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''Parsifal'' (WWV 111) is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on ''Parzival'' by Wolfram von Eschenbach, a 13th-century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival (Percival) and his quest for the Holy Grail (12 с.). Wagner first conceived the work in April 1857 but did not finish it until twenty-five years later. It was Wagner's last completed opera and in composing it he took advantage of the particular acoustics of his Bayreuth Festspielhaus. ''Parsifal'' was first produced at the second Bayreuth Festival in 1882. The Bayreuth Festival maintained a monopoly on ''Parsifal'' productions until 1903, when the opera was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Wagner described ''Parsifal'' not as an opera, but as "''ドイツ語:Ein Bühnenweihfestspiel''" ("A Festival Play for the Consecration of the Stage").〔 (Section ''What is a Stage-Consecrating Festival-Play, Anyway?'')〕 At Bayreuth a tradition has arisen that there is no applause after the first act of the opera. Wagner's spelling of ''Parsifal'' instead of the ''Parzival'' he had used up to 1877 is informed by an erroneous etymology of the name ''Percival'' deriving it from a supposedly Persian origin, ''Fal Parsi'' meaning "pure fool".〔following Josef Görres (1813). See Richard Wagner, ''Das braune Buch. Tagebuchaufzeichnungen 1865 bis 1882'' ed. Joachim Bergfeld, Zürich, Freiburg i.Br. 1975, p. 52; Danielle Buschinger, Renate Ullrich, ''Das Mittelalter Richard Wagners'', Königshausen & Neumann, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8260-3078-9, p. 140.〕 ==Composition== Wagner first read von Eschenbach's poem ''Parzival'' while taking the waters at Marienbad in 1845.〔Gregor-Dellin, Martin (1983) ''Richard Wagner: his life, his work, his Century'' William Collins, ISBN 0-00-216669-0 p141〕 After encountering Arthur Schopenhauer's writings in 1854,〔On the Will in Nature, "Sinology," Footnote listing books on Buddhism s:On the Will in Nature#SINOLOGY〕 Wagner became interested in oriental philosophies, especially Buddhism. Out of this interest came ''Die Sieger'' (''The Victors'', 1856) a sketch Wagner wrote for an opera based on a story from the life of Buddha.〔Hollinrake, Roger (1992) in "The Wagner Compendium: A Guide to Wagner's Life and Music". Ed. Millington. Thames and Hudson Ltd., London. ISBN 0-02-871359-1 page 147〕 The themes which were later explored in ''Parsifal'' of self-renouncing, reincarnation, compassion, and even exclusive social groups (castes in ''Die Sieger'', the Knights of the Grail in Parsifal) were first introduced in ''Die Sieger''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Prose Sketch for Die Sieger )〕 According to his own account, recorded in his autobiography ''ドイツ語:Mein Leben'', Wagner conceived ''Parsifal'' on Good Friday morning, April 1857, in the ''Asyl'' (German: "Asylum"), the small cottage on Otto Wesendonck's estate in the Zürich suburb of Enge, which Wesendonck - a wealthy silk merchant and generous patron of the arts - had placed at Wagner’s disposal, through the good offices of his wife Mathilde Wesendonck.〔Gregor-Dellin, Martin (1983) ''ibid'' p270〕 The composer and his wife Minna had moved into the cottage on 28 April: However, as his second wife Cosima Wagner later reported on 22 April 1879, this account had been colored by a certain amount of poetic licence:〔Wagner, Cosima (1980) ''Cosima Wagner's Diaries'' tr. Skelton, Geoffrey. Collins. ISBN 0-00-216189-3〕 The work may indeed have been conceived at Wesendonck's cottage in the last week of April 1857, but Good Friday that year fell on 10 April, when the Wagners were still living at Zeltweg 13 in Zürich.〔Millington, Barry (Ed.) (1992). ''The Wagner Compendium: A Guide to Wagner's Life and Music''. Thames and Hudson Ltd., London. ISBN 0-02-871359-1 pages 135-136.〕 If the prose sketch which Wagner mentions in ''ドイツ語:Mein Leben'' was accurately dated (and most of Wagner’s surviving papers are dated), it could settle the issue once and for all, but unfortunately it has not survived. Wagner did not resume work on ''Parsifal'' for eight years, during which time he completed ''Tristan und Isolde'' and began ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg''. Then, between 27 and 30 August 1865, he took up ''Parsifal'' again and made a prose draft of the work; this contains a fairly brief outline of the plot and a considerable amount of detailed commentary on the characters and themes of the drama.〔Beckett, Lucy (1981) "Richard Wagner: Parsifal", Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-29662-5, page 13.〕 But once again the work was dropped and set aside for another eleven and a half years. During this time most of Wagner’s creative energy was devoted to the ''Ring'' cycle, which was finally completed in 1874 and given its first full performance at Bayreuth in August 1876. Only when this gargantuan task had been accomplished did Wagner find the time to concentrate on ''Parsifal''. By 23 February 1877 he had completed a second and more extensive prose draft of the work, and by 19 April of the same year he had transformed this into a verse libretto (or "poem", as Wagner liked to call his libretti).〔Beckett, Lucy (1981) ''ibid'' page 22.〕 In September 1877 he began the music by making two complete drafts of the score from beginning to end. The first of these (known in German as the ''ドイツ語:Gesamtentwurf'' and in English as either the ''Preliminary Draft'' or the ''First Complete Draft'') was made in pencil on three staves, one for the voices and two for the instruments. The second complete draft (''ドイツ語:Orchesterskizze'', ''Orchestral Draft'', ''Short Score'' or ''Particell'') was made in ink and on at least three, but sometimes as many as five, staves. This draft was much more detailed than the first and contained a considerable degree of instrumental elaboration.〔Millington, Barry (Ed.) (1992)''ibid'' pages 247-148.〕 The second draft was begun on 25 September 1877, just a few days after the first: at this point in his career Wagner liked to work on both drafts simultaneously, switching back and forth between the two so as not to allow too much time to elapse between his initial setting of the text and the final elaboration of the music. The ''ドイツ語:Gesamtentwurf'' of Act III was completed on 16 April 1879 and the ''ドイツ語:Orchesterskizze'' on the 26th of the same month.〔Gregor-Dellin, Martin (1983)''ibid'' pages 477-479〕 The full score (''ドイツ語:Partiturerstschrift'') was the final stage in the compositional process. It was made in ink and consisted of a fair copy of the entire opera, with all the voices and instruments properly notated according to standard practice. Wagner composed ''Parsifal'' one act at a time, completing the ''ドイツ語:Gesamtentwurf'' and ''ドイツ語:Orchesterskizze'' of each act before beginning the ''Gesamtentwurf'' of the next act; but because the ''Orchesterskizze'' already embodied all the compositional details of the full score, the actual drafting of the ''Partiturerstschrift'' was regarded by Wagner as little more than a routine task which could be done whenever he found the time. The Prelude of Act I was scored in August 1878. The rest of the opera was scored between August 1879 and 13 January 1882.〔Millington, Barry (Ed.) (1992)''ibid'' page 307.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Parsifal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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