to his
earlieroperas--primarily those to Derfliegende
Holldnder and Tannhauser-together with
their early critical reception and some relevant
passagesfrom Wagner'sown writings and corre-
spondence offer us a starting point for an inves-
tigation of his attitudes on such aesthetic mat-
ters, in theory and practice alike. The fact that
the overtures to Der fliegende Holldnder and
Tannhiauserwere both among the significant
forbears of the Lisztian symphonic poem, and
that Wagnerlater saw fit to provide them with
"programmatic commentaries," further sug-
gests them as material for an investigation of
how Wagnerand his contemporariesconceived
the relationship of traditional symphonic forms
to a poetic or dramatic "content." (Liszthimself
referredto Wagner'sTannhiduserOverture as a
"poeme symphonique" in 1849, well beforethe
publication of any of his own works under that
new generic label.3)
The overture in general, whether as an oper-
atic prelude or a concert work, is clearly the ge-
neric predecessor of Liszt's programmatic
works of the 1850s-a fact that is explicitly ac-
knowledged in Wagner's 1857 letter on Liszt's
works as well as (implicitly) in Liszt's 1855 es-
say "Berlioz und seine Haroldsinfonie"4(and
further testified by the genesis of several of
Liszt's works themselves). The function of the
overture in the operahouse or the theater natu-
rally led to the development of this genre as a
kind of testing-groundfor the expressive, repre-
sentational, or dramatic capacities of the large
symphonic Tonsatz, generally modeled on the
form and style of a symphonic first movement,
but gradually acquiring certain recognized fea-
tures of its own.5 From at least the time of
3FranzLiszt, Lohengrinet Tannhiiuserde Richard Wagner
(Leipzig,1851),p. 155. The section on Tannhiiuseris drawn
from material published in the Journaldes Debats, 18 May
1849, in conjunction with Liszt's first productionof the op-
era at Weimar.
4Wagner,V, 188-89; FranzLiszt, "Berliozund seine Harold-
sinfonie," Neue Zeitschrift fiir Musik (hereafterNZfM)43
(1855),38.
51n a posthumously published essay, "Symphonie und
Ouvertiire,"NZfM 39 (1853),217-22, Wagner'sfriendand
disciple TheodorUhlig (to whom we shall returnbelow) at-
tempted to formulate some of the structuralfeatureswhich
E. T. A. Hoffmann's reviews of Beethoven's
Coriolan and Egmont Overtures, critics had
looked to the overture for an exemplification of
music's ability to represent a dramatic content
of some kind, and of the possibility of achieving
this through modification of conventional mu-
sical characterand form.6
II
Justpriorto the composition of Derfliegende
Hollinder, during his early Paris sojourn,
Wagner published an essay "On the Overture"
("De I'ouverture") in Maurice Schlesinger's
Revue et gazette musicale de Paris (January
1841).7It addresses the history of the genre, the
evolution of its form, and its function as a char-
acteristic, potentially dramatic composition. A
number of examples cited in this essay, as well
as the interpretations they receive, recur with
surprising consistency throughout later writ-
ings. As a fervid believer in the authority of clas-
sics (he constantly invoked, of course, the
names of Shakespeare and Beethoven), Wagner
viewed the overtures cited in this essay as
touchstones of the genre and its potential for
the expression of a "dramatic" content: the
overtures to Gluck's Iphiginie en Aulide, Mo-
zart's Don Giovanni, and Beethoven's Coriolan
and LeonoreNo. 3 Overtures.8
he understoodto distinguish the overturefroma symphonic
first movement, correlating these structural distinctions
with the expressive intentions of the operatic and concert
overture.
6Bythe middle of the century, on the other hand (by which
time Wagner himself had given up the composition of
"overtures"as such), the notion of a "dramaticoverture"
based on "characteristicthemes" had become subject to its
own conventions. Writing in 1855, JohannChristian Lobe
could offer a kind of all-purpose"recipe"for an overtureto
Schiller's Wallenstein trilogy, offeringthe readerthemes for
Wallenstein, Thekla, and Max Piccolomini as first, second,
and closing themes (in the appropriatekeys), and suggesting
dramaticallyapposite details of instrumentation and devel-
opment. The general principle is summed up at the begin-
ning of his article: "Jederderselben [Themen] mag dann
einen Charakterdes musikalischen Dramas reprisentiren.
Das erste Thema k6nnte den Hauptheldender Geschichte,
die Gesangsgruppedie Hauptheldin, die Ubergangsgruppe
und Schlulgruppe die beiden nichsten wichtigsten Per-
sonen darstellen. Mittelsatzgruppe und Repetition giben
durch verinderte WiederholungenGelegenheit zur wech-
selweisen Entwickelung der verschiedenen Charakter-
seiten" ("Die Opernouvertiirevon einer anderen Seite be-
trachtet,"Fliegende Bliitterfir Musik 1 [1855],361-62).
7Revueet gazette musicale de Paris (hereafterRgm)8 (10-
17 January1841), 17-19, 28-29, 33-35.
8As Reinhard Strohm notes in a recent study of Wagner's
early overtures and their musical-historical context, these
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In analyzing the nature and function of the THOMASS.
GREY
overture, Wagnerfirst offers a highly condensed Wagnerand
historical survey of the genre, followed by more the Overture
general speculation on an "ideal type" for
which he invokes the classic examples Gluck,
Mozart, and Beethoven. The premise of this sur-
vey is that, in its historical development, the
overture aspired to an increasingly distinct en-
capsulation of the subsequent dramatic action
(whether that of an opera or a play), recreating
the essence of the conflict in terms of purely
musical character and form. This mirrors a
more general notion held by numerous contem-
porarycritics, such as A. B. Marx or FranzBren-
del, that the history of instrumental music is
above all the evolution of its ability to express
an ever more distinct content.9 Thus the earli-
est overtures (it is not clear just what concrete
examples Wagner may have had in mind) are
said to represent little more than an arbitrary
means of transition into the sphere of music, as
the medium of the operatic presentation. The
advances of the later Baroque overture, repre-
sented by Handel, are seen to be limited to the
expression of a single affective contrast, that be-
tween a slow, solemn introduction and a faster
fugal movement. As the only means availableto
composers of the time for writing an extended
instrumental movement-Wagner ignores the
option of a nonfugal ritornello procedure-the
fugue is criticized as too unpliable to accom-
plish any real dramatic characterization in it-
self.
and nearly all of the overturescited in Wagner's1841 essay
(Die Zauberflite, Fidelio, Euryanthe,Oberon)were part of
the regularrepertoireof the Conservatoireconcerts under
Habeneck during the period 1839-40 (R. Strohm, "Ge-
dankenzu WagnersOpernouvertiiren,"in Wagnerliteratur-
Wagnerforschung,ed. CarlDahlhaus andEgonVoss [Mainz,
1985],p. 70).
9FranzBrendel, for instance, proclaims (in a discussion of
Beethoven's Ninth) that "instrumental music proceeds
from the indistinct to the distinct, from a mere arousal[of
feelings] to the representationof fully distinct states of the
soul" ("Die Instrumentalmusikschreitet fort von dem Un-
bestimmten zum Bestimmten, von einer nur allgemeinen
Erregungzu der Darstellung ganz bestimmter Seelenzu-
stinde," NZfM 28 [1848], 52). In his History of Music he
writes that "the highest possible degree of distinctness in
expression [Bestimmtheit des Ausdrucks]"is the goal of all
pure instrumental music: "this is not merely one option
among several,ratherit representsthe highest degreeof per-
fection to be attained within this branchof art, whose his-
torical development has necessarily led in this direction"
(Geschichte der Musik in Italien, Deutschland und
Frankreich[Leipzig,1851; 5th edn., 1875],p. 506).
 19TH The text of this essay and of several other
CENTURY contributions to the Revue et gazette musicale
MUSIC
de Paris, it might be noted parenthetically,have
not come down to us in their original form. Ex-
cept for the two novellas, "Ein Ende in Paris"
and "Eine Pilgerfahrt zu Beethoven," which
were printed in the Dresden Abendzeitung in
1841 (presumablyfrom Wagner'soriginal Ger-
man text), the majority of those writings from
the Paris period which came to be included in
the first collected edition (1871) had to be re-
translated from their published French ver-
sions. According to remarks in Cosima's dia-
ries, the task of retranslationwas initially given
to her, whereupon Wagnerinspected the results
and "touched up" the new versions of these es-
says to his own satisfaction.10
Thus we find, in comparing the original
Frenchversion of the essay on the overturewith
the standard German edition, that Wagner
deemed it wise to tone down his criticism of the
fugue, perhapsin keeping with his growingper-
ception of himself as a last vestige of the great
tradition of German Kulturspringingfrom such
old masters as Diirer and Bach. As originally
published, the essay speaks of
that bothersome circumstancewhich prevented
composersfrombeingableto extenda workto any
properlength.Theycouldonlyachievethisbymeans
of counterpoint.... Thus one wrote instrumental
fuguesandbecamelost in the detoursof these curi-
ous monstrositiesof artisticspeculation.Monotony
anduniformitywerethe finalproductsof this direc-
