The Genesis of Wagner's Drama "Tannhäuser"Author(s): J. G. RobertsonSource: The Modern Language Review, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Oct., 1923), pp. 458-470Published by: Modern Humanities Research AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3714155Accessed: 27/07/2010 18:26

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THE GENESIS OF WAGNER'S DRAMA 'TANNHAUSER.'

IN his Mein Leben Wagner describes the origins of Tannhduser in a passage which is largely a reproduction of what he had already said in Eine Mittheilung an meine Freundel:

Diesen Stoff hatte mir ein zufallig mir in die Hand gerathenes Volksbuch vom Venusberg eingegeben. Hatte ich im unwillkiirlichen Drange dem, was ich als deutsch mit immer innigerer Warme sehnsiichtig zu erfassen suchte, mich immer mehr zugewandt, so ging mir diess hier plotzlich in der einfachen, auf das bekannte alte Lied vom Tannhduser begriindeten Darstellung dieser Sage auf. Zwar kannte ich alle zu ihr gehirigen Elemente bereits durch Tiecks Erzahlung in seinem Phan- tasus; doch hatte mich diese Fassung des Gegenstandes mehr auf das phantastische, friiher durch Hoffmann in mir begriindete Gebiet zuriickgefiihrt, und keineswegs hatte ich dieser vollstindig ausgebildeten Erzihlung den Stoff zu einer dramatischen Arbeit zu entnehmen mich verleitet fiihlen konnen. Was allerdings dem Volksbuch sogleich nach dieser Seite hin ein grosses Ubergewicht bei mir gab, war, dass Tann- hduser hier, wenn auch nur durch sehr fluichtige Bezeichnung, mit dem Sdngerkrieg auf Wartburg in Verbindung gesetzt war. Auch diesen kannte ich bereits durch eine Hoffmann'sche Erzahlung in dessen 'Serapionsbriidern'; nur fiihlte ich, dass der alte Stoff hier sehr entstellt dem Dichter aufgegangen war, und suchte nun mir niheren Aufschluss iiber die achte Gestalt dieser anziehenden Sage zu verschaffen. Da brachte mir Lehrs ein Jahresheft der Konigsberger deutschen Gesellschaft, in welchem Lukas den ' Wartburgkrieg' kritisch naiher behandelte, namentlich auch den Text davon in der Ursprache gab. Trotzdem ich von dieser ichten Fassung fiir meine Absicht materiell so gut wie gar nichts benutzen konnte, zeigte er mir doch das deutsche Mittelalter in einer prignanten Farbe, von welcher ich bis dahin keine Ahnung erhalten hatte.

One difficulty in accepting this statement has always been recognised: no Volksbuch of Der Venusberg or Tannhduser is known to exist2. But it will, I think, be seen that in other respects Wagner's words bear witness to the fallibility of his memory, even in 1851, when the Mit-

theilung was written. The sources of Wagner's drama are, in the first instance, the story

entitled Der Kampf der Sdnger in the second volume of Hoffmann's Serapionsbriider (1819), and an indifferent 'Dichterspiel,' Der Sdnger- krieg auf der Wartburg, published by Friedrich de la Motte Fouque in 1828. A consideration of his use of these two works shows that the first

conception of Wagner's drama was not a Tannhauser at all, but a Sdnger- 1 R. Wagner, Mein Leben, Munich, 1911, i, pp. 254 f.; Eine Mittheilung, in Gesammelte

Schriften und Dichtungen, 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1887, iv, p. 269. The present paper is an elaboration of views expressed in a course of public lectures on Wagner as Poet and Thinker, which I held at Bedford College, University of London, in the spring of the present year.

2 P. Riesenfeld (Heinrich von Ofterdingen in der deutschen Literatur, Berlin, 1912, p. 85) suggests that Wagner was thinking of Ludwig Bechstein's Der Sagenschatz und die Sagenkreise des ThUringer Landes, Hildburghausen, 1835. But Bechstein merely mentions (i, p. 137) the fact that Tannhauser had been invited to the Wartburg by the Landgraf.

J. G. ROBERTSON

krieg auf Wartburg, the hero of which was Heinrich von Ofterdingen. I deal first with Hoffmann's story1.

One spring night, when the wind is howling round the house, the narrator, Cyprian, poring at his fire over Wagenseil's old book on the art of the Mastersingers, has a dream. He sees himself in a forest.

Der Morgenwind erhob sich, und bahnte, das Gewolk vor sich her aufrollend, dem hellen lieblichen Sonnenschein den Weg, der bald auf alien griinen Blattern flimmerte und die schlafenden Vogelein weckte, die in frohlichem Trilleriren von Zweig zu Zweig flatterten und hiipften. Da erschallte von ferne her lustiges Horner- geton.... Die Horner schwiegen, aber nun erhoben sich Harfenklange und Stimmen so herrlich zusamment6nend, wie die Musik des Himmels. Immer niher und naher kam der liebliche Gesang, Jiiger, die Jagdspiesse in den Handen, die blanken Jagd- horner um die Schulter gehingt, ritten hervor aus der Tiefe des Waldes2.

