Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Georg Solti. For a list of singers: tinyurl.com/2757gg2a
I - Vorspiel
Vorspiel (0:00) - "Welch Licht leuchtet dort?" (2:31) - "Treu beratner Verträge Runen" (7:49) - "Es ragt die Burg, von Riesen gebaut" (9:57) - "Zu neuen Taten, teurer Helde" (18:02) - "Willst du mir Minne schenken" (24:37) - "O heilige Götter! Hehre Geschlechter!" (30:15) - Orchesterzwischenspiel: Siegfrieds Rheinfahrt (32:41)
II - Akt I
"Nun hör, Hagen, sage mir, Held" (38:38) - "Wen rätst du nun zu frein" (41:12) - "Jagt er auf Taten wonnig umher" (49:16) - "Wer ist Gibichs Sohn?" (52:58) - "Begrüße froh, o Held, die Halle" (55:00) - "Willkommen, Gast, in Gibichs Haus" (59:00) - "Deinem Bruder bot ich mich zum Mann" (1:02:48) - "Blühenden Lebens labendes Blut" (1:06:45) - "Frisch auf die Fahrt!" (1:11:04) - "Hier sitz' ich zur Wacht" (1:13:38) - "Altgewohntes Geräusch raunt meinem Ohr in die Ferne" (1:24:32) - "Höre mit Sinn, was ich dir sage" (1:31:50) - "Welch banger Träume Mären" (1:42:20) - "Was leckt so wütend" (1:49:25) - "Brünnhild'! Ein Freier kam" (1:51:05)
III - Akt II
Vorspiel (2:00:17) - "Schläfst du, Hagen, mein Sohn?" (2:04:05) - "Hoiho, Hagen! Müder Mann!" (2:13:12) - "Heiß mich willkommen, Gibichskind!" (2:15:49) - "Hoiho! Ihr Gibichsmannen" (2:19:40) - "Heil dir, Gunther!" (2:28:39) - "Gegrüsst sei, teurer Held!" (2:32:21) - "Einen Ring sah ich an deiner Hand" (2:36:46) - "Heil'ge Götter, himmlische Lenker!" (2:40:02) - "Helle Wehr! Heilige Waffe!" (2:45:33) - "Gunther, wehr deinem Weibe" (2:48:33) - "Welches Unholds List liegt hier verhohlen?" (2:51:44) - "Vertraue mir, betrogne Frau" (2:55:30) - "Auf Gunther, edler Gibichung" (2:58:55)
IV - Akt III
Vorspiel (3:07:20) - "Frau Sonne sendet lichte Strahlen" (3:09:00) - "Ein Albe führte mich irr" (3:13:40) - "Was leid' ich doch das karge Lob?" (3:17:10) - "Siegfried!" (3:18:32) - "Hoiho!" (3:26:00) - "Trink, Gunther, trink" (3:29:35) - "Mime hieß ein mürrischer Zwerg" (3:31:59) - "In Leid zu dem Wipfel lauscht' ich hinauf" (3:36:35) - "Brünnhilde, heilige Braut" (3:41:58) - Trauermarsch (3:46:07) - "War das sein Horn?" (3:53:54) - "Hoiho! Hoiho! Wacht auf! Wacht auf!" (3:56:29) - "Nicht klage wider mich" (3:59:07) - "Schweigt eures Jammers jauchzenden Schwall" (4:01:12) - "Starke Scheite schichtet mir dort" (4:04:58) - "Mein Erbe nun nehm' ich zu eigen" (4:13:53) - "Fliegt heim, ihr Raben!" (4:16:25)
Wagner's "Twilight of the Gods" (Götterdämmerung) was sketched in 1848, conceived as a standalone opera titled "Siegfried's Death" (Siegfried's Tod), but the project gradually grew until forming the tetralogy of music dramas "The Ring of the Nibelung". No music was actually composed until 1869, and by then the work was retitled. After considerable difficulties with the ending, the drama was completed on November 21 of 1874. It was premiered at the Bayreuth Festival Theatre on August 17 of 1876, conducted by Hans Richter as part of the first complete performance of The Ring cycle. The whole festival was an artistic triumph but a financial disaster.