tion. Most of all, compositionsof this sortwerein-
capableof expressinganydistinctorindividualchar-
acter."11
'lCosima writes in her diaryon 28 July 1871: "FriendNuit-
ter [CharlesNuitter, or Truinet, of the Paris opera]sends
R.'s articles from the Gazette Musicale, I look forwardto
translatingthem backinto German."On 4 August 1871,she
mentions that Wagnerhas reviewedher translations,but on
12, 16, and 17 August, she speaks of Wagnerworking on
them himself. On the latter date, she adds that "he has ti-
died up his youthful pieces and much enjoyed the curious
task.. ." (Cosima Wagner'sDiaries I, ed. M. Gregor-Dellin
and D. Mack, trans. Geoffrey Skelton [New York and Lon-
don, 1977]).
1""Lelibre developpement de l'ouverture fut paralyse par
cette facheuse circonstance qui arretait les compositeurs
... a savoir ... .tendre un morceau de musique de longue
haleine. Cela ne leur 6tait guere possible qu'au moyen des
finesses du contre-point,la seule invention de ces temps qui
permit aun compositeur de divider un theme unique en un
morceau de quelque duree. On 6crivait des fugues instru-
6
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In the analogous passage of the retranslatedes-
say (1871), Wagnernot only omits some of the
more pernicious phrases (such as "these curious
monstrosities"), but adds a sprinklingof techni-
cal tenninology-dux and comes, augmenta-
tion and diminution, inversion and stretto-as
if to assure the readerthat his youthful opinions
were not merely the folly of ignorance (cf. I,
195).
Wagnertraces the block affective contrasts of
the Baroquesectional overture through to Mo-
zart's Entfiihrung aus dem Serail, whose over-
ture, however, is now able to suggest the charac-
ter of the opera "with the greatest distinctness"
("mit gr6oiterBestimmtheit," I, 195). But only
with the advent of the sonata principle was the
composer able to construct a single, unified
movement that could give some impression of
the interaction of dramaticcharactersand "mo-
tives": "It was a matter of melding together
those isolated characteristicparts [i.e., of the bi-
or tri-partite overture] to create a single, unin-
terrupted composition whose progress or mo-
tion [Bewegung]would be maintained precisely
by the contrasts of these varied, characteristic
motives" (I, 196).
The outstanding examples of this Classical
overture are, for Wagner, the overtures to
Gluck's Iphigenie en Aulide and Mozart's Don
Giovanni. His laudatory critique of these two
works is aesthetically conservative in attitude.
Wagner repeatedly stresses the "purely musi-
cal" principles of construction which they
obey; the expression of their object-the dra-
matic conflict-is made to conform to the na-
ture of autonomous musical form. In both
cases, Wagnerfocuses attention on the charac-
ter of the musical motives, their alternationand
interaction, although he steadfastly avoids any
identification of concrete aspects of symphonic
formal convention or scheme (referencesto spe-
cific organization of sections-theme groups,
transitions, development, recapitulation, or
coda).Nor does he referto matters of tonal orga-
nization.
mentales; on se perdaitdans les detoursde ces monstruosi-
t6s de la speculation artistique. La monotonie et l'unifor-
mite furentles produitsnets de cette direction.Ces sortesde
composition 6taient surtout impuissantes a exprimer un
caractere det6rmin6 et individuel" (Rgm 8 [10 January
18411,18).
 In the Don Giovanni Overture, for instance,
Wagneridentifies no more precise formal artic-
ulation than that between introduction and Al-
legro. Yet he is at pains to distinguish between
the straightforwardevocative power of that in-
troduction-relying simply on the citation of a
single characteristic, undeveloped passagefrom
the end of the opera-and what he perceives as
the development of a dramatic conflict in the
main body of the overture, portrayedin purely
symphonic terms. Rather than attempting to
depict any details or events of the dramatic
action, "which music neither can nor should
express," Mozart has conceived the main move-
ment of his overture "as a musical analogue of
the leading idea of the drama"(I, 196).Wagner's
identification of a dramatic "leading idea"
(leitende[r] Hauptgedanken) in the overture is
reminiscent, again, of certain critical concerns
of his contemporaries. Following the lead of
A. B. Marxin the mid-1820s and beyond, a num-
ber of critics had begun to associate with
Beethoven's symphonies and piano sonatas, in
particular, the notion of a "fundamental" or
"leading idea" (Grundidee, Grundgedanken)
which served to illuminate compositional ties
across the movements of a work, the character
and function of motives or peculiarities of style
and structure within a movement, as well as the
sense of an overall progression of "idea" or
"ideas"in the composition.'2
Wagner's later comments in the essay rein-
force this conception of the dramatic nature of
"absolute" musical expression in the Don
Giovanni Overture:
The leading idea of the dramais given in the form of
two principalfeatures;their invention as well as
their progresswithin the movementbelongsolely
andunmistakablyto the realmof music.A passion-
ate, haughtyspiritstandsin conflictwith a terrible
higher power, which threatensto overpowerthe
former.... As clearlyanddistinctlyas the tragicidea
12The concept of a progressivepsychological idea (Grundi-
dee), mirroredin the musical progressionwithin and across
the movements of a work, is a hallmark of much of A. B.
Marx'scriticism of the works of Beethoven (andof other in-
strumental music) from the 1820s through Beethovens
Leben und Schaffenof 1859. In Die GrenzenderMusik und
Poesie (Leipzig,1855),A. W. Ambros examines the "evolu-
tion of a basic leadingidea" ("dieEntwickelungeines leiten-
den Grundgedanken")specifically within a single move-
ment, the funeralmarch of the Eroica(pp. 132-34).
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[der tragische Hauptgedanke] of the opera is ex- THOMASS.
pressedin this overture,thereis yet no singlepartof GREY
the musicalfabricwhich canbe in anyway directly Wagnerand
tied to any part of the subsequent action ... and,
the Overture
while the listener'sattentionis grippedsolelyby the
musical working-out [derrein musikalischen Ausar-
beitung]of the themes,his innerfeelingis witnessto
the changingfortunesof a bitterstruggle,evenif not
one such as he wouldeverexpectto find developed
[entwickelt] in the action of the dramaitself (I, 199-
200).
This attribution of "bitter struggle"and "tragic
idea" to the main movement of the Don
Giovanni Overturemay strike modem listeners
as a trifle exaggerated. Nonetheless, Wagner's
hearingof the work bearsa close resemblance to
other interpretationsfrom about the same time.
In an essay on the notion of musical "content"
("Das Gehaltvolle in der Musik") of 1847, the
critic, theorist, and KapellmeisterJ.C. Lobehad
attempted a detailed exegesis of the Don
Giovanni Overture.Dividing it into its constit-
uent "groups," "periods," and motives, Lobe
concluded that the overture,besides providinga
fine example of concise motivic work, con-
tained a "symbolic representation of two chief
motifs from Don Juan's life": his adversaries'
challenge that he repent, and the Don's insolent
spurning of their demand.'3In his Beitrage ffir
Leben und Wissenschaft der Tonkunst, pub-
lished in the same year as Lobe's essay (1847),
EduardKriigeroffered a similar interpretation
in which he describes the characterof the first
group as "power, straining tension, unbridled
and wild high spirits, striving and resistance,
storming forwards"("Kraft,Uberspannung,iip-
pige neckische Wildheit, Hin- und Widerstre-
ben, Fortstiirmen..."); the second group is
heard as the "sudden entrance of a foreign, de-
monic power" ("iiberraschende Eintritt, die
fremde, dimonische Gewalt . . .).14 A some-
what earlier account of the overture, contained
in Alexander Ulibishev's 1843 life-and-works
study of Mozart, goes to even greaterlengths in
detailing the dramatic-narrativeimport of the
13Allgemeinemusikalische Zeitung 49 (1847),col. 369. The
passage with which Lobe is immediately concernedin the
excerpt cited is the second group(mm. 77-98, a "group"of
three "periods,"in Lobe'sterminology).
14Eduard Krfiger,Beitriigefiir Leben und Wissenschaft der
Tonkunst (Leipzig, 1847), pp. 160-61.
19TH overture. 15Like all of these accounts of the mu-
CENTURY
MUSIC sic, Wagner's also suggests an almost "leit-
motivic" reading, a keen sensitivity not only to
the gestural qualities of the individual motives
themselves, but also to the continual rhythmic
and textural interaction of the material as it un-
folds across the composition.
The alternation of contrasting themes or
phrases in Gluck's overture to Iphiginie en
Aulide operates on a more straightforward level
than in Mozart's overture, and hence it offers an
even clearer example for Wagner's concept of
instrumental expression as sketched in the
1841 essay. The "inexorable, iron-clad steps" of
the principal theme of the overture-presented
in bare, unharmonized octaves-are heard as
a counterpart to the collective will of the
amassed Greek armies, in contrast to the "op-
posed interest, the weaker, suffering individual
[Iphigenia]," embodied in the transition and
second group of the exposition. "With what
characteristic certainty and truth Gluck has
here personified in music both of these oppos-