Wagenseil now appears to the dreamer in person and explains to him who the gay company is. The stately gentleman in the princely mantle is the Landgraf Hermann von Thiiringen; the lady is the Grafin Mathilde von Falkenstein, a young widow at his court; their companions are the

joyous Minnesinger Walther von der Vogelweid, Reinhard von Zwekh- stein, Heinrich Schreiber, Johannes Bitterolff, and, a courtly knight with blue eyes on a milk-white steed at Mathilde's side, Wolfframb von Eschinbach. But there is another in the company, a pale youth with

flaming eyes and a face distorted as if by pain, Heinrich von Ofterdingen. Round Ofterdingen is a mystery which even the Landgraf fails to solve; he is melancholy and unhappy; his songs are of unsatisfied longing and death; his brother singers are filled with pity for him. To none of these is Ofterdingen drawn as to Wolfframb, and Wolfframb 'erwiederte dies aus dem tiefsten Grunde seines Gemiths' (p. 30). Wolfframb succeeds in discovering Heinrich's secret: he is eating out his heart for the Grafin Mathilde3, the Mathilde whom Wolfframb himself loves. He

suggests, by way of consolation, that Heinrich might just as easily win Mathilde's favour by his songs, as he himself had won it (p. 33).

One evening, when wandering in the neighbourhood of the Wartburg, Ofterdingen is suddenly confronted by a devil, who tells him that he and his fellow-singers have no idea of the deeper sources of their art; he bids Ofterdingen seek out the magician Meister Klingsohr in Sieben-

biirgen, who will teach him how to win honour, riches, women's favour,

1 There is a comparison of Tannhduser with Der Kampfder Sdnger in W. Golther, Zur deutschen Sage und Dichtung, Leipzig, 1914, pp. 49 if. Some points where I am indebted to Golther are noted below.

2 In the edition of Hoffmann's Sdmtliche Werke by C. G. von Maasen, vi, Munich, 1912, p. 23. Cp. Tannhduser, Act I, se. iv.

3 In his confession to Wolfframb Heinrich says (p. 32): 'Da fuhr ein funkelnder Blitz durch die Finsterniss, und ich schrie laut auf: Mathilde !-Ich war erwacht, der Traum verrauscht.' Golther (p. 50) compares Tannhduser, 259: 'Bleib' bei Elisabeth!'

459

460 The Genesis of Wagner's Drama ' Tannhduser'

Mathilde herself. Ofterdingen suddenly disappears, and he is mourned for as dead; 'nun erst zeigte sich recht, wie sie ihn alle geliebt trotz seines zerrissenen oft bis zur hohnenden Bitterkeit mtirrischen Wesens'

(p. 42). In the following spring he returns from Siebenbiirgenl as un-

expectedly as he had disappeared. He is welcomed by his brother

singers. 'Mit freudigem Erschrecken erkannten alle in ihm den verloren

geglaubten Heinrich von Ofterdingen. Die Meister gingen auf ihn zu mit freundlichen, herzlichen Griissen' (p. 42)2. He is entirely changed; his melancholy has disappeared. He takes part in a singing contest:

Er wiirdigte die Meister keines Wortes, sondern setzte sich schweigend auf seinen Platz. Wahrend die andern sangen, sah er in die Wolken3, schob sich auf dem Sitz hin und her, zahlte an den Fingern, gahnte, kurz bezeigte auf alle nur mogliche Weise Unmuth und Langeweile. Wolfframb von Eschinbach sang ein Lied zum Lobe des Landgrafen, und kam dann auf die Riickkehr des verloren geglaubten Freundes, die er so recht aus dem tiefsten Gemiith schilderte, dass sich alle innig geriihrt fiihlten. Heinrich von Ofterdingen runzelte aber die Stirn und nahm, sich von Wolfframb abwendend, die Laute, auf ihr einige wunderbare Akkorde anschlagend. Er stellte sich in die Mitte des Kreises, und begann ein Lied, dessen Weise so ganz anders als alles, was die andern gesungen, so unerhort war, dass alle in die gr6sste Verwunde- rung, ja zuletzt in das hochste Erstaunen geriethen. Es war, als schliige er mit seinen gewaltigen Tonen an die dunklen Pforten eines fremden verhangnissvollen Reichs, und beschwore die Geheimnisse der unbekannten dort hausenden Macht herauf. Dann rief er die Gestirne an, und indem seine Lautentone leiser lispelten, glaubte man der Sphiiren klingenden Reigen zu vernehmen. Nun rauschten die Akkorde stirker, und gliihende Diifte wehten daher, und Bilder iippigen Liebes- gliicks flammten in dem aufgegangenen Eden aller Lust. Jeder fiihlte sein Inneres erbeben in seltsamen Schauern. Als Ofterdingen geendet, war alles in tiefem Schweigen verstummt, aber dann brach der jubelnde Beifall stiirmisch hervor. Die Dame Mathilde erhob sich schnell von ihrem Sitz, trat auf Ofterdingen zu, und driickte ihm den Kranz auf die Stirne, den sie als Preis des Gesanges in der Hand getragen (pp. 43 f.)4.

