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The evolution of Richard Wagner's operatic tetralogy ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (''The Ring of the Nibelung'') was a long and tortuous process, and the precise sequence of events which led the composer to embark upon such a vast undertaking is still unclear. The composition of the text took place between 1848 and 1853, when all four libretti were privately printed; but the closing scene of the final opera, ''Götterdämmerung'', was revised a number of times between 1856 and 1872. The names of the last two Ring operas, ''Siegfried'' and ''Götterdämmerung'', were probably not definitively settled until 1856. ==Conception of the ''Ring''== According to the composer's own account – as related in his autobiography ''Mein Leben'' – it was after the February Revolution that he began to sketch a play on the life of the Hohenstaufen Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa. While researching this work, he came to see Friedrich as "a historical rebirth of the old, pagan Siegfried".〔''A Communication to My Friends'' (Sämtliche Schriften und Dichtungen, vol. IV, p. 359).〕 Then, in the summer of 1848, he wrote the essay ''Die Wibelungen: Weltgeschichte aus der Saga'' (''The Wibelungs: World History as Told in Saga''), in which he noted some historical links (spurious, as it happens) between the Hohenstaufens and the legendary Nibelungs.〔See Guelphs and Ghibellines for the association of the term ''Waiblingen'' with the Hohenstaufens.〕 This led him to consider Siegfried as a possible subject for a new opera, and by October 1848 the entire ''Ring'' cycle had been conceived.〔Wagner, ''Mein Leben''〕 This rather straightforward account of the ''Ring's'' origins, however, has been disputed by a number of authorities, who accuse Wagner of deliberately distorting the facts so as to bring them into harmony with his own private version of history. The actual sequence of events, it seems, was not nearly as clear-cut as he would have us believe. It was in October 1846 – some sixteen months ''before'' the February Revolution – that he first drew up a plan for a five-act drama based on the life of Friedrich Barbarossa. He may even have considered writing an opera on Siegfried as early as 1843, when he read Jacob Grimm's ''Deutsche Mythologie'' (''German Mythology''), or possibly in 1844, when he borrowed several works on the Nibelungs from the Royal Library in Dresden. As for ''Die Wibelungen'', it would appear that he only started work on this essay in December 1848 at the earliest, finishing it sometime before 22 February 1849, when he read it to his friend Eduard Devrient.〔For a more detailed discussion of the disputed origins of the ''Ring'', see John Deathridge's essay ''The Ring: an Introduction'', which accompanies the 1991 recording of ''Siegfried'' by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra conducted by James Levine (''Deutsche Grammophon'' 429 407-2). See also the same author's essay "Cataloguing Wagner" in ''The Richard Wagner Centenary in Australia'', ed. Peter Dennison (Adelaide, 1985), pp. 185–199.〕 Whatever the truth, Wagner was certainly contemplating an opera on Siegfried by 1 April 1848, when he informed Devrient of his plans.〔Eduard Devrient's diary for 1 April 1848 reads: ドイツ語:"Er () erzählte mir einen neuen Opernplan aus der Siegfriedsage." ("He told me of a new plan for an opera on the Siegfried saga.") Two months later, Wagner discussed a similar project with the composer Robert Schumann; an entry in Schumann's notebook (''Haushaltbuch''), dated 2 June 1848, reads: ドイツ語:"Abends Spazierg() m() Wagner – sein Nibelungtext." ("Evening walk w() Wagner – his text on the Nibelungs.")〕 Wagner was probably encouraged in these endeavours by a number of German intellectuals who believed that contemporary artists should seek inspiration in the pages of the ''Nibelungenlied'', a 12th-century epic poem in Middle High German which, since its rediscovery in 1755, had been hailed by the German Romantics as their country's "national epic". In 1844 the philosopher Friedrich Theodor Vischer suggested that the Nibelungenlied would make a suitable subject for German opera;〔Friedrich Theodor Vischer, ''Vorschlag zu einer Oper'' ("Suggestion for an Opera") ''Kritische Gänge'', Volume II, ''Aesthetike'' (Tübingen, 1844). His scenario consisted of a five-act grand opera to be given on two consecutive evenings – the first dealing with the events of the ''Nibelungenlied'' from Siegfried's arrival in Gunther's court to his death, and the second with Kriemhild's revenge. Vischer's treatment of the epic bears little relation to Wagner's, though it may have suggested to Wagner the idea of a series of operas on the ''Nibelungenlied'' to be presented on consecutive evenings.〕 and in 1845 and 1846 Louise Otto-Peters and Franz Brendel penned a series of articles in the ''Neue Zeitschrift für Musik'' inviting composers to write a "national opera" based on the epic. Otto-Peters even wrote a libretto for such an opera. Wagner, as it happened, was already familiar with the ''Nibelungenlied''. He had even drawn upon it for one of the scenes in an earlier opera, ''Lohengrin'', the text of which was written between July and November 1845. Act II, Scene 4, in which Ortrud interrupts the procession to the minster and confronts Elsa, is based on Chapter 14 of the ''Nibelungenlied'', "How the Queens Railed at Each Other"; in the corresponding scene of ''Götterdämmerung'' (also Act II, Scene 4), it is Brünnhilde who interrupts a stately procession and provokes a quarrel. 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「Der Ring des Nibelungen: Composition of the poem」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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