ing elements," writes Wagner.
In what sublime proportions he has measured and
contrasted them, such that merely from their jux-
taposition there arises a sense of conflict and the im-
pulse of the musical progressionitself! .. . The com-
position that results from this one principalcontrast
directly reveals to us the greatidea of the Greek trag-
edy, filling us alternately with fear and pity (I, 202-
03).
From the example of Gluck, Wagner abstracts a
general principle for the expression of a dra-
matic content in the overture:
Two musical themes set in opposition will always
set in motion a desire for, a tendency toward culmi-
nation; our feeling will seek a resolution in favor of
one or the other. Since it is a similar conflict of prin-
ciples that lends the dramaits higher significance, it
would in no way contradictthe genuine nature of the
musical means to resolve the conflict between these
musical themes in a manner analogous to the resolu-
tion of the dramain question. Cherubini,Weber,and
Beethoven were all led by this same basic instinct in
the conception of most of their overtures. The over-
ture to Les deux journdes expresses its crisis with
'5AlexanderOulibicheff (Ulibishev), Nouvelle biographie
de Mozart suivie d'un apergusur l'histoire gendrale de la
musique (etc.) (1843; cf. Mozarts Leben, vol. III [Stuttgart,
1847],pp. 247-51).
8
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great distinctness; those to Fidelio, Egmont, Cor-
iolan, and even Der Freischiitz also express the reso-
lution of a great struggle clearly and distinctly. The
point of contact with the dramawill lie in the nature
of the main themes and in the musical development
[Ausarbeitung]they set in motion. Yet this develop-
ment or working-out must always spring from the
purely musical significance of the themes. ...
There is nothing extremely novel in the basic
musical model described here: the exposition of
a thematic contrast followed by conflict and
resolution. More significant is the fact that
Wagner construes the dramatic or expressive
potential of the musical movement in terms of
an overall dynamic analogy between music and
drama, rather than merely in terms of affect or
direct representation. The affective content or
character of the themes only serves to further
define the larger "dynamic" analogy, which ex-
ists on a structural level.
The underlying concept of the nature of
"purely musical" form here is closely related to
Wagner's later theory of the foundation of in-
strumental form in dance. From Das Kunst-
werk der Zukunft (1849) onward, Wagner con-
sistently spoke of the principles of thematic
contrast, alternation, and (to a lesser extent) in-
teraction as reflections of the formalized move-
ments of dance. Consequently, he identified in
the repertoire of binary and ternary dance forms
the foundation and justification of all larger,
more complex instrumental musical forms. So
long as the "motivation" of these forms re-
mained abstract, he argued, they would con-
tinue to be governed by the limitations of these
basic dance forms. Only when musical form re-
ceived its motivation directly from the drama
could a composer begin to develop freer, more
fluid musical designs. Thus, at least with regard
to instrumental music, we may be struck by the
proximity of Wagner's views to those expressed
by Hanslick in Vom Musikalisch-Schinen. The
"idealized dance figures," in terms of which
Wagner would later describe the symphonies of
Beethoven,16 are actually close kin to Hans-
16InZukunftsmusik (1860),Wagnercalls Beethoven'ssym-
phonies an "idealizedform of the dance"(VII,126).In "Uber
die Anwendung der Musik auf das Drama"(1879),he offers
an even more conservative assessment of the genre, in
which even the "densest complications of thematic-moti-
vic material... can only be explained,by analogy,as the en-
twining of ideal dancefigures,not by any imaginaryrhetori-
cal dialectic" (X, 178).
lick's images of the arabesque and kaleido-
scope translated into spiritually animated
"sounding forms."'17
III
In June 1854-during the brief hiatus be-
tween the completion of the Rheingold score
and beginning work on the first draft of Die
Walkiire-Wagner wrote an essay on Gluck's
overture to Iphiginie en Aulide to accompany
the short concert ending he had composed for
the work (both were published in the Neue
Zeitschrift ffir Musik at the beginning of July
1854). "Such a task," he comments wryly,
"would be child's play for any professional mu-
sician, but not for a poor dilettante like me, who
(as you know) can only comprehend music in
which I can hope to find realized some poetic in-
tent" (V, 118). The half-jesting tone of this refer-
ence to the concept of the "poetic intent"
("dichterische Absicht"), which figures cen-
trally in the operatic reform theory of Oper und
Drama, may tend to obscure the surprising fact
that Wagner attributes here a "poetic intent" to
an instrumental composition: in Oper und
Drama, no allowance was made for such a pos-
sibility. On the other hand, the fairly simple
structure of Gluck's overture-based on several
alternating blocks of largely undeveloped mate-
rial, together with a solemn introduction (from
which Wagner draws his new coda/conclu-
sion)-permits Wagner to equate the structure
of the piece with those dance-derived principles
of contrast, alternation, and repetition which he
had set forth as the basis of nondramatic or "ab-
solute" musical forms. The description of the
overture here is reminiscent of the 1841 essay,
but at the same time it adumbrates certain ideas
that will be further expanded in the 1857 letter
"On Franz Liszt's Symphonic Poems." Wagner
writes here (1854):
Simple layman that I am, I envisioned the content of
this overture as highly characteristic and clearly
drawn, such that the chief motives of the following
'7Afterintroducingthe analogybetween music and the "ar-
abesque,"Hanslick goes on to exhort his readers:"Denken
wir uns nun eine Arabeskenicht todt und ruhend, sondern
in fortwihrender Selbstbildung vor unsern Augen entste-
hend ... als thitige Ausstr6mung eines kiinstlerischen
Geistes [etc.]" (Vom Musikalisch-Schbnen [Leipzig, 1854;
rpt. Darmstadt, 1981],p. 33).
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drama are set next to one another and successfully THOMASS.
impressed on our feeling with the greatest distinct- GREY
Wagnerand
ness. I say "next to one another,"for they cannot be
understood as evolving from one another except in
the Overture
the following way: that is, each motive gives a clear
sense of being set in direct contrast with what fol-
lows, and this pronounced juxtaposition has the ef-
fect of highlighting the character of the individual
motives in a more meaningful fashion. In this way,
each seems to exert a decisive influence on the next.
Wagner goes on to describe four "motives" (ac-
tually phrases) from the introduction and expo-
sition of the overture, roughly corresponding to
mm. 1-19, 20-28, 39-49, and 63-72.
To a very large extent, the entire overtureconsists of
nothing more than the continued alternation [Wech-
sell of these (last three)principalmotives, connected
by some secondarymaterial derivedfrom them. The
motives themselves are not changed in any way ex-
cept in their tonality; their significance in relation to
one another is greatlyincreasedsimply by the varied,
characteristic alternation [Wechsel] they undergo,
such that, when the curtain finally rises and the sol-
emn motive of the introduction is intoned by Aga-
memnon in appeal to the merciless Diana, ... our
feelings have been sympathetically transportedinto
the center of this sublime, tragicconflict, whose evo-
lution [Entwicklung]we now await in terms of con-
crete dramaticmotives (V, 118-19).
Instrumental form is described in terms of the
alternation (Wechsel) of thematic sections, me-
diated by derivative or secondary transitional
material. Indirectly contrasted with this princi-
ple of alternation (which includes, of course,
that of recapitulation or reprise) is the principle
of development or, more properly, "evolution"
(Entwicklung)-a term applied here only to the
dramatic/verbal component of the opera.
It is precisely this distinction between alter-
nation or contrast and development or evolu-
tion (Wechsel and Entwicklung) to which
Wagner would return in the open letter of 1857,
again basing his discussion on the genre of the
overture. Wagner had tried to show in Oper und
Drama how traditional "absolute" musical
forms, with their foundation in the abstract
symmetries of the dance, were inadequate to
the musical manifestation of the true drama as
he now conceived it. There he had claimed that
"alternation, repetition, abbreviation, and ex-
tension of the various themes constitute the
sole basis of the large instrumental movement
and its procedures" (IV, 202). Such a movement
9
 19TH could only achieve the necessary sense of for-
CENTURY mal coherence or unity throughan "arbitrarily"
MUSIC
motivated return of its principal thematic ma-
terial. But the justification of these repetitions
rested on the acceptance of "imaginary"condi-
tions: "only the poetic intent can truly supply
this justification." The principle of recapitula-
tion or return, then, appearsas the crux of the
problem,the discrepancybetween absolute mu-
sical forms and the development of a dramatic
idea. For Wagner, it was Beethoven, above all,