It is needless to point out how much all this has meant for the final scene of Wagner's first act and for his second act. He has modified the situation, in so far as he implies that Heinrich had won Mathilde's affection before his departure, and that his arrogant outburst, after his offensive praise of the Duke of Austria, described by Hoffmann later, also preceded that event5. But several singing contests are described in Hoffmann's confused tale, and in planning his second act, Wagner combined that which I have quoted with the more elaborate final con- test, which takes place before 'thousands of spectators.' Here lots are

1 Tannhduser, 244: 'Ich wanderte in weiter, weiter Feme.' Also 346: 'Fern von hier, in weiten, weiten Landen.'

2 Ibid., 237 ff. 3 In Wagner he 'scheint sich in Triumereien zu verlieren' (461). 4 One might say that it was of this song Elisabeth is thinking when she says

(Tannhduser, 366 ff.): 'Doch welch' ein seltsam neues Leben rief euer Lied mir in die BrustI ' etc. Cp. also Wolfram (268 ff.): ' Als du in kiihnem Sange,' etc. In his treatment of the singing contest Wagner has probably, as will be seen, been influenced by Raupach. 5 Tannhduser, 231 f.: ' den Kreis, den du in Hochmuth stolz verliessest.'

J. G. ROBERTSON

drawn, and it falls to Wolfframb to open the contest1. To heighten the colour of the scene, Wagner borrowed from a later episode in Hoffmann's tale, where the devil Nasias is sent to Wolfframb by Klingsohr. Nasias

sings to him 'ein Lied von der schonen Helena und von den iiberschwen-

glichen Freuden des Venusbergs.' But Wolfframb, rememberingMathilde, 'hatte nichts vernommen von dem Gesang des Bdsen; als dieser aber nun schwieg, begann Wolfframb ein Lied, das in den herrlichsten, ge- waltigsten Tonen die Himmelsseligkeit der reinen Liebe des frommen

Sangers pries' (p. 62). In the final contest Wolfframb, to his horror, hears Heinrich repeat the song which Nasias had sung to him; again, however, the vision of Mathilde presents itself to him, and he wins the

prize. Heinrich disappears in a cloud of smoke. The end of Der Kampf der Sdnger is that Wolfframb receives a

letter from Heinrich, who subsequently rises to high honour at the Austrian court, thanking him for having saved him. 'An dem Rande des Abgrundes stand ich, und Du hieltst mich fest, als schon verderbliche Schwindel mich betaubten. Dein schoner Sieg ist es, der, indem er Deinen

Gegner vernichtete, mich dem frohen Leben wiedergab' (p. 72). Thus the ultimate motive of Hoffmann's story is one that was particularly dear to Wagner's heart, 'Erlisung'; but the 'Erliser' is here, not the woman Heinrich loves, but Wolfframb.

Before leaving Der Kampf der Singer, it is worth noting that the

opening of Wagner's third act may have been suggested by Hoffmann's scene where Mathilde returns to Wolfframb:

Die Grafin Mathilde hatte sich indessen nach dem Garten der Wartburg begeben, und Wolfframb von Eschinbach war ihr dahin nachgefolgt. Als er sie nun fand, wie sie unter sch6nen bluhenden Baumen auf einer blumigen Rasenbank sass, die Hande auf dem Schooss gefaltet, das sch6ne Haupt in Schwermuth niedergesenkt zur Erde, da warf er sich der holden Frau zu Fiissen, keines Wortes machtig (p. 70).

She believes that she has been, the victim of an evil dream, and seeks his forgiveness. Lastly, Wolfram's song to the evening star in Tann- hduser was also suggested by more than one passage in Hoffmann2.

1 ' Darauf trat der Marschall vor die Meister hin mit einem silbernen Gefiss, aus dem jeder ein Los ziehen musste' (p. 68); Wagner, 460: 'Vier Edelknaben...sammeln in einem goldenen Becher von jedem der Singer seinen auf ein Blattchen geschriebenen Namen ein.' Cp. W. Golther, op. cit., p. 51; he also points out that Wolfram's song (462 ff.): 'Blick' ich umher' has been suggested by Hoffmann's words (pp. 39 f.): ' Gewiss, vielgeliebter Leser! befandest du dich einmal in einem Kreise, der, von holden Frauen, sinnvollen Mainnern gebildet, ein sch6ner, von den verschiedensten in Duft und Farbenglanz mitein- ander wetteifernden Blumen geflochtener Kranz zu nennen.'

