Cyclic Structure and Dramatic Recapitulation in Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen.

Abstract

The present work explores Wagner’s four-opera Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle from the perspective of the term “recapitulation,” usually reserved for the study of sonata-allegro form but nonetheless frequently used by writers to describe large-scale repetitions in Wagner’s music dramas. First, the dissertation performs a survey of music-theoretical usage of the term within the context of sonata-form to develop a general working definition for it and then explores the implications of applying it to operatic works. By demonstrating the similarity in function of the different parts of sonata form with the formal divisions of drama outlined in pyramid form by Gustav Freytag, the dissertation concludes that it is acceptable to roughly correlate the concept of musical recapitulation with dramatic dénouement. Having laid the groundwork for the discussion of recapitulation in Wagner, the dissertation then particularizes the term within the context of a specific type of recapitulation. By demonstrating that both musical and dramatic themes throughout the tetralogy are repeated according to a “ring structure,” the study presents an organizational framework to manage the analysis of a vast amount of music, thus offering a model for solving a problem long faced by Wagner scholars while at the same time uncovering an as-yet unnoticed structural pattern governing the cycle. The ring structure resembles an arch form, with an initial exposition of material balanced with a palindromic repetition. The remainder of the dissertation provides musical and dramatic analysis of the different correspondences across the central divide of the ring structure with two central foci. The first is the pair of love relationships between Siegmund and Sieglinde on the one hand and Siegfried and Brünnhilde on the other; and the second is the Immolation of Valhalla, which brings to a close a myriad of unresolved threads from earlier parts of the drama while providing a latch to connect the end back to the beginning. Finally, the conclusion begins from the premise that the ring structure can highlight obscure and unexpected relationships between scenes and suggests the potential profitability of research into “negative recapitulations,” which function not through actual repetition but rather through significant absence.