who had instinctively recognized the expres-
sive limitations of traditionalformal principles,
and in wrestling with them, had pointed the
way for the dramatic musical "artwork of the
future."
In the 1857 letter Wagnerreturnedto the ex-
amples of Gluck's Iphiginie Overture and
Beethoven's Leonore No. 3 to demonstrate the
difference between the principles of "contrast"
and "evolution" and the problem of recapitula-
tion. The differences between these two exam-
ples had not been made explicit in the Parisian
essay. In both contexts, 1841 and 1857, the over-
tures of Gluck and Beethoven are contrasted as
works which strive to express a certain poetic-
dramatic content at different levels. The earlier
overture remains strictly within the bounds of
traditional formal principles, and therefore
serves as an exemplification of these principles
themselves and (in 1841) as a recommended
model for the present-day composer. The
Beethoven overture, on the other hand, is de-
scribed in the Paris essay as "a true musical
dramain itself ..., although a dramaonly in the
most ideal sense" (I, 200). In this respect it ap-
pears to be sui generis, a great but inimitable
achievement, and even, in some sense, a prob-
lematic work. But as yet, Wagneroffers no cri-
tique of the form beyond a reference to the
work's "restless dramaticprogress"(I,202).
In 1857, Wagnercontrasts the two examples
more directly, returning to the dichotomy of
Wechsel and Entwicklung he had coined several
years earlier. And now he addressesthe issue of
recapitulation, in particular, as the crucial prob-
lem facing the composer who wishes to realize a
dramatic idea in more dynamic musical form:
I have already ... put forth elsewhere [i.e., NZfM
1854] Gluck's overture to Iphiginie en Aulide as an
ideal model, for the reason that the composer has
10
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most instinctivelyunderstoodherethe natureof the
problemat hand;he has createdan introductionto
his dramathroughthe contrastingalternationof op-
posing moods or feelings [Wechsel der Stimmungen
und ihrer Gegensiitze],as is appropriateto the over-
ture form, ratherthan attemptingthe impossible
task of truly developingthese moods within this
form [die in dieser Form unm6gliche Entwicke-
lung] ...
[Beethoven,on the otherhand,]felt himselfequal
to the task of developing an idea [die Idee der
Entwickelung auszufiihren],and nowhere do we see
this more clearly than in the great overture to
Leonore.Anyonewhocaresto, however,will seepre-
cisely in this case what a disadvantage
it was to the
composerto maintainthe conventionalform;for
who, capableof understanding sucha work,will not
agreewith me that the repetitionof the exposition
followingthe middlesection is a seriousflaw, and
onewhichgreatlydistortsthe ideaof the work?This
is all the moretruebecause,in the rest of the over-
ture,andaboveall in the coda,Beethovenwasguided
entirelyby the principleof dramaticdevelopmentor
evolution (V, 190).
Essentially the same critique is entered again as
late as 1879 in the essay "Oberdie Anwendung
der Musik auf das Drama." The conventional
symphonic recapitulation of the LeonoreOver-
ture, we read here, "must be felt as a distinct
drawbackby any receptive listener," following,
as it does, the culmination of the development
section in the explicit dramaticperipeteiaof the
trumpet signal (IX, 180-81).
In the hands of Beethoven, music achieves (or
nearly achieves) the expression of an evolving,
forward-directedidea. But in the case of Leonore
No. 3, the composer is faced with a conflict be-
tween the exigencies of conventional form,
whose only motivation is abstract symmetry,
and those of a poetic-dramatic motive. Of
course, the "poetic intent"-the motivation of
new formal designs in the musical dramaor in
the symphonic poem-cannot simply dictate
these forms from above. Rather,it must work in
conjunction with various conventional proce-
dures, suggesting to the composer ways in
which to break down and recombine elements
of traditional form in order to construct from
them new designs that may be larger, more
fluid, or more "dramatic."
Wagner's term Entwicklung remains vague,
probably for the very reason that it denoted for
him a complex of possibilities rather than any
specific technique. In the case of Beethoven's
Leonore Overture, the term suggests such fea-
tures as the propulsive sense of rhythmic ur-
gency, and the dramatic suspension of this at
the unexpected entrance of the trumpet signal,
which Wagner evidently felt should release di-
rectly into the breathless exhilaration of the tri-
umphant coda.'8In terms of Wagner'sown com-
positional technique, rapidly approaching its
zenith in 1857, Entwicklung may also have sug-
gested alternative approaches to traditional
phrase or period construction-types of me-
lodic Fortspinnung or developing variation. On
a largerscale, it may adumbratethe "artof tran-
sition" which Wagnerpridedhimself on having
mastered by the time of Tristan.
IV
The overtures to Derfliegende Hollander and
Tannhiiuser, it need hardly be said, bear little
relation to the musical world of Tristan.Yet we
can find in these two overtures, besides some
clear reflections of the 1841 essay on the over-
ture, a musical sensitivity to those other issues
which Wagner approached on a theoretical
plane only in the later writings discussed above.
These works show Wagner seeking to modify
the standard scheme of exposition-develop-
ment-recapitulation-coda in various ways, per-
haps based in part on the models cited in the
early essay (Gluck, Beethoven, and Weber).
Above all, we find him experimenting with the
possible recapitulatory function of the coda in
an effort to shift the emphasis of resolution
closer to the end of the work (a concern evident
in a greatnumber of symphonic works through-
out the nineteenth century).
In the 1841 essay, Wagnerhad recommended
that the operatic composer make use of impor-
tant thematic material from the operaas the ba-
sis of a symphonic movement in the overture,
as had become common practice among Ger-
man composers since Weber.The point of refer-
ence between overture and drama,Wagnerhad
suggested, should lie especially in "the charac-
ter of the two main themes and in the working-
out [Ausarbeitung] they set in motion." The
18Itis strange that Wagnernowhere mentions the Leonore
Overture No. 2, since Beethoven there proceeds directly
from the trumpet signal to the coda(followingthe briefrem-
iniscence of Florestan's aria-theme), thus conforming ex-
actly to the terms of Wagner'scritique.Althoughlargelyfor-
gotten until the 1840s, Leonore No. 2 was certainly no
longerobscureby the second half of the nineteenth century.
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nature of that "working-out" should only be THOMASS.
GREY
conditioned by the "purely musical signifi-
Wagnerand
cance of the themes themselves" (I,204). the Overture
Theprimaryfunctionof the overtureconsistsin the
reenactmentof the characteristic idea of the drama
entirelythroughthe independentmeans of music,
bringingthis to a conclusionthatsuggestsin advance
thatof the scenicactionto follow.. . Thecomposer
mightwell considerworkingintothe overtureas mo-
tivic materialcertainmelodicor rhythmicfeatures
thatwill assumeprominencein the subsequentdra-
matic action (I,204).
The phrase "certain melodic or rhythmic fea-
tures" may seem to imply a greater degree of
musical subtlety than Wagner probablyhad in
mind. He himself, like Weber,uses largelycom-
plete and ready-madethemes, or even complete
periods: the bulk of the Tannhiiuser overture,
for instance, consists of complete blocks of ma-
terial taken intact from the Pilgrims' chorus of
act III, and the "bacchanal" and Tannhdiuser's
song to Venus in act I. In both the Holliinder and
Tannhiiuser Overtures the "conclusion of the
scenic action" is prefiguredthrough the exact
musical correspondence between their codas
and the concluding scene of each opera-except
for the half-step descent from E to Ebin the case
of Tannhiiuser,presumably conditioned by the
tonal "symbolism" of the opera.19In both over-
tures, this conclusion also represents the deci-
sive resolution of a "thematic striving for cul-
mination" of which Wagnerhad spoken in the
essay: the musical embodiment of the central
dramaticconflict of the opera,effected by the ci-
tation and development or "working-out" of
themes.20
19Cf.Michael C. Tusa, "RichardWagnerand Weber'sEu-
ryanthe,"this journal9 (1986),217. As the key of the Venus-
berg music, E would not be appropriatefor the redemptive
conclusion of the opera. On the other hand, Wagnercould
hardlyhave incorporatedthe "divine"key of Ebinto the in-
troduction or coda of an overturewhose central key was E.
20Strohmpoints out similar treatment of associative the-
matic or motivic material in the overturesto Die Feen and
Das Liebesverbot. Developing Wagner's comments from
1841 about the use of musical "signals"representingevents
from the sphere of acoustic "reality"within the drama(the
trumpet signal in Fidelio or Oberon'shorn call), Strohmat-
tributes this status of acoustic "signal"to number of ideas
in Wagner'soverturesup through Tannhiauser,differentiat-
ing them from themes in a normal symphonic sense ("Ge-
dankenzu WagnersOpernouvertiiren,"pp. 72ff.).
11
19TH a. Beethoven, LeonoreOvertureNo. 3.
CENTURY 294-99
MUSIC Trpt. (behind the stage)