2 Hoffmann, pp. 26 f.: 'Da stieg ein in milchweissem Licht herrlich funkelnder Stern empor aus der Tiefe und wandelte daher auf der Himmelsbahn, und ihm nach zogen die Meister auf glanzenden Wolken, singend und ihr Saitenspiel ruhrend.' Also p. 28. Cp. Tannhduser, 759 ff.; also 470, 564.

M. L. R. VIII. 30

461

462 The Genesis of Wagner's Drama ' Tannhauser'

The value of Wagner's second source, Fouques 'Dichterspiel,' for his

purposes was twofold. It suggested the structure of his second act, and, more particularly, the part which Elisabeth plays in it. Fouqu6's 'erste Abentheure'-it is preceded by a 'Vorspiel'-opens with a scene in the

Wartburg garden between Heinrich and Sophia Biterolf with whom he is in love. There is, however, little love story in the play, which keeps closely to its source; and the character of Sophia Biterolf is without significance. In the subsequent singing contest Heinrich falls into dis- favour by his praise of the Duke of Austria, and in his anger draws his sword2. The company adjourns to the hall of the castle, where the

Landgrafin Sophia interposes: like Elisabeth, she takes Heinrich under her protection: 'Derweil bleibt Ihr in meinem Schutz' (p. 96)3. As a

consequence of her pleading, the Landgraf grants Ofterdingen a respite, banishing him from the Wartburg for a year:

Fiir eines Jahreswechsels Frist Gonn' ich zu seinem schwier'gen Werk dem Pilgrim Raum. Kehrt er zum Wartburgschlosse bis dahin nicht heim, So icht' ihn der Altsassen furchtbar Sangesrecht. Bis dahin ruh's, und schweig' davon auch das Geriicht4. (pp. 106 f.)

The reference to Heinrich as a 'pilgrim' may have provided Wagner with a hint. Heinrich, however, does not pilgrimage here to Rome, but to Klingsohr in Siebenburgen. The scene continues as follows, clearly

suggesting the end of Wagner's second act: Heinrich. Gern will ich in die Fremnde wallen 5!

Doch wallt zum lIeil der Pilgrim nicht, Auf welchen Zornesstrahlen fallen Von edlem Stern, sonst lieb und licht. Lasst, hohe Herrin, Euern Seegen Mit mir....

Landgrifin. Vorhin schon hab' ich's Euch gesprochen, Bedrangter Sangmanln: geht mit Gott!... Gott mit Euch! Demuth Euerm Muth6!

Heinrich. Hold sprach und ernst meiu Engelsrichter7. Getrost beginn' ich fernen Lauf.

Landgraf. Mit Gott, Bedrangt'ster aller Dichter !

Wagner has also taken over traits from the final singing contest, which is represented in Fouque's second 'Abentheure.' The formal

preparations for the ' Turnier' were of use to him:

1 The drama is described at length by P. Riesenfeld, op. cit., pp. 190 ff. Attention has already been drawn to the fact that Wagner was influenced by Fouque, by Koch and others; but the nature of his indebtedness has not been defined. A memory of this play in Wagner may be traced, I think, as late as Parsifal.

2 Cp. Tannhauser, 542 ff. 3 Ibid., 600 if. 4 Ibid., 640 ff. 5 Ibid., 683: 'Doch will ich bissend wallen.' 6 Ibid., 692: 'in Demuth siihnet eure Schuld !' 7 Ibid., 687 f.:' 0, dass nur er versihnet, der Engel meiner Noth.' Cp. 621 and below,

p. 463, note 3.

J. G. ROBERTSON 463

Trompetenstoss. Landgraf Hermann und Landgrafin Sophia treten auf im feier- lichen Zuge, vor ihnen her Edelknaben und Hoffriiulein; desgleichen in ihrem Gefolg. Sie nehmen Platz auf einem erhoheten Sitz. Bald nach ihnen treten ein die Sanges- meister Wolfram von Eschenbach, Walter von der Vogelweide, Reimar von Zweter, Heinrich der Schreiber, Biterolf von Eisenach und Heinrich von Ofterdingen. Sie griissen die Herrschaften mit Kniebeugung. Dann nehmen sie auf niedern Sesseln Platz, dem Hochsitz gegeniiber (p. 227)1. The Landgraf opens the proceedings by addressing the singers:

Dieweil noch nicht der Kampfesrichter hier erschien, Dem jener Purpursessel auf erhohtem Stand Zum feierlichen Sitze ward bestimmt,-wohlauf, Ihr Meister des Gesanges, hebt inzwischen noch, Wenn's Euch gefillt, ein heitres Rathselvorspiel an2. (p. 228.)

