Woman’s Love
This chapter discusses motives that are
primarily associated with a dramatic concept of woman’s love.
These themes are distinct from the basic Love Motive and its derivatives
arising from Freia’s music (see Love chapter).
The musical relationship between these motives is not melodic but
harmonic. That harmonic
relationship is the use of a 7th chord, and sometimes by extension a
9th chord. The
other musical feature that most of the themes have in common is the use of the
melodic interval of a falling 7th.
Some of these motives precede the falling 7th melody with a
musical turn. Hence all three of
these elements, the 7th or 9th chord, the falling 7th,
and a ‘turn’, can be combined to express some dramatic aspect of woman’s
love.
After Welgunde proves false, Flosshilde offers Alberich a third chance for love. In the second measure of this example her initial ‘Bb’ forms the 9th over the underlying Ab7 chord, and in the fifth measure the harmony changes to Db7 over which she again sings the 9th with her note ‘Eb’.
The first association of the interval of a falling 7th is dramatically established by Alberich in Das Rheingold – Scene 1. When he curses Love, “Leibe”, he sings a ‘C’ that falls a 7th to ‘D’ with the two syllables. The Renunciation chapter shows this example from the score and will discuss that particular music in more detail in that chapter. The combination of the harmony of a 7th or 9th chord with the melodic interval of a falling 7th also appears in music sung by Fricka in Das Rheingold. In this example from Scene 2 she retorts to Wotan how she had hoped that his new lordly dwelling would ‘bind’ him to her and offer an opportunity for domestic bliss. After a Bb6 harmony in the first measure (see Rhine Daughters chapter) in the second measure the harmony changes to C7 while she sings a ‘D’(C9) for “Woh_” that falls a 7th to ‘E’ on “nung”. This Love’s Bond Motive is sung later in the same scene by Loge when he tells Fricka how a woman adorned with the Rhine Gold would have an irresistible hold over her mate. The motive recurs in Siegfried Act III – Scene 3, where it is associated with the Siegfried’s initial strong attraction to Brunnhilde’s Rock and later to Brunnhilde herself.
Music-Love's Bond Music-Enchanting Heights
The association of a musical turn with Woman’s Love is introduced in Das Rheingold – Scene 2. After Fasolt sings a slow variation of the basic Love Motive (see Love chapter), revealing his motivation to gain Freia, the violins play a variation on the first part of Freia’s motive over the harmony of a sustained A7 chord. In the second measure of this example a four grace note ‘turn’ intervenes between the 7th (‘G’) and 9th (‘B’ ) to link these two elements in association.
In Die Walküre Act I – Scene 2 a slightly more complicated musical variation based on this association is sung first by Siegmund and then later repeated by Sieglinde. The harmony of the first two measures of this example is Db7. In Siegmund’s melody the ‘D’ natural is a passing note to the ‘Eb’ which is the important ninth, and the ‘G’ of the second measure is a passing note to ‘F’. The emphasized interval is again a falling 7th from ‘Eb’ to ‘F’. The opening three notes of this music form an independent motive, which is discussed in the Passion chapter. Note the occurrence in measures four, five and six of Freia’s music and the associated ‘turn’ played by the flute and then the clarinet.
Music-Sweetest Delight-Blessed Woman
A slight variation of the ‘turn’ appears to generate an independent motive. If this ‘turn’ variation moves a half step down from the starting note instead of moving up, and its melody is slowed down we have one of the key motives in the Ring. In Act III – Scene 1 of Die Walküre this modified turn forms an eight note motive that has been labeled the Redemption Motive by some commentators. However, according to a letter written by Cosima, Wagner called this theme the motive of Brunnhilde’s Glorification. In Die Walküre the motive is sung by Sieglinde after she learns from Brunnhilde that she carries in her womb a child destined to be the world’s greatest hero. She sings that this event is the ‘sublimest wonder’ and that Brunnhilde is the most ‘glorious maid’. In the example of this theme from the score note the falling 7th on “Wunder” from ‘G’ to ‘A’ over an Am7 harmony.
Unlike most of Wagner’s motives in the Ring, this theme makes a solo appearance and then will not be heard again until the closing moments of Götterdämmerung. Whether there is redemption or not at the conclusion of Wagner’s Ring is a fascinating debate that will not be discussed in this chapter. For those who favor a Schopenhauer interpretation, the concept of release was used to label the next example from Götterdämmerung’s score. Brunnhilde herself sings a version of the motive as she speaks to Grane of Siegfried shortly before they leap into the funeral pyre. As the orchestral finale comes to its end the theme is heard one last time. A discussion of the Ring’s “final leitmotiv” appropriately concludes this book in the Combinations chapter.
There are two additional examples of an association of Brunnhilde with a ‘turn’. A variation of the ‘turn’ occurs in Siegfried Act III – Scene 3 played in the minor by the cellos in measure two of the example given below.
The second example is a combination of a ‘turn’ with the falling 7th that was mentioned at the beginning of this chapter. This combination becomes the Brunnhilde Motive. The theme occurs in the opening music of Scene 2 of Götterdämmerung’s prologue. Over an F7 harmony the clarinet softly introduces a melody that begins on the 7th , goes through a turn starting a half step below the base note, jumps up a 6th , and then two notes later we hear the falling 7th from ‘Bb’ to ‘C’. Most commentators when discussing this motive make the point that Brunnhilde is no longer a valkyrie maid, but a mature woman.
There is one final example of music that is placed into this chapter because of its emphasis on a falling 7th. More in keeping with the deceit of the Rhine Daughters in their encounter with Alberich, this music is associated with Mime and is taken from Siegfried Act II – Scene 3 where it plays almost a comical role in that portion of the scene. Mime feigns a loving welcome to Siegfried after the young hero’s battle with Fafner, all the while trying to conceal his true feelings which are anything but loving.
