This well known and fascinating little book by M. Owen Lee contains a wealth of thought-provoking insights into Wagner's 'Ring', perhaps the most monumental work of art in human history. As Lee observes, 'The Ring' uses "external nature to tell us about our inner selves...it takes place outside of time, in the human imagination and memory. On the landscape of your soul, as you listen." It is about evolution, writes Lee, but is "as far in advance of Darwin's theory than myth has always been in advance of science."
To give an example of Lee's insight, he points out the similarities between the opening scene of 'Das Rhinegold' and the 'Forest Murmurs' scene from 'Siegfried', with the forest taking the place of the water as a symbol of the unconscious. The song of the woodbird even echoes the same melody as that of the Rhine Maidens. I must have been blind not to see this before Lee pointed it out! It's so obvious!
Lee is to be congratulated for writing such a deep and philosophical, yet highly accessible book. From reading reviews of opera DVDs on Amazon, it would appear that most lovers of classical music these days no longer wish to understand music with their blood. To them it is just beautiful, highly sophisticated sound, but with no deeper meaning. Wagner would have despised these soulless cretins, or 'cultured philistines' as Nietzsche called them.
Although Lee's interpretation of Wagner becomes too 'psychological' at times, rather than spiritual (even stooping to Freudian theories in a couple of places), it IS fasincating to learn that Siegfried's maturation process matches EXACTLY the three archetypal forces Jung held that a male must face before achieving wholeness (i.e. the attainment of the Self - and after Siegfried has faced these forces, he must then confront Wotan, who tells him "I am your Self").
All of the musical Leitmotifs in the Ring can be divided into two categories: those connected with unconscious nature, and those connected with conscious man. The opening song of the Rhine maidens ("Weia, Waga! Woge du Welle," etc.) can be seen as a kind of 'baby talk', where consciousness arises from the depths and learns to order things for the first time. The Rhinegold itself is the light of consciousness, hidden in the dark waters of the unconscious. With the light of consciousness comes the free choice between what is good and what Father Lee calls 'evil', although Nietzscheans may prefer 'degenerative' or some similar word. Alberich "steals away the golden eye and uses it for evil", yet "a noble, unforgettable theme" sounds when he does so. Lee thinks this is because although "the wresting of consciousness from nature is associated with guilt, the step had to be taken if the human race was to break its bond with mothering nature, the bond that kept it unaware, unthinking, merely intuitive like the animals." This breaking away brought with it knowledge, but also the awareness of death.
In Lee's interpretation Wotan's sacrifice of an eye gives him perfect outward vision, but means he can't see inwardly into his own soul. This is where Brünnhilde comes in. The ending signifies "the transformation of Brünnhilde, Wotan's Wiile (will), into what the whole of Wagner's Ring is striving to create - a new world. It is Wotan's will that the world of Wille (will) be destroyed and transformed into something newer and purer."
The ending of the Ring is not a "return to the beginning", it is a transformation. If it was a return, then Wagner would have brought it back to its original key of E flat, but instead after "a series of awe-inspiring chord progressions", it ends in D flat. So the consciousness of Wotan yields to "the next evolutionary development in human nature." As to what that development will be, Lee's guess is as good as yours or mine.
No Wagnerian should miss out on this book, which also contains an annotated list of further reading, and transcriptions of the most significant musical motifs in the cycle.Get more detail about
Wagner's Ring: Turning the Sky Round.
