Translating Wagner’s Versmelodie
A multimodal challenge
Opera is ‘other’ than the sum of its individual verbal, musical and mimic-scenic parts, and a
singable translation of its libretto requires that the translator go beyond copying the original prosody, so that the
new words fit the notes, to considering the relationship between musical and poetic meaning, as well as the resulting
dramatic action on stage. This study considers how three performed translations of Wagner’s Die
Walküre and Götterdämmerung, two of the operas in the tetralogy Der Ring des
Nibelungen, and my own translation, respond to Wagner’s synthesis of verse and music. It reveals how far
the translator must consider the way in which musical and verbal meanings converge, and how each contributes to the
singer’s interpretation.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Opera as multimodal text
- 3.Wagner’s Versmelodie as musico-poetic integration
- 4.Translating Versmelodie in Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung
- 4.1Accentual relationships
- 4.2Intervallic tension
- 4.3Tonal relationships
- 5.Conclusion
-
Notes
-
References
References (82)
Musical examples by Karen Wilson-deRoze, based on
Jameson, Frederick, Richard Wagner, and Karl Klindworth
n.d.-a.
Die Walküre [
The Valkyrie]. Vocal score, English and German Trans. by
Frederick Jameson 1565th ed. New York Gustav Schirmer
Jameson, Frederick, Richard Wagner, and Karl Klindworth
n.d.-b.
Götterdämmerung [
The Twilight of the Gods]. Vocal score, English and German Trans. by
Frederick Jameson 1562nd ed. New York Gustav Schirmer
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Cited by (1)
Cited by 1 other publications
Virc, Benjamin
2021.
V iskanju inovativnih pristopov pri interdisciplinarnem raziskovanju libretov glasbenogledaliških del.
De musica disserenda 17:2
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