Twilight of the Gods: Prologue, Part Two - On top of Bruennhilde's rocky peak: Bruennhilde and Siegfried
[T.P: F]
As the sun rises, Siegfried and Bruennhilde emerge from a cave on the peak of Bruennhilde’s mountain. The musical prelude to their final love duet, representing the sun coming up over their last happy moment together, is one of the grandest orchestral passages in Wagner, and is justly famous as an independent piece in the concert hall. Having given Siegfried the unconscious inspiration he needs to produce heroic deeds of art in the wider world, she sends him off to undertake those new adventures (“adventures” being a metaphor for Siegfried’s artistic endeavors in the wider world). In the meantime, his wonderful youthful horncall #103 has, as Cooke noted, matured into a grand, harmonically rich theme, the new motif #148, the mature Siegfried’s horncall, played by a number of instruments from the horn family. When Siegfried emerges from Bruennhilde’s cave, we feel that he is a mature man, though this is not explicitly spelled out in the libretto text (nor, I believe, in Wagner’s stage directions):
(Prelude: Dawn. The sky begins to brighten and the fiery glow at the back of the stage grows increasingly faint. #87?; [[ #148 frags ]] [on bass clarinet]; #? [low music on cellos, double-basses, or bass clarinet, seem to play #139 as heard in the transition S.3.2-3, plus material from Siegfried’s and Bruennhilde’s love-duet, such as, perhaps, #140?]; [[ #148 ]]; #139?; #148; [[ #149 ]] [on clarinet]; #148; #149; #148?; #77; #148: Sunrise. Broad daylight. Siegfried and Bruennhilde emerge from the rocky chamber. He is fully armed; she leads her horse by the bridle)
Bruennhilde: [[ #149: ]] To new adventures [“Thaten,” i.e., deeds), beloved hero (:#149), [[ #149: ]] what would my love be worth if I did not let you go forth [“wie liebt’ ich dich – liess ich dich nicht”] (:#149)? (#?:) A single worry makes me falter (:#?) - [[ #150: ]] that my merit has brought you too little gain (:#150)! (#150) [[ #150 >>>: ]] What gods have taught me I gave to you: a bountiful store [“Hort,” i.e., hoard!!!] of hallowed runes [“heiliger Runen reichen Hort”] (:#150 >>>); (#150?:; #?: [lower notes perhaps reference music which expressed Bruennhilde’s fear of sexual union with Siegfried in S.3.3?]) but the maidenly source of all (#150:) my strength (:#150?; :#? [music expressing Bruennhilde’s fear of union with Siegfried from S.3.3?]) (#140:) was taken away by the hero to whom I now bow my head (:#140). (#149) (#149:) Bereft of wisdom (#149) but filled with desire; (#149) rich in love yet void of strength, I beg you not to despise the poor