Siegfried gives Brünnhilde the Ring and goes to seek adventure. He comes upon the Hall of the Gibichungs, where Alberich’s son Hagen lives with his half-brother Gunther and half-sister Gutrune. Hagen plans to steal the Ring by giving Siegfried a drug to make him forget Brünnhilde and by offering her to Gunther as a bride and Gutrune to Siegfried. Brünnhilde, believing Siegfried has abandoned her, assists Hagen and Gunther in killing him. In a fight for possession of the Ring, Hagen then kills Gunther. Brünnhilde demands a funeral pyre for Siegfried and leaps into the flames herself. Valhalla, the home of the gods, rises in flames and the Rhinemaidens finally reclaim their Ring.
Musically, Wagner had gained such mastery of his drama and musical motives, that he treats both with superb fluidity. Wagner's use of his Leitmotives produces uncannily powerful psychological effects. For example, in Act Three, at the moment of Siegfried's death, the audience sees what he sees, by the use of Brünnhilde's awakening music from Siegfried Act Three, which then fades with his consciousness. The music following Brünnhilde's immolation is hugely consoling after the multiple tragedies, and that consoling effect again lies in Wagner's mastery. Over a series of Leitmotives, the violins sing an arching melody first heard in Die Walküre, when Sieglinde burst out with this melody after Brünnhilde told her that she was bearing Siegmund's child. The label "Redemption by Love" has misled audiences; in fact, Wagner considered it a song of praise to his heroine, Brünnhilde.
To read the libretto: tinyurl.com/24postrm
Pictures (from left to right): "Siegfried leaves Brünnhilde", "Siegfried's death" and "Brünnhilde leaps onto Siegfried's funeral pyre". Illustrations by Arthur Rackham.
Sources: tinyurl.com/zhjxcdc and tinyurl.com/244h2xbp
Score: tinyurl.com/26dxncub
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Georg Solti. For a list of singers: tinyurl.com/2757gg2a
I - Vorspiel
Vorspiel (0:00) - "Welch Licht leuchtet dort?" (2:31) - "Treu beratner Verträge Runen" (7:49) - "Es ragt die Burg, von Riesen gebaut" (9:57) - "Zu neuen Taten, teurer Helde" (18:02) - "Willst du mir Minne schenken" (24:37) - "O heilige Götter! Hehre Geschlechter!" (30:15) - Orchesterzwischenspiel: Siegfrieds Rheinfahrt (32:41)
II - Akt I
"Nun hör, Hagen, sage mir, Held" (38:38) - "Wen rätst du nun zu frein" (41:12) - "Jagt er auf Taten wonnig umher" (49:16) - "Wer ist Gibichs Sohn?" (52:58) - "Begrüße froh, o Held, die Halle" (55:00) - "Willkommen, Gast, in Gibichs Haus" (59:00) - "Deinem Bruder bot ich mich zum Mann" (1:02:48) - "Blühenden Lebens labendes Blut" (1:06:45) - "Frisch auf die Fahrt!" (1:11:04) - "Hier sitz' ich zur Wacht" (1:13:38) - "Altgewohntes Geräusch raunt meinem Ohr in die Ferne" (1:24:32) - "Höre mit Sinn, was ich dir sage" (1:31:50) - "Welch banger Träume Mären" (1:42:20) - "Was leckt so wütend" (1:49:25) - "Brünnhild'! Ein Freier kam" (1:51:05)
III - Akt II
Vorspiel (2:00:17) - "Schläfst du, Hagen, mein Sohn?" (2:04:05) - "Hoiho, Hagen! Müder Mann!" (2:13:12) - "Heiß mich willkommen, Gibichskind!" (2:15:49) - "Hoiho! Ihr Gibichsmannen" (2:19:40) - "Heil dir, Gunther!" (2:28:39) - "Gegrüsst sei, teurer Held!" (2:32:21) - "Einen Ring sah ich an deiner Hand" (2:36:46) - "Heil'ge Götter, himmlische Lenker!" (2:40:02) - "Helle Wehr! Heilige Waffe!" (2:45:33) - "Gunther, wehr deinem Weibe" (2:48:33) - "Welches Unholds List liegt hier verhohlen?" (2:51:44) - "Vertraue mir, betrogne Frau" (2:55:30) - "Auf Gunther, edler Gibichung" (2:58:55)
