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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Aitor, Ml 48106-1346 USA UMJ 800-521-0600 Altered States; Musical and Psychological Processes in Wagner by Katherine Rae Syer B.A. (Economics), McMaster University, 1989 B A. (Music), McMaster University, 1990 M.A., McMaster University, 1994 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PFOLOSOPFIY in the School of Music We accept this dissertation as conforming to the required standard Dr. William Kinderman, Supeljvisor (School of Music) tmental Member (School of Music) ____________________________________________ I^/Gordana Lazarevi^W, Departmental Member (School of Music) _________________________________ Dr. Anthony-iehkins, Outside Member (Department of English) Dr. Patrick McCreless, External Examiner (Department o f Music, Yale University) © Katherine Rae Syer, 1999 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This dissertation may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopying or other means, without permission of the author. u Supervisor; Dr. William A. Kinderman Abstract This study reconstructs the early development o f modem psychological thought as a context for understanding Wagner’s artistic practices. It opens by considering the evolution of psychological thought in German-speaking regions in the late eighteenth century and the growing recognition of unconscious psychological states. By the time that Wagner’s career as an opera composer was underway, aesthetic theory and practices had changed to reflect implications of the model of the mind that absorbed early scientific and medical accounts of the unconscious. The application of these psychological ideas in Wagner’s works is the focus of the analytical sections of the present work. Der fliegende Hollander (1841) is the first opera in which Wagner systematically coordinated issues of musical-dramatic structure with psychological principles; this process merits detailed analysis. In Der fliegende Hollander, and all of his subsequent works, Wagner distinguished between phenomenal and noumenal music. Beginning with Tannhduser, he experimented with the invisible fringes of the stage as performance space that could allude to the noumenal world. After surveying the evolution of Wagner’s use of “unseen voices,” examples from Parsifal are assessed. Close examination of its second scene gives attention to this practice as well as to a vivid somnambulistic episode. The scene as a whole is shown to be a sophisticated manipulation of the Kantian notions of time and space Ill that yields a tonal plan or framework coordinated with a differentiated conception of consciousness. The final two chapters are devoted to the musical and psychological representation of two of Wagner’s most important pairs of characters; Siegfned and Brünnhilde, and Tristan and Isolde. Analyses of Siegfried, Act I, and Gotterdammerung, Act III, as well as Tristan und Isolde illustrate how Wagner’s large-scale tonal planning and associative tonalities are employed in the service of evolving psychological processes. Schopenhauer’s theory of allegorical dream states is shown to be particularly relevant to a re-evaluation of the Wagnerian practice of the “double-tonic complex’’ much discussed in recent scholarship. Examiners: Dr. William Kinderman, Supervisor (School of Music) Prof. Christopher Butterfield, Departmental Member (School of Music) Gordana Lazarevidm Departmental Member (School of Music) Dr. Anthony Jenlans, Outside Member (Department of English) Dr. Patrick McCreless, External Examiner (Department of Music, Yale University) IV Table of Contents Abstract................................................................................................................. ü Table of Contents .................................................................................................iv List of Figures .......................................................................................................v List of Examples .................................................................................................. vi Acknowledgments ............................................................................................. vii Dedication ......................................................................................................... viü Preface..................................................................................................................ix Chapter I Wagner’s Position in the History of Psychological Thought ......................... I Chapter 2 Der fliegende Hollander, a case study........................................................... 73 Chapter 3 Part I - Unseen Voices ....................................................................................137 Part II - Parsifal: Act I, scene 2.....................................................................156 Chapter 4 Der Ring des Nibelungen Part I - Siegfried the Hero? ............................................................................ 188 Part H - Siegfried’s Legacy ............................................................................225 Chapter 5 Part I - Tonality, Form and Psychology ....................................................... 267 Part n - Associative Tonalities in Tristan und Isolde.................................287 Selected Bibliography .....................................................................................301 List of Figures 3.1 Parsifal, Act I, scene 2.......................................................................................161 4.1 Siegfried, Act I, scene 3, Forging Songs .......................................................... 197 5.1 Derjliegende Hollander, overview of tonal framework ................................. 272 5.2 Tristan und Isolde, tonal plan and associative significance .............................295 VI List of Examples 2.1 Der fliegende Hollander, Act I, no.2 ..................................................................84 2.2 Der fliegende Hollander, Act I, no.2 ................................................................86 2.3 Der fliegende Hollander, Act I, no.2 ................................................................89 2.4 Der fliegende Hollander, Act I, no.2 ................................................................93 2.5 Derfliegende Hollander, Act H, Senta’s Ballade .......................................... 102 2.6 Der fliegende Holldnder, Act II, Senta’s Ballade ...........................................104 2.7 Der fliegende Holldnder, Act II, Senta’s Ballade ...........................................106 2.8 Der fliegende Holldnder, Act II, no. 5 ..............................................................111 2.9 Derfliegende Holldnder, Act II, Erik’s dream narration ................................ 127 2.10 Der fliegende Holldnder, Act I, no. 1 ...............................................................134 4.1 Siegfried, Act I, scene 3, Forging Song 1 ........................................................ 194 4.2 Siegfried, Act I, scene 3, Forging Song II .......................................................210 4.3 Gotterddmmerung, Act III, scene 2.................................................................. 256 4.4 Gotterddmmerung, Act IE, scene 2...................................................................259 4.5 Gotterddmmerung, Act HI, scene 3...................................................................261 5.1 Tristan und Isolde, Act II, scene 2................................................................... 297 vu Acknowledgments Research for this study was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), and the University of Victoria. I am most grateful for this support. Amongst the many individuals who have enabled me to pursue this project, I wish to thank Roland de Beer and Dr. William Kinderman for their unfailing support and inspiration. V lll To my parents, Bruce and Jacqueline Syer IX Preface Wagner’s preoccupation with psychological states and processes is a dimension of his work that rewards detailed critical scrutiny. Thomas Mann certainly thought so in his famous 1933 essay “The Sorrows and Grandeur of Richard