Here, too, as before, the Landgrafin interposes on Heinrich's behalf:

0, haltet ein mit ungrossmiith'gem Kampf! Seht Ihr denn nicht, wie im verzerrten Krampf Sich des erschreckten Knappen Glieder strecken ?... Getrost, Du Zagender! Dich schiitzt mein Bitten. Niemand hat Hohn vor mir noch je erlitten3. (p. 235.)

Finally, Heinrich's words to the Landgrafin (p. 296) would seem to have been in Wagner's mind when he wrote the last scene of his Tannhduser:

Ihr scheint und seid ein wunderseel'ger Engel mir4, Ein Bild, wie's siind'gen Menschen selten nur erscheint, Wohl Manchem an des Sterbelagers Bettung erst. Ich Gliicklicher! Im heitern Leben sah ich Euch! Ich Seeliger! Mit letztem Hauch wohl ahn' ich Euch. Bete fur Euch; Vertretet mich Euch im Gebet. Wollt ihr ?

Another literary source which comes into question for the middle act of Tannhduser is Raupach's drama, Konig Enzio, for the first

Leipzig performance of which (February 2, 1832) Wagner composed incidental music. In the Prologue to that drama King Enzio proposes to the young Bolognese noblemen assembled at his table, love as the theme of their songs:

Die Wahl ist schon getroffen: Die nachsten Lieder sollen uns belehren, Was Liebe sey. Wir lieben allzumal, Und Keiner weiss, was Liebe ist.

1 Ibid., 426 ff.: ' Trompeten.-Grafen, Ritter und Edelfrauen in reichem Schmucke werden durch Edelknaben eingefiihrt.... Die Ritter und Frauen haben die von den Edel- knaben ihnen angewiesenen, in einem weiten Halbkreise erhbhten Platze eingenommen. Der Landgraf und Elisabeth nehmen im Vordergrunde unter einem Baldachin Ehrensitze ein.-Trompeten.-Die Sanger treten auf und verneigen sich feierlich mit ritterlichem Grusse gegen die Versammlung; darauf nehmen sie...die fiir sie bestimmten Platze ein.' See also below, p. 469. Wagner, it will be seen, substituted Fouque's spelling of the proper names-except ' Walter '-for Hoffmann's, even 'Reimar,' which is the form in the early editions of the opera. 2 Cp. Tannhduser, 433: ' In weisen Rithseln wie in heit'ren Liedern.'

3 Ibid., 600 ff. 4 Ibid., 893: ' Ein Engel bat fur dich auf Erden '; also 898, 901.

30-2

464 The Genesis of Wagner's Drama 'Tannhduser'

Rainero maintains the standpoint of Wolfram:

So beten wir noch jetzt die Frauen an; Und dieser Gottesdienst ist nun die Liebe.

While Matteo, like Tannhauser, proclaims love to be 'Sinnlichkeit und weiter nichts'.'

All this, it seems to me, points convincingly to Wagner's original conception being a Sangerkrieg auf Wartburg with Ofterdingen as hero.

Subsequent to the spring of 1842, when he found Ofterdingen identified with Tannhauser in Lucas's treatise, Uber den Krieg von Wartburg2, Wagner superimposed the story of Tannhauser on an original Sdnger- krieg auf Wartburg, a process which is indicated by the double title the drama still bears3. Internal evidence of the change is not wanting; for Wagner, as is to be seen in his Ring des Nibelungen, was often care- less in the final revision of his texts. When, for instance, in answer to Elisabeth's question (352): 'Was war es dann, das euch zuriickgefihrt ' Tannhauser-and he still retains the original name 'Heinrich'-answers: ' Ein Wunder war's, ein unbegreiflich hohes Wunder,' he was not origin- ally thinking of 'die Wunder deiner Gnade' (218) whereby he escapes from Frau Venus's thrall, but the love that had drawn him back from 'weiten, weiten Landen' to Elisabeth.

Den Gott der Liebe sollst du preisen, er hat die Saiten mir beriihrt, er sprach zu dir aus meinen Weisen, zu dir hat er mich hergefiihrt. (342 if.)

And it is inconceivable that Wagner, had he already written his Venus-

berg scene, could have let his Tannhauser address Elisabeth in words so

tactlessly reminiscent of what he had not long before said to Venus4. It has been seen that the introduction of the Venusberg into Wagner's

drama was not necessarily dependent on the substitution of Tannhauser for Heinrich von Ofterdingen; it had already been suggested by Hoff- mann's Kampf der Sanger. The temptation to substitute Venus for Hoffmann's Klingsohr might have been further prompted by another

1 Tannhauser, 529: 'Im Genuss nur kenn' ich Liebe.' 2 Historische und litterarische Abhandlungen der kaniglichen deutschen Gesellschaft zu

K'inigsberg, iv, 2, K6nigsberg, 1838, p. 270. Beyond this identification, Wagner owes very little to Lucas's treatise. This in itself seems to support my contention that Tannhduser belongs essentially to Wagner's pre-Parisian period. Lucas is, however, one of the main sources for Lohengrin.