Str.

f• IP
, i

360

Str. I cresc. poco a poco

qj TI
cresc- -.-

"" •O "I"A
tutti

8a.e

Example 1

Wagner's"classic" examples do not make such tonic until the fortissimo counterstatement of
extensive use of cited material as do his own the main theme, precededby an energetic chro-
overtures, although other similarities exist. In matic anacrusis. All of these features find an
the Don Giovanni Overture and in the Leonore echo, if a somewhat feeble one, in the overture
No. 3, the citation of material from the operais to Rienzi (1840). Wagner's recapitulation is
limited to the slow introductions, except for the likewise articulated by a trumpet signal, drawn
interpolation of the climactic trumpet signal at from the opera, and a chromatic anacrusis (see
the end of Beethoven's development. Wagner ex. 1, a-b).21
was no doubt struck by the vast weight
Beethoven had given in this way to the moment 21Thisretransition, as Strohm mentions, replaced a more
of retransition, expanding it into the very crux ambitious forty-eight-measurecontrapuntal development
of the "dramatic idea." Beethoven accom- of the "SantoSpirito"motto with the marchtheme (closing
theme), which Wagnerexcised at some point duringthe first
plishes this, in part, through the two-fold trum- Dresden performances;the new passageis drawnfrom the
pet signal and the intervening suspension of transition between scenes 3 and 4 of act I. The composition
harmonic and rhythmic motion (material draftof the original passage is transcribedin Strohm, "Ge-
danken zu WagnersOpernouvertilren,"pp. 77- 79; see also
drawnfrom the same climactic scene of the op- Wagner,Samtliche Werke,ed. C. Dahlhaus, vol. 23 (Mainz,
era). But he also defers the resolution to the 1976),p. 68.
12

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 b. Wagner,RienziOverture.
252
Trpt.
f=
. .-
$-
Str., Timp.
268
Brass
Ww., 6 p
A ArI x-- 6I
Brass,Timp. (etc.)
In Beethoven's Coriolan, another work cited
in the 1841 essay, the recapitulation begins in
the subdominant. The restatement of the first
theme is abridged,shifting emphasis to the sec-
ond theme and eventually to the full return and
metrical resolution of the defiant opening ges-
ture of the overture in the coda. As is frequently
the case in Beethoven, the moment of emphatic
resolution in both the Leonore and Coriolan
Overtures is delayed until the coda, for dra-
matic effect: in one case triumph, in the other,
resignation and collapse.
The overtures to Wagner's two subsequent
operas, Der fliegende Hollander and Tann-
hizuser, go even further in this direction, en-
tirely suppressing the normal recapitulation in
an attempt to shift its weight nearer the end of
the form (see figs. 1 and 2; in the case of Tann-
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THOMASS.
GREY
Wagnerand
the Overture
P
. . .. II . .
o
(etc.)
r------I
.
Example 1 continued
hiuser, the normal orderof events is simply re-
versed).
In the Hollinder Overture Wagner reduces
the exposition to a minimal statement of "two
opposing themes," the principal material asso-
ciated with the Dutchman and Senta (drawn
from the act I aria, "Wie oft in Meeres tiefsten
Schlund," and from the refrainof Senta's ballad
in act II,respectively).22A third contrasting ele-
22Itwas probablythe economy of this exposition andthe fact
that it closes in the dominant of D minor (ratherthan in F),
which led Tovey to classify it as an "introduction"(D. F.To-
vey, Essays in Musical Analysis, vol. IV[London,1936],pp.
115-17). Tovey's interpretation, which takes the sailors'
chorustheme (mm. 262ff.)as the second theme of the "real"
exposition, makes it even more difficult to account for the
overturein terms of conventionalform, andit overlooksthe
clearly expository function of the opening section (mm. 1-
96).
13
19TH
CENTURY FORMALUNIT/TONALITY
MUSIC
EXPOSITION
Theme-groupI
(d-V/d prolongation)
Theme II-"Senta" (F)
Close (V/d)
DEVELOPMENT
Dev. 1 (d-V/F)
expandedby material from act I aria [#2]
Dev. 2
Sailors'Chorus (from"Senta"/ThemeII)
alternates with Theme-I material-sequen-
tial modulations Ab-bb -c-d / g / c-Db -
D-Eb-[F]
"RECAP"
Theme II (F)and secondarydevelop-
ment: sequential modulations continued
F-G / f#-b
CODA (D)
Theme II "stretta"
(intemal development extended 1852/1860)
Figure 1: Der fliegende Holl]ander Overture (1841).
ment-the theme of the sailors' chorus from
act III-is introduced in the course of the
stormy development, dividing this into two dis-
crete sections (cf. fig. 1). Almost immediately,
this new theme is set against the Dutchman
material in a developmental "struggle" cer-
tainly inspired by the dramatic image of the
contest between the Dutchman's and Daland's
crews in the third act. Divorced from its original
dramatic context, this musical struggle may ap-
pear a rather grossly illustrative touch in the
"purely musical" context of the overture, but it
clearly reflects an attempt to implement the
idea spoken of in the 1841 essay, the struggle be-
tween opposing themes for musical domina-
tion. The introduction of an apparently new
14
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MM. 1852 "PROGRAMMATICCOMMENTARY"
(EXCERPTS)
"The terribleship of the 'FlyingDutchman' is
1-64 tossed about by stormwinds; it drawsnear the
coast and comes to rest there, where it is prom-
ised that the ship's captainwill someday find
salvation.
65-78 We perceive the sympathy-filled sounds of this
79-96 promise, which strike us at both a prayerand a
lament. The Dutchman listens, somber and de-
spairing;he steps ashore, tired and wishing only
for death. The crew battens down the ship, wea-
rily and without emotion.
How often has he been throughall of this before!
97-202 ['flashback':descriptionof the Dutchman's end-
less, storm-tossedsea journeysand his curse.]
203-84 A spry and hearty ship sails by; he harks to the
merrysong of its crew ... his ship suddenly
storms past theirs, frighteningthe crew into
silence and flight.
285-321 [The Dutchman] utters a desperatecry for salva-
tion. ... Only one thing-a woman-will
achieve this. Whereis she to be found? ...
322-90 Then a light breaksthroughthe night .... It
seems to extinguish for a moment, and flares up
again;he fastens his gaze on this beacon and
steers for it with the utmost determination"
[closes with image of transfiguration/redemption
from act III,finale].
theme within the development risks giving
the impression of a "potpourri"form, which
Wagner had denounced in no uncertain terms
for its lack of structural integrity (I, 198-99). It
was presumably important for Wagner, there-
fore, that the listener perceive the motivic ties
between this sailors' chorus theme and the orig-
inal second theme of the exposition (Senta'sbal-
lad-refrain),demonstrated in ex. 2. Their com-
mon features include an oscillating figure on
the fifth degree (x), the initial 3-2-1 melodic
descent (y),and the characteristicchromatic de-
scent of the bass (z) that underpins motive x at
the end of the exposition.
The connection of these themes is under-
scored by the climactic return, tutta forza, of

