12 Tremendous Composers 12 Composers    

Lesson 29: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg - Overture

by Richard Wagner

Performer: Skidmore College Orchestra

Directions

Study the musical selection for one week.

Over the week:

• Listen to the music daily.
• Read the synopsis.
• Review the vocabulary terms.
• Read about the composer.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Study the review questions.

Synopsis

Richard Wagner completed the comic opera 'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg WWV 96' (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg) in 1867. The opera tells the story of young knight named Walther who strives to win a song writing and singing contest that will be judged by the Mastersingers of Nuremberg. The prize for winning the contest is the hand in marriage of a lovely girl named Eva. This lesson features the overture to the opera.

Vocabulary

Overture: A musical introduction to a piece of music.
Mastersinger: A German lyric poet of the late Middle Ages.
Middle Ages: The period of primarily European history between the decline of the Western Roman Empire (antiquity) and the early modern period or the Renaissance; the time between c. 500 and 1500.

Composer

1. When we read the stories of Charles Dickens, we make many friends. And they are among the very best we ever have. There are Little Nell, Ebenezer Scrooge, Paul Dombey, Sam Weller, Oliver Twist, and a host of others. Writers like Dickens bring all sorts of people before us. But few composers can do such a thing.
2. Yet there are some who do this, and one of the greatest is Richard Wagner. In his operas a host of people live,—people as real and as interesting as those in the stories of Charles Dickens.
3. There is Walther, who sings the Prize Song in Die Meistersinger, and Eva, whom he loves. And in the same opera there is Beckmesser, the fussy old schoolmaster kind of a man. And Hans Sachs, the cobbler.

4. There is a lovely scene in the third act of this opera. We see a meadow light and bright in the sunshine. A glistening river flows quietly through it. Everywhere on the water there are boats. Scattered over the meadow there are tents. Everybody is out for a holiday time. All is lively and full of color and bright and cheery. Now there pass before us the tradesmen singing in chorus. There are cobblers and carpenters led by the town pipers. And every trade sings its own songs.
5. Then comes the scene in which Walther and Beckmesser sing in contest. Beckmesser begins. He stutters and stammers and struggles through his song. And finally, like a school-boy who does not know his lesson, he breaks down.
6. Then Walther comes to sing the lovely Prize Song; a melody that just sings itself into the heart of everyone.

7. Do you wonder that with such lovely music Walther wins the contest and the hand of Eva whom he loves? Jolly old Hans Sachs is so happy over it all that he sings a rollicking song and everybody joins in with him as the curtain goes down.

8. Nor was Wagner satisfied with making characters who were merely people just like ourselves. (For Walther and Eva are mortals of the earthly realm). But there are in the operas by Richard Wagner, gods and goddesses, giants and Rhine maidens, and Nibelungs.
9. Many of them have strange names. These names are easy to remember because they are strange: Wotan and Donner are gods. Freia and Erda are goddesses. Fafner is a giant. Flosshilde is a Rhine daughter. Mime and Alberich are Nibelungs.

10. Oh, they are wonderful company these gods and goddesses, and others of the company who tell their story and adventure in the operas of the Nibelungen Ring. Here is Siegfried blowing a horn and wearing his Magic Sword Nothung.

11. Now, as we have said, when we learn of so great a man, we always wonder what sort of a boy he was. Well, when this boy was nine years old, he went to a classical school. One of his teachers at least must have been very fond of him, and he must have been fond of his teacher, for when Richard Wagner was only thirteen years old, he translated from Greek into German twelve books of the Odyssey for this teacher.

12. 'I intend to become a poet,' he used to say. He read Romeo and Juliet in English. Then he wrote a play in which were Hamlet and King Lear. And there were forty-two other characters. All of these died or were killed in the fourth act and were brought back as ghosts in the fifth! He played the piano, too, and seems to have been quite as busy a boy as he was a man.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Recite the Composition Information

• Recite the name of the composer and the composition.

Activity 2: Study the Music Timeline

Examine the music timeline to answer the following questions.