IV - Akt III
Vorspiel (3:07:20) - "Frau Sonne sendet lichte Strahlen" (3:09:00) - "Ein Albe führte mich irr" (3:13:40) - "Was leid' ich doch das karge Lob?" (3:17:10) - "Siegfried!" (3:18:32) - "Hoiho!" (3:26:00) - "Trink, Gunther, trink" (3:29:35) - "Mime hieß ein mürrischer Zwerg" (3:31:59) - "In Leid zu dem Wipfel lauscht' ich hinauf" (3:36:35) - "Brünnhilde, heilige Braut" (3:41:58) - Trauermarsch (3:46:07) - "War das sein Horn?" (3:53:54) - "Hoiho! Hoiho! Wacht auf! Wacht auf!" (3:56:29) - "Nicht klage wider mich" (3:59:07) - "Schweigt eures Jammers jauchzenden Schwall" (4:01:12) - "Starke Scheite schichtet mir dort" (4:04:58) - "Mein Erbe nun nehm' ich zu eigen" (4:13:53) - "Fliegt heim, ihr Raben!" (4:16:25)
Wagner's "Twilight of the Gods" (Götterdämmerung) was sketched in 1848, conceived as a standalone opera titled "Siegfried's Death" (Siegfried's Tod), but the project gradually grew until forming the tetralogy of music dramas "The Ring of the Nibelung". No music was actually composed until 1869, and by then the work was retitled. After considerable difficulties with the ending, the drama was completed on November 21 of 1874. It was premiered at the Bayreuth Festival Theatre on August 17 of 1876, conducted by Hans Richter as part of the first complete performance of The Ring cycle. The whole festival was an artistic triumph but a financial disaster.
Siegfried gives Brünnhilde the Ring and goes to seek adventure. He comes upon the Hall of the Gibichungs, where Alberich’s son Hagen lives with his half-brother Gunther and half-sister Gutrune. Hagen plans to steal the Ring by giving Siegfried a drug to make him forget Brünnhilde and by offering her to Gunther as a bride and Gutrune to Siegfried. Brünnhilde, believing Siegfried has abandoned her, assists Hagen and Gunther in killing him. In a fight for possession of the Ring, Hagen then kills Gunther. Brünnhilde demands a funeral pyre for Siegfried and leaps into the flames herself. Valhalla, the home of the gods, rises in flames and the Rhinemaidens finally reclaim their Ring.
Musically, Wagner had gained such mastery of his drama and musical motives, that he treats both with superb fluidity. Wagner's use of his Leitmotives produces uncannily powerful psychological effects. For example, in Act Three, at the moment of Siegfried's death, the audience sees what he sees, by the use of Brünnhilde's awakening music from Siegfried Act Three, which then fades with his consciousness. The music following Brünnhilde's immolation is hugely consoling after the multiple tragedies, and that consoling effect again lies in Wagner's mastery. Over a series of Leitmotives, the violins sing an arching melody first heard in Die Walküre, when Sieglinde burst out with this melody after Brünnhilde told her that she was bearing Siegmund's child. The label "Redemption by Love" has misled audiences; in fact, Wagner considered it a song of praise to his heroine, Brünnhilde.
To read the libretto: tinyurl.com/24postrm
Pictures (from left to right): "Siegfried leaves Brünnhilde", "Siegfried's death" and "Brünnhilde leaps onto Siegfried's funeral pyre". Illustrations by Arthur Rackham.
Sources: tinyurl.com/zhjxcdc and tinyurl.com/244h2xbp
Score: tinyurl.com/26dxncub