3 As late as April 7, 1843 (Letter to Lehrs, published in the Bayreuther BlWtter, xxv, 1902, p. 181), however, Wagner still referred to his work as Der Venusberg. Of minor importance is the question, at what stage did Wagner's heroine become Elisabeth? The temptation to replace 'Mathilde' or ' Sophia' may have been present from the first; for (the historically later) Saint Elisabeth is referred to in both sources, in Hoffmann and Fouque, as well as in Lucas.

4 Notably Tannhauser, 55: ' Gepriesen sei dein Lieben !'

J. G. ROBERTSON

story of that writer's in which we know Wagner to have been interested, Die Bergwerke zu Falun. It is the first volume of the Serapionsbriider, and provided Wagner, I believe, with the first suggestion for what

ultimately became Der fliegende Holltnder. In the bowels of the earth the hero of this tale has an experience not dissimilar to Tann- hauser's:

Er blickte in die paradiesische Gefilde der herrlichsten Metallbaume und Pflanzen, an denen wie Friichte, Bliithen und Blumen feuerstrahlende Steine hingen. Er sah die Jungfrauen, er schaute das hohe Antlitz der michtigen Konigin. Sie erfasste ihn, zog ihn hinab, driickte ihn an ihre Brust, da durchzuckte ein gliihender Strahl sein Inneres und sein Bewusstseyn war nur das Geftihl als schwaimme er in den Wogen eines blauen durchsichtig funkelnden Nebels2.

It is, however, difficult to see how the present Venusberg scene could have been conceived before the change from Ofterdingen to Tannhauser had been decided upon. At most, the three strophes which Tannhiuser sings in praise of Venus, might have originally had their

place in the Singing Contest, and given more substantial ground there for the offence Ofterdingen causes. The ballad of Tannhduser Wagner knew from Heine's Elementargeister, published in the third volume of the Salon (1837). It is quoted here from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, and Heine appends his own Tannhauser ballad. From his characteristic comment I quote the following:

Eine Weile lang geht's gut. Aber der Mensch ist nicht immer aufgelegt zum Lachen, er wird manchmal still und ernst und denkt zuriick in die Vergangenheit; denn die Vergangenheit ist die eigentliche Heimath seiner Seele, und es erfasst ihn ein Heimweh nach den Gefiihlen, die er einst empfunden hat, und seien es auch Gefiihle des Schmerzes3. It has, however, been pointed out4 that Tannhiuser's motive for re-

turning to the world in Wagner is not the repentance of the ballad; and it is more than Heine's: 'Ich schmachte nach Bitternissen.' His

yearning is to see the sky and the stars, meadow and cornfield, to smell the forest and hear the nightingale. This motive-if it is necessary to seek a suggestion for it-is to be found in another story of the Romantic

age, which must be regarded as the main source of Wagner's Venusberg, Ludwig Tieck's Der getreue Eckart und der Tannenhauser, published in his Romantische Dichtungen (1799) and subsequently in Phantasus (1812). Tannenhiuser's friend, Friedrich von Wolfsburg, meets him as a pilgrim after his long disappearance, and learns that he has been in Rome. He is induced to tell his story.

1 It is interesting to note Wagner's indebtedness in the case of both operas to Heine. 2 Ausgewahlte Schriften, Berlin, 1827, i, p. 257. Cp. Wagner's own description of this

scene in his sketch, Die Bergwerke zu Falun, Schriften, xi, 1911, p. 131. 3 Sdmtliche Werke, ed. E. Elster, iv, p. 429. Cp. Tannhiiuser, 46: ' Aus Freuden sehn'

ich mich nach Schmerzen.' 4 E. Elster, Tannhiuser in Geschichte, Sage und Dichtung, Bromberg, 1908, p. 20.

465

466 The Genesis of Wagner's Drama 'Tannhduser'

Der Tannenhauser verbarg sein Haupt im griinen Grase, und reichte unter lautem Schluchzen seinem Freunde abgewandt die rechte Hand, die dieser zirtlich drickte. Der triibselige Pilgrim richtete sichwieder auf, und begann seine Erzahlung1.

He describes at great length his unhappy love2 and how the devil shows him the way to the Venusberg. He pushes past the warning Eckart and makes his way into the mountain.

