Vision Transformed into Sound: Der junge Siegfried and Wagner’s Creative Process for the Ring

Abstract

Wagner originally conceived of the Ring as one opera centering on the hero Siegfried. A new look at his manuscripts for Der junge Siegfried, which he added while expanding the Ring, reveals how he experimented with various strategies to create an increasingly complex narrative, in which he shifted his focus to other leading characters and reconsidered the Götterende prophecy, an underdeveloped theme in the Ur-form of the Ring. In act 3, scene 2, Siegfried encounters Wotan on his way to awaken Brünnhilde. Wagner initially portrayed this encounter as a friendly meeting. He later turned it into a violent conflict, ending it with a defeated Wotan referencing a vision of Loge, who would initiate the gods’ doom. Wagner later removed this vision. However, he conveyed the deleted text via music; the “Götterdämmerung” motive occurs when Siegfried breaks Wotan’s spear in this conflict. The transformation from vision to sound suggests a significant link between the textual and musical evolutions of the Ring. It shows how Wagner, in his dual roles as dramatist and composer, exploited the potential of unused ideas in his libretto by exploring them in his music. His alteration of this scene, which both reflected and triggered other revisions, also offers new insight into the non-linear nature of his creative process.