FORMALUNIT/TONALITY
INTRO. "Pilgrims'Chorus"(E)
A ab a' b' a"
ALLEGRO:intro.
(unstable;bVI,6II)
a Theme I-"Bacchanale" (E)
Bridge(Vprolong./sequences)
b Theme II-Tannhiuser's Song (B)
B Close (B•prolongation)
c Development (recallsintro.)
"Liebesbann"theme (G)
Bridge(complete, on V/V)
b' Recap.-Theme II (E)
a' Theme I (E)
Close (E6prolong.)
Transition
(V/E[VII7]prolongation)
A' CODA (= INTRO. with amplified
figuration)(E)
a, b of chorale
(chromaticfiguration)
a'-augmentation of chorale
(diatonic figuration)
Figure 2: Tannhiduser Overture (1843/45).
the "Senta" theme at m. 285, following the se-
quential development of the sailors' chorus
theme-an early instance of the "plasticity" of
motivic relations on which Wagner prided him-
self in his later music.
The return of the "Senta" theme at m. 285
can be heard as a kind of substitute recapitula-
tion, apparently announcing the first stable re-
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THOMASS.
MM. 1852 "PROGRAMMATIC COMMENTARY" GREY
(EXCERPTS) Wagnerand
the Overture
"[The Pilgrims' song] approaches, swells into a
1-80 mighty outpouring, then finally dies out in the
distance. Sunset; the dying strains of the song.
Night breaks, magical apparitions arise; amidst a
81-95 rosy twilight mist we perceive ecstatic cries and
96-123 the confused motions of a voluptuous dance
124-41 [Venusbergmusic].
142-72 Tannhduserappears;he sings in a commanding
tone his song in praise of love [fromact I, sc. 2].
173-80 He is answeredby wild cries; rosy mists grow
thicker.
181-96 [Venus appears];
197-220 Tannhiuser hears her siren's call.
221-42 ... he is driven irresistably towards Venus
243-73 and now ecstatically addresseshis song to her.
274-301 The bacchantes descend upon T. in drunken
excitement, drawinghim into Venus's arms ...
and unconsciousness.
302-09 The wild crowd dispersesand the storm subsides.
310-21 Only a voluptuous yet lamenting whirr still
resounds--an eerie, sensual whisper .. .; night
descends.
But alreadydawn is breaking:from the distance
the Pilgrims'song is heardapproachingonce
322-79 again. As it drawsnearerand day graduallyre-
places night, so also the whirring and whispering
sounds, which had been like the eerie lament of
380-443 the damned,arenow transformedinto ever
brighter waves of elation ... [which] swell into a
joyous tumult [Rausch]of sublime ecstasy. It is
the Venusbergtriumphant,redeemedfrom its
unholy curse. ... Everyliving pulse springs in
with this song, and the two sunderedelements-
the spirit and the senses, God and Nature-
embracein the holy, unifying kiss of love."
turn of material from the exposition (although
still in the relative major, not yet in the tonic).
But the stability is short lived. The develop-
mental process is resumed almost immediately,
pitting the "Senta" theme against the Dutch-
man/storm material in a further series of se-
quential intensifications. This secondary (or
even tertiary) development thrusts forward to
15
19TH a. Overture,second theme ("Senta").
CENTURY
MUSIC 65-68 (Cor anglais,Hns., Bsn.)
A--
--y-- - --
79-85 ------x-- --
. I
(HnI
•' .)
(Trb.) L
b. Sailors'chorus theme (development).
203-09
.I FEr3
(ww.)
Example 2: Der fliegende HollianderOverture.
the coda, in which the stretta version of the
"Senta"theme (analogousto the coda of her bal-
lad in act II)finally establishes the tonic (D) and
majormode, thus also the outcome of the musi-
cally embodied struggle.23In this way the func-
tions of recapitulation and coda become tele-
scoped within the latter; as in the dramaitself,
the resolution of conflicts must wait until the
end.24
23Theunison flurry of violins which introduces Wagner's
coda may have been inspiredby the cascadingscales in the
strings which introduce the coda in Beethoven's Leonore
No. 3.
24Wagner may have taken Weber'sFreischiitzOvertureas a
model in this regard.In "Oberdie Anwendung der Musik
auf das Drama,"WagnercomparesWeber'sovertureto the
LeonoreNo. 3 in the matter of recapitulation:"Weber'sso-
lution ... is far more concise and dramatically apposite.
Here the drastic intensification of the thematic conflict in
the so-called middle section [i. e., development]leads, with
concentrated brevity, directly to the conclusion" (X, 181).
This description is actually more appropriateto the Hol-
linder Overturethan to Freischiitz.
16
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x
i I
-- --
(etc.)
r (etc.)
- • "
8 .
r-x y---n (etc.)
-
ZM
The TannhdiuserOverturefollows a more sche-
matic plan, largely eschewing the thematic
working-out attempted in the earlier overture.
In this regardit resembles Gluck's overture to
Iphiginie en Aulide as Wagner described it in
his 1854 essay, principally consisting of a
straightforwardalternation (Wechsel) of com-
plete, contrasting melodic periods with a mini-
mum of symphonic development. The central
thematic contrast is that between the flanking
portions--introduction and coda-based on
the Pilgrims' chorus of act III, and the central
Allegro, based on the Venusberg music of act
I. The resulting overall arch-form (the outer
A B A' of fig. 2) is reflected in a smaller arch-like
modification of the sonata form within the Al-
legro. The reversed orderof themes in the reca-
pitulation yields the a b c b a' pattern indicated
in the figure. The "thematic" import of the con-
trasts (in a dramatic sense) is clear enough: the
large-scale contrast juxtaposes the sacred and