• What is the year of birth of the lesson composer?
• What is the year of death of the featured composer?
• How old was the composer upon death?
• Which composer (if any) directly precedes the studied composer by date of birth?
• Which composer (if any) directly succeeds the lesson composer by date of birth?
• Which other timeline composers were alive at the same time as the studied composer?

Activity 3: Map the Music

• Richard Wagner's opera, 'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg,' is set in Nuremberg, Germany.
• Find the city of Nuremberg in the country of Germany.

Activity 4: Recite the Names of Richard Wagner's Operas

Here is a list of the operas by Richard Wagner, with their names pronounced. Recite each name aloud.

• The Fairies (1833).
• Das Liebesverbot (1836) leebes-fehr-bote.
• Rienzi (1842) ree-ent'-see.
• The Flying Dutchman (1842).
• Tannhäuser (1845) tan'-hoy-ser.
• Lohengrin (1847) lo'-en-green.
• Das Rheingold (1869) rhine-gold.
• Die Walküre (1870) dee val-kee-reh.
• Siegfried (1869) seeg'-freed.
• Tristan and Isolde (1865) e-sol'-deh.
• Die Meistersinger (1867).
• Die Götterdämmerung (1876) dee getter-day-meh-roongk.
• Parsifal (1882) par'-se-fal.

Activity 5: Write a One-Page Paper About Richard Wagner

Read these facts about Richard Wagner and write a one-page story out of them, using your own words.

• Richard Wagner wrote operas.
• He was born May 22nd, 1813.
• His operas, like the novels of Charles Dickens (A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, etc.), are full of wonderful characters.
• Besides people of every day kind there are gods and goddesses, and giants, and other strange beings in his operas.
• As a boy Richard Wagner went to a classical school.
• He was always fond of music.
• He could translate Greek when he was only thirteen years old.
• Even as a little boy he said: I intend to become a poet.
• He wrote plays and he read the plays of Shakespeare in English.
• As a boy he studied the piano and was fond of the music of Von Weber.
• Among the books that Richard Wagner read as a boy were the story of Die Meistersinger and the story of Tannhäuser.
• He always kept these stories in mind.
• When he became a composer, he wrote an opera upon each of these stories.
• Tell something about Wagner and animals.
• Richard Wagner died at Venice, Italy on Feb. 13, 1883.

Review

Question 1

If you've ever read any of Dickens' novels (e.g. A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist), how many characters can you name from memory?

1 / 5

Answer 1

For example, from 'A Christmas Carol,' you might name Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley, Tiny Tim, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, etc.

1 / 5

Question 2

Which opera by Richard Wagner contains 'The Prize Song?'

2 / 5

Answer 2

'The Prize Song' is from the opera 'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg' (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg).

2 / 5

Question 3

Who sings 'The Prize Song?'?

3 / 5

Answer 3

The young knight Walther sings 'The Prize Song' in the opera 'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg' (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg).

3 / 5

Question 4

What is a Meistersinger?

4 / 5

Answer 4

A Meistersinger is a mastersinger, a German lyric poet of the late Middle Ages.

4 / 5

Question 5

What sorts of characters occur in Wagner's operas?

5 / 5

Answer 5

In additional to mortals, Wagner often features fantastical characters such as gods, goddesses, knights, and giants.

5 / 5

❮ ❯

1. If you've ever read any of Dickens' novels (e.g. A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist), how many characters can you name from memory? For example, from 'A Christmas Carol,' you might name Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley, Tiny Tim, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, etc.
2. Which opera by Richard Wagner contains 'The Prize Song?' 'The Prize Song' is from the opera 'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg' (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg).
3. Who sings 'The Prize Song?'? The young knight Walther sings 'The Prize Song' in the opera 'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg' (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg).
4. What is a Meistersinger? A Meistersinger is a mastersinger, a German lyric poet of the late Middle Ages.
5. What sorts of characters occur in Wagner's operas? In additional to mortals, Wagner often features fantastical characters such as gods, goddesses, knights, and giants.

References

Tapper, Thomas. Richard Wagner - Wagner: The Story of the Boy Who Wrote Little Plays. Philadelphia, PA. Theodore Presser Co., 1918.

'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.