Alsbald vernahm ich Musik, aber eine ganz andre, als bis dahin zu meinem Gehor gedrungen war, meine Geister in mir arbeiteten den T6nen entgegen.... So kam mir das Gewimmel der frohen heidnischen Gotter entgegen, Frau Venus an ihrer Spitze, alle begriissten mich.... Alle Freuden, die die Erde beut, genoss und schmeckte ich hier in ihrer vollsten Bliithe, unersiittlich war mein Busen und un- endlich der Genuss. Die beriihmten Sch6nheiten der alten Welt waren zugegen, was mein Gedanke wiinschte war in meinem Besitz, eine Trunkenheit folgte der andren, mit jedem Tage schien um mich her die Welt in bunteren Farben zu brennen. Strome des kostlichsten Weines loschten den grimmen Durst, und die holdseligsten Gestalten gaukelten dann in der Luft.... Wie viele Jahre so verschwunden sind, weiss ich nicht zu sagen: denn hier gab es keine Zeit und keine Unterschiede3, in den Blumen brannte der Midchen und der Liiste Reiz....

Doch wie es geschah, kann ich so wenig sagen wie fassen, dass mich nun in aller Siinderherrlichkeit der Trieb nach der Ruhe, der Wunsch zur alten unschuldigen Erde mit ihren diirftigen Freuden eben so ergriff, wie mich vormals die Sehnsucht hieher gedrangt hatte. Es zog mich an, wieder jenes Leben zu leben, das die Menschen in aller Bewusstlosigkeit fiihren, mit Leiden und abwechselnden Freuden; ich war von dem Glanz gesattigt und suchte gern die vorige Heimath wieder. Eine unbegreifliche Gnade des Allmichtigen verschaffte mir die Riickkehr, ich befand mich pl6tzlich wieder in der Welt, und denke nun meinen siindigen Busen vor den Stuhl unsers allerheiligsten Vaters in Rom auszuschiitten, dass er mir vergebe und ich den iibrigen Menschen wieder zugezahlt werde. (pp. 210 f.)

Tieck is content to say that Venus meets Tannenhauser with a 'Ge- wimmel der frohen heidnischer Gotter'; Wagner definitely peoples his

Venusberg with naiads, sirens and bacchantes. Subsequently, he was to elaborate the scene with still more classical mythology, a feature which the uninitiated beholder, who feels that a Germanic Frau Holda would have been more in harmony with the work than a classical Venlls, finds not a little incongruous. Wagner found Holda identified with Venus in Lucas (p. 160), and further support for this identification in Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie (1835, pp. 887 ff.); he prefaced the 1845 edition of the opera with a brief note-omitted in 1851-explaining the matter on the basis of these authorities. But opera tradition was, no doubt, largely responsible for Wagner's classical treatment of the scene.

In the ballad-not in Heine's version-when Venus's temptations fail, and Tannhauser has called her' eine Teufelinne,' she says:

1 Schriften, Berlin, 1828-46, iv, p. 201. Cp. Tannhauser, Act III, sc. iii. But the motive might also have been suggested by Marschner's Hans Heiling. See below, p. 468.

2 Even this has left its traces on Wagner's version. Cp. 27 f.: 'Hast du so bald ver- gessen, wie du einst gelitten?' words which have no particular meaning applied to Wagner's hero.

3 Tannhauser, 25 f.: 'Die Zeit, die hier ich weil', ich kann sie nicht ermessen.'

J. G. ROBERTSON

Tannhauser, ach, wie sprecht Ihr so, Bestehet Ihr mich zu schelten ? Sollt't Ihr noch langer bei uns sein, Des Worts miisst Ihr entgelten.

Tannhauser, wollt Ihr Urlaub han, Nehmt Urlaub von den Greisen, Und wo Ihr in dem Land umfahren, Mein Lob, das sollt Ihr preisen.

Here Wagner introduces the definite motive of a curse pronounced by Venus on Tannhauser (125): 'Suche dein Heil-und find' es nie,' which is a repetition of that which lies on his Flying Dutchman (43 f.): 'Das

Heil, das auf dem Land' ich suche, nimmer werd' ich es finden.' Tannhauser's admirable description of his pilgrimage to Rome is

elaborated from the narrative of the ballad, again with occasional touches from Heine'. In Tieck there is no description of the scene with the

pope; but after months Tannenhauser comes again to Friedrich, 'bleich und abgezehrt, in zerrissenen Wallfahrtskleidern2.' 'Der hellige Vater,' he says, 'will und kann mir nicht vergeben, ich muss in meinen alten Wohnsitz zurick.' He returns to the Venusberg. It is hardly likely that at any time Wagner was prepared to accept this simple tragic close: in any case, it was foreign to the original Ofterdingen plan.