a.
310 310
A •etc.
Vn. I, II
b.
322
.322
C.
380 L..-.-
Example 3: TannhduserOverture.
the profane, the promise of salvation and the
threat of perdition, while the thematic contrast
within the Allegro (aand c representingthe mu-
sic of Venus, b that of Tannhiiuser'ssong)adum-
brates the contest of wills between Venus and
Tannhiuser in act I.
The function of the reversedrecapitulationis
not simply to reinforce a symmetrical design,
but to shift forward the moment of resolution
(as in the Hollinder Overture). For it is really
the transformed Pilgrims' chorus, as coda, that
acts as recapitulation on the larger scale.25
Wagnerhas-enhancedthe sense of delayed reso-
lution in this overture through his treatment of
the prominent violin figurationin the coda. The
figuration, which had alreadybeen heardin the
middle of the introduction, is now regenerated
in a new, chromatically inflected form out of
the frenzied transition between bacchanal and
chorale (mm. 310-21; see ex. 3a). The chro-
matic form of the figurationis partiallyretained
through the first and second phrases of the cho-
rale tune (see ex. 3b). Only in the final phrase of
25Certainstructural similarities exist between the Tann-
hiiuser Overture and Berlioz's early overtures, Les Francs
juges and Roi Lear, which Berlioz performedin Dresden,
Leipzig, and Weimar in 1843. Les Francs juges uses a re-
versed recapitulatoryscheme, with the first theme greatly
de-emphasized.Both overturescontain large,clearlyshaped
introductions (a b a' with central crescendo,like the Tann-
hiuser Overture),and in both works material from the in-
troduction figures prominently in the coda. See also
Strohm, "Gedankenzu WagnersOpernouvertiiren,"pp. 70,
74, 75, who suggests other evidence of historical andcompo-
sitional proximity between variousoverturesof Wagnerand
Berlioz.
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THOMASS.
GREY
i Wagnerand
the Overture
.(etc.)
(etc.)
the chorale, played at full orchestralforce, is the
figuration finally diatonicized (ex. 3c). As in the
HollidnderOverture, the conventional form has
been modified to reflect a "poetic idea," while
adhering to fairly simple, "purely musical"
structuring principles.
V
In Oper und Drama (1851),Wagneradopteda
decidedly critical stance against program mu-
sic, exemplified by his harsh assessment there
of Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique.26 Accord-
ing to the doctrine of the "total artwork of the
future," purely instrumental music could never
successfully aspire to the expression of any
truly distinct poetic content, which demanded
a complete "realizationfor all the senses" in the
form of drama. As is frequently the case, how-
ever, the pronouncements of Oper und Drama
need to be weighed against other, less ideologi-
cally burdened evidence. In an article on
Wagner'sattitudes toward programmusic, Carl
Dahlhaus points to the "dialectical antitheses"
characteristic of these and other theoretical at-
titudes embraced by the composer at different
times. From this point of view he proposes that
Wagnersimply changedhis mind on the issue of
programmusic upon confrontingLiszt's orches-
tral works and defendingthem in the open letter
of 1857.27Yet Wagnerhimself drafteda number
26Cf.III,282-83.
27"Wagnerund die Programmusik,"Jahrbuchdes staatli-
chen Instituts ffir Musikforschungpreuf3ischerKulturbe-
sitz 6 (1973),58.
17
 19TH of programs,or "programmaticcommentaries"
CENTURY
MUSIC ("programmatische Erldiuterungen")for his
own overtures as well as for Beethoven's Third
Symphony and Coriolan Overture, performed
duringwinter concert seasons in Zurich in 1852
and 1853. (These programswere presumablyin-
spired by the successful example of the com-
mentary he had provided for the Ninth Sym-
phony in the 1846 Palm Sunday concert in
Dresden.) All of these, of course, are programs
ex post facto, and part of their aesthetic justi-
fication lies in that fact. A poetic or narrativeac-
count is justified if it is based on the composi-
tion in question, rather than vice-versa (a point
of view shared by Schumann). Wagner's term
"commentary" is significant in this regard.His
programmatic commentaries serve a heuristic
function, analogous to that of commentary to a
poem or a painting. In the case of his own over-
tures, the commentary is meant to drawthe lis-
tener's attention not only to details of musical
character-his Zurich audiences, afterall, were
not necessarily acquainted with the operas-
but also to specific moments of structuralartic-
ulation within the form. (This correspondence
of commentary to musical structure has been
suggested in figs. 1 and 2.) Mahler expressed a
similar notion about the heuristic function of
the program,with regardto his early symphon-
ies, in a well-known letter to Josef Krug-Wald-
see: they were not meant to "explain" the mu-
sic in a prosaic sense, but to make difficult
works more readily accessible to the uniniti-
ated listener.28
At the same time, Wagnerdid not deny that an
instrumental composition might be the legiti-
mate inspiration of a "poetic idea." Shortlyafter
drafting his program to Beethoven's Coriolan,
Wagnersent it to two enthusiastic young disci-
ples, Theodor Uhlig and Hans von Billow (the
accompanying letters are both dated 15 Febru-
ary 1852). In these letters he claims to have un-
covered the key to both the understandingand
28GustavMahler,Briefe, ed. HertaBlaukopf(Vienna, 1982),
pp. 274- 75. ForWagner,the heuristic function extendedto
the area of performance.He stressed on several occasions
the beneficial influence his programmaticcommentaries
had exerted on performancesunder his direction (in which
cases, however, they were doubtless amplifiedby more spe-
cific points on the performanceissues at hand).
18
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the performance of the work in having deter-
mined its "poetic object" ("dichterischeGegen-
stand"). This he derives from the climactic
scene of Shakespeare'sCoriolanus, blithely dis-
regarding the historical circumstances of
Beethoven's overture.29Like Arnold Scheringin
this century, Wagner asserts that "the charac-
teristic feature of Beethoven's greatest works is
that they are true poems [Dichtungen], that
they attempt the representationof a real [poetic]
object. The difficulty in their interpretationlies
in determining just what that object is in each
case" (p. 285). Wagner goes on to distinguish
Beethoven from the "absolute musician" ex-
plicitly on the basis of this poetic content of his
works.
The advice Wagnergave to von Billow during
the early 1850s about certain of the young musi-
cian's compositional plans further contradicts
the dicta of Operund Drama. In May 1851 (only
several months after completing Oper und
Drama) Wagneradvised von Billow to expanda
projectedovertureto the Oresteia into a cycle of
three works:
In this way each would gain immeasurablyin dis-
tinctnessof character,sinceits objectwouldbegiven
with greaterplasticitythan in the case of a single
work.... Youwouldthus haveat yourdisposalcer-
tainimportantmotiveswithgreatpotentialforvaria-
tion and development [Beugungs- oder Bildungs-
fiihigkeit], which could be incorporatedinto all three
overtures.Thesepieces,takentogether,wouldcon-
stitutea symphony,the onlykindof symphonynow
possible-one which has a nobleworkof literature
as the basisof its fullestunderstanding"
(p.49).
Wagneris suggesting here nothing less than the
composition of a "programsymphony," in total
disregard of his recently penned theoretical
views, yet well in advance of his confrontation
with Liszt's orchestral works.
By Januaryof the next year, von Billow had
given up the Oresteia and moved on to Romeo
and Juliet. Wagnernow enjoins him to take the
programto the Coriolan Overtureas a model for
the appropriateconception of a "poetic object"
for music: "You must try to condense the whole
of Romeo and Juliet into an impulse of similar
29SeeRichardWagner,SidmtlicheBriefe,ed. GertrudStrobel
and WernerWolf, vol. IV (Leipzig, 1979), pp. 285-95. Fur-
ther referenceswill be cited in the text.
plasticity [zu einem dhnlichen plastischen Mo-
mente]: the further you try to extend yourself
on a philosophical plane, the less comprehensi-
ble your music will become. Foragain, absolute
music can only express feelings, passions, and
moods, according to their contrasts and grada-
tions of intensity [Gegensiitzen und Steige-
rungen,] but not any details or events in a social
or political sense" (letter of 30 January1852, p.
275). The "plastische Moment" of which
Wagner speaks is a central dramatic "motive"
from the play that would offer an analogy to tra-
ditional principles of musical structure.The ex-
ternal impetus to composition must first be ab-
stracted in terms of "purelymusical" form. It is
in this sense that Wagner(like other critics) un-
derstood Beethoven's assimilation of a poetic
"object"or idea. Significant, perhaps,is the fact
that Wagner speaks in his second letter about
the Coriolan program(to von Billow, 15 Febru-
ary 1852) not of the "poetic intent"-the term
from Oper und Drama-but of the "intent of
the poetic composer" ["Absicht des dichteri-
schen Komponisten"], shifting the emphasis
from poetry to composition (p. 292).3o
Wagner's peculiar view of the relationship
between "poetic motives" and purely musical
thought is underscoredin another letter to von
Biilow of several years later, once againrespond-
ing to some of the younger musician's composi-
tions. Regardingthe orchestral draftsof a "Cae-
sar" Overture and an as yet untitled orchestral
fantasy (eventually published in 1866 as
Nirwana), Wagnerwrites:
Thethematicstructure,in its dispositionandexecu-
tion [Anlage und Ausffihrung]is both broadand in-
telligible, and especiallynovel in the fantasy,be-
cause it is entirely derivedfrom the object. The
character[Charakteristik]of the motives is clear,but
less distinct in the "Caesar"Overturethan in the
fantasy;at leastI wasnot able... , withoutbeingar-
bitrary,to associateeachofthe motiveswithparticu-
lar objects .... I'm afraid that the less fortunate
choiceof subjectmatter,in the overture,hasresulted
in themes that are less original,less speaking[die
Themen selbst weniger originell-d. h. immer spre-
chend-gestalten zu lassen]. Thus the main theme
in the brass does not sound so much striking as it
30The analogous letter to Uhlig (pp. 285-92) contains a
lengthy disquisition on the role of the "poeticobject"in the
performanceand reception of Beethoven'sworks.
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doessomewhatbombastic,as will necessarilybe the THOMASS.
casewhenone doesn'tknowwhatto dowith a given GREY
Wagnerand
poeticmotive.31 the Overture
It is not clear here whether Wagnerwas in fact
aware of what the "poetic motive" or "object"
of von Billow's fantasy was meant to be. None-
theless, its musical realization is more "dis-
tinct" and eloquent, to Wagner,than that of the
other work ("Caesar"),whose subject could not
have been more familiar.
VI
Nineteenth-century critics of programmusic
or so-called "descriptive"music were most fre-
quently concerned with two distinct but related
issues: the degree to which details of musical
characteror style could be said to convey a par-
ticular "semantic" content independent of any
verbal text, and the degreeto which the form of
such a composition maintained an autonomous
musical logic, while being at the same time ap-
propriate to the idea or object "represented."
For the more sympathetic early critics of the
Tannhduser Overture (which was received as a
piece of "descriptive" music), the second of
these problems had been adequately met by the
composer. Liszt wrote of the work in 1849,
"Nous ferons remarquerqu'on ne saurait pre-
tendre d'un poeme symphonique, qu'il soit 6crit
d'une maniere plus conforme aux regles de la
coupe classique, qu'il ait une plus parfaite lo-
gique dans l'exposition, le d6veloppement, et le
d6nouement des propositions."32 Theodor
Uhlig offered a similar defense of the structure
of Wagner's "descriptive [malende] overture,"
as he called it, in a critique from 1851: the work
is thoroughly coherent purely as music, he
writes, and it avoids those "scatter-brained
qualities of form" that one associates with Ber-
lioz, for instance ("Zerfahrenheitender Form a
la Berlioz").33
3'Wagner,Sdmtliche Briefe,ed. Hans-JoachimBauerandJo-
hannes Fomer,vol. VI(Leipzig,1986),p. 258 (letterof 26 Oc-
tober 1854). Wagnercontinues with some uncharacteristi-
cally precise comments regarding various harmonic
liberties in von Billow's works, suggesting that "true art"
lies rather in the presentation of striking effects in such a
way that they will not even be consciously registeredby the
listener (p. 260).
32Cf.n. 3 above.
33TheodorUhlig, "Die Ouvertilrezu WagnersTannhiiuser,"
NZfM 34 (1851), 167.
19
 19TH
CENTURY 17
MUSIC
,Bsn
Cl
Vc.
Example 4: TannhiiuserOverture.
For Liszt, the semantic or characteristic as-
pect of the musical material is equally unprob-
lematic. The overture, which he calls a "drame
musical," is "a poem on the same subject as the
opera, but just as complete in itself"; any ex-
planatory text would amount to a tautology.34
Uhlig, on the other hand, is constrained by the
theories of Wagner's Oper und Drama. Strictly
speaking, he concludes, one cannot really "un-
derstand" the overture without prior knowl-
edge of the opera, or else an explanatory pro-
gram. Uhlig cites as an example the central
phrase of the "Pilgrims' chorus" theme from
the introduction (see ex. 4). In connection with
its original text in acts I and III ("Ach, schwer
driickt mich der Siinden Last," etc.), the phrase
is "a characteristic expression of true Christian
penitence; considered independently of its text,
however, what can it express other than a dubi-
ous inclination for chromatic progressions on
the part of the composer?"35Uhlig thus inadver-
tently points out a paradoxicalcorrespondence
between Wagner'sown theoretical position and
that of his presumed opponent, Eduard
Hanslick. Although Wagneralways maintained
34Lohengrinet Tannhauserde RichardWagner,p. 160.Liszt
also refers to the Hollinder Overture as an "instrumental
drama"(see Liszt, Gesammelte Schriften,ed. LinaRamann,
vol. II [2ndedn. Leipzig, 1910],pp. 148, 150).On Liszt'sreac-
tions to Wagner's overtures and preludes, see also Peter
Ackermann, "Absolute Musik und Programmusik: Zur
Theorie der Instrumentalmusik bei Liszt und Wagner,"in
Liszt Studien, ed. SergeGut, vol. III(Munichand Salzburg,
1986),pp. 24-26.
35"DieOuvertiirezu Wagner'sTannhiiuser,"p. 166.
20
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- ,
that music was a "language of the emotions,"
he essentially had to deny, in Oper und Drama,
that this langauge was intelligible if divorced
from the context of the "total dramaticwork of
art." Strictly following this line of theoretical
reasoning, all that would remain of an instru-
mental work are "sounding forms in motion,"
in Hanslick's terms.
In spite of the constraints of this theory,
Uhlig (like Wagner)did believe that a poetic or
dramaticidea might manifest itself in the struc-
ture of a composition. In a posthumously pub-
lished article (1853),Uhlig drew attention to the
new weight of "development and conclusion"
("Durchfiihrungund SchlufJ")as a general fea-
ture of Beethoven's style.36 These terms, like
the formal categories applied by Liszt to the
Tannhizuser Overture (exposition, developpe-
ment, denouement), suggest the shift in empha-
sis from recapitulation to coda in Wagner's
overtures which Wagnerhad already sensed in
Beethoven (the recapitulatory function of the
coda becomes a significant aspect of several of
Liszt's symphonic poems, as well). Uhlig speaks
in particular of the "substantial deviation" of
recapitulation from exposition in both Leonore
No. 3 and Coriolan Overtures: "the repetition
of the main theme in the most delicate shading
and the expansion of the second theme [in the
Leonore recapitulation], and the opening of the
36JuliusRiihlmann(afterT. Uhlig), "Symphonieund Ouver-
tiire,"NZfM 39 (1853),218.
Coriolan recapitulation outside of the tonic all
point distinctly to some [poetic] object which
the composer has in mind."37"Because of the
generality of the language of music," Uhlig con-
cludes his article, "a thoroughly valid interpre-
tation of the inner nature of Beethoven's com-
positions can only be achieved through the
simultaneous investigation of form and con-
tent: each is derivedfrom the other."
VII
By the time of the essay Beethoven (1870),
Wagner himself was more willing to acknowl-
edge the independent expressive capacity of
music, partly as a result of his reading of Scho-
penhauer, but certainly also as a result of his
own compositional experience of the last
twenty years. In the course of Beethoven he re-
considers both the Leonore and the Coriolan
Overtures. In comparison to the "drama"expe-
rienced in the Leonore Overture, he asks, what
is the libretto but "an almost repugnant dilu-
tion of it, rather like a tedious commentary by
Gervinus on a scene of Shakespeare"(IX, 105).
Wagnerhad explicitly characterizedthis music
as "dramatic"ever since his essay of 1841, but
he now concludes that "it would not be wrong
to see in music man's a priori capacity for the
shaping [Gestaltung] of drama altogether" (IX,
106). Through the Schopenhauerian filter of
1870, music is seen to represent an idealized
dramatic process, the very essence of such
drama,as a direct reflection of the activity of the
"Will."
In his 1870 reappraisalof Coriolan, Wagner
echoes the basic tenets of the 1841 essay, yet
further refines the concept of "dramatic"musi-
cal form and its perception:
Beethovenchooses for his dramaonly two central
motives,whichmoredistinctlythananyconceptual
explanationallow us to perceivethe trueinnerna-
tureof these [main]characters.
Ifwe followandcon-
templatethe movement[sichentwicke1nde... Be-
wegung]which developssimplyfromthe opposition
37"Diesewesentliche Abweichung- die Wiederholungdes
ersten Hauptgedankensin der entgegengesetztenzartesten
Firbung, sowie die Art der Erweiterung des zweiten
Hauptgedankens ..., dann in der Coriolan Ouvertiire der
Eintritt der Wiederholungin einer anderenTonart deuten
bestimmt auf ein Object hin, das sich der Tonmeister vor-
gesetzt.. ." (ibid., p. 220).
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of these two motives,strictlyaccordingto theirmu- THOMASS.
sical character,andallowourselvesto be affectedby GREY
Wagnerand
the purelymusicaldetailof theirgradation,coming the Overture
together,separating,andbuildingto a climax[Abstu-
fungen, Beriihrungen, Entfernungen und Steige-
rungendieserMotive],thenwe arealsofollowingthe
courseof a dramaequalto that in which the play-
wright introducedmyriadplot complicationsand
secondary characters(IX,107).
The dramatic-narrativeorientation of his "pro-
grammatic commentaries" from the 1850s has
been transferredhere to a more "purely musi-
cal" kind of narrative, without denying the
structuralanalogies to dramaor narrativethem-
selves. Certainly this account of the Coriolan
Overturewould not be out of place in Vom Mu-
sikalisch-Sch6nen. Hanslick had promoted just
such a mode of musical perception, against
what he called the "pathological"reception of
music-passive and devoid of intellectual en-
gagement. (While Thomas Mann often ex-
pressed misgivings about the "pathological"re-
sponse elicited by Wagner, on several levels,
this is balanced by the "clear-sighted"passion
and critical interest which he cited as the proper
attitude toward Wagner'sart.38)In the contem-
poraneous essay "Uber die Bestimmung der
Oper" (1871) Wagner refers to music several
times as "pureform"-a phrasewith distinctly
Hanslickian overtones. And in a well-known
passage from "Oberdie Anwendung der Musik
auf das Drama" Wagner described the musical
processes of his own drama in terms very like
those applied to Coriolan. The network of mu-
sical-dramaticmotives "weaves throughoutthe
entire work. As in a symphonic movement,
[these motives] alternate, complete one an-
other, form themselves anew, divide and re-
combine; only here, it is the visible dramatic
action that dictates the laws of these combina-
tions and divisions" (X, 185).
Although Hanslick's so-called formalist aes-
thetic has come to signify a historical trend of
opposition to Wagner,Liszt, and their "school,"
one can see that the basis of this opposition is to
some degree illusory. At any rate, the ideas of
Vom Musikalisch-Schinen should not be con-
fused with Hanslick's personal opposition, as a
38See,for example, ThomasMann: Pro and Contra Wagner,
trans.Allan Blunden(Chicago, 1985),pp. 51ff.
21
 19TH critic, to the music of Wagner and Liszt. For
CENTURY
MUSIC Wagner,as for Hanslick, the value and content
of a composition are inseparablefrom the qual-
ity of its musical ideas and their working-out,
"ein Arbeit des Geistes in geistfihigem Mate-
rial," as Hanslick put it.39 If any unifying ideol-
ogy can be found for the "New GermanSchool,"
it would include the attempt to establish the in-
tellectual substance-the Geist-of musical
39Hanslick, VomMusikalisch-Sch6nen,p. 35.
ideas and their treatment. Hanslick's attack on
the traditional aesthetics of emotion, or Ge-
fihlsiisthetik, was directed precisely against
the trivialization of "musical ideas" (Hanslick's
own term) through shallow interpretations of
their putative emotional "content." Both Wag-
ner and Hanslick considered the content of
Beethoven's Leonoreand Coriolan Overturesto
be a function of their "musical ideas" and the
forms built on these. To this extent, the prem-
ises of both parties can
be seen as congruent. Si
-"

IN OUR NEXT ISSUE(FALL1988)

Special Liszt Issue

ARTICLES R. LARRYTODD:The "Unwelcome Guest" Regaled:

FranzLiszt and the Augmented Triad

DONNADI GRAZIA:Liszt and Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein:

New Documents on the WeddingThat Wasn't

Reevaluating the Liszt Chronology:

RENAMUELLER:
The Case of Anfangs wollt ich fast verzagen

Liszt and Beethoven:

ALLANKEILER:
The Creation of a PersonalMyth

REHEARINGS NICHOLASCOOK:Liszt's Second Thoughts:

Liebestraum No. 2 and Its Relatives

JOANBACKUS:Liszt's Sposalizio: A Study in Musical Perspective

REVIEW By Eric FrederickJensen

22

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