Another and necessarily potent source of Wagner's inspiration was the operatic literature-I am not, of course, concerned with the music- of his time. This has not, so far, been adequately brought into connec- tion with his work. The Venusberg scene had, in particular, a long operatic tradition behind it. Wagner could not but have thought of the Elysian fields in Gluck's Orfeo3; he might have remembered the

opening scene in fairy-land of Weber's Oberon. The plan of beginning an

opera dealing with supernatural motives with a scene in the underworld was an heritage from the 'Wiener Posse' and much in favour with the fabricators of romantic dramas and operas. It is a feature of both Marschner's Vampyr (first Leipzig performance 1828) and Hans Heiling (1833), works that had very considerable influence on Der fliegende

1 It has been suggested that Tannhiiuser's appeal in the ballad to 'Maria Mutter, reine Magd' inspired Wagner's ' Mein Heil ruht in Maria!' (193); but Lucas had spoken of Tannhiuser ' sich von Frau Venus zur Jungfrau Maria wendend' (p. 272). More reminiscent of the ballad is 873 ff.: 'Willkommen, ungetreuer Mann ! ' etc. In the first form of the opera (Dresden, C. F. Meser, 1845) Venus did not reappear in the last act. Cp. also Wagner, Uber die Auffiihrung des Tannhiuser, Schriften, v, p. 140.

2 Tannhauser, 764: 'Tannhauser tragt zerrissene Pilgerkleidung, sein Antlitz ist bleich und entstellt.' M. Koch, Richard Wagner, ii, Berlin, 1913, p. 110, compares the words of Wagner's Tannhauser to Wolfram (who assumes here the role of the 'trusty Eckart'): 'Hor' an! Du, Wolfram, du sollst es erfahren' (790), with those of Tieck's Tannenhauser to his friend: 'Nun, so mag dein Wille erfiillt werden, du sollst alles erfahren,' etc. (p. 201).

3 Tannhiiuser in the Venusberg suggests, too, Rinaldo in Armida's magic palace in the last act of Gluck's later work.

467

468 The Genesis of Wagner's Drama 'Tannhduser'

Hollander. The second of these operas-its text was by Philipp Eduard Devrient-indeed, particularly foreshadows Wagner's Venusberg. Hans

Heiling has resolved to leave his underground kingdom and betake himself to the earth, there to become a man among men. The scene is described as follows:

Weitgewolbte Hohle im tiefsten Grund der Erde, welche Eingange zu mehreren Seitenh6hlen zeigt, von rothlich-triibem Licht erhellt. Scharfgekliiftete Wande von Bergkrystall starren bis an die Decke der Wolbung: aus ihrem Grunde sprudeln silberne Bergwasser hervor.

Dwarfs, gnomes and earth-spirits form a 'lebhaftes Bild.' They beseech him to stay: but Heiling descends from his throne:

Genug, beendet euer emsig Treiben ! Es treibt mich fort, ich kann nicht langer bleiben, Hinauf zur liebebliihnden Erde wieder!

'So willst du,' says his mother, the queen of the earth-spirits, 'heut' auf immer von uns scheiden ?' She warns him, as Venus Tannhauser:

Fremd wirst du den Menschen bleiben Und ihr enges Treiben Scheint dir widrig bald und leer. Bald wird dich die Reue finden Und du sehnest dich zuriick'.

And the scene culminates similarly to the first version of Wagner's Venusberg; with the queen's passionate pleading: 'Mein Sohn, mein Sohn! Kehrst du mir niemnals wieder, nie ?'

It has not, I think, been observed-in spite of the fact that Wagner himself suggests the comparison--that the basic idea of Tannhauser is similar to that of the opera which loomed largest on the musical horizon of the thirties and forties, Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable, the text of which was written by Scribe and Delavigne. The first performance in

Leipzig took place on August 30, 1833. That work-if we penetrate beneath its dazzling, bewildering and absurd phantasmagory-has practically the same ethical kernel as Wagner's. Like Tannhauser, Duke Robert of Normandy is ensnared by evil powers, and saved by the pure love of a woman, his foster-sister Alice, his 'Erlsung' being celebrated with solemn choruses of monks in the cathedral of Palermo. Isabelle, it is true, the princess whom he loves, is no Venus; but he, the victim of evil passions, has deeply injured her. The bacchanalian scene on the lido of Palermo, with which Meyerbeer's opera opens, might be compared

1 Cp. Tannhduser, first version (after 25): Bald weicht der Stolz aus deiner Seel'- Demiithig seh' ich dich mir nahn, - Zerknirscht, zertreten suchst du mich auf, Flehst um die Wunder meiner Macht.

2 Uber die Aufiihrung des Tannhtuser, Schriften, v, p. 137.

J. G. ROBERTSON

with the Venusberg, were it not that the grotesque orgy at the close of the third act, where nuns are converted into houris to assist the dark

powers in retaining their hold on Robert, provides a closer parallel. Technically the Wagner of Tannhduser learned much from Meyerbeer: the contrast of religious and bacchanalian effects is a motive which

Meyerbeer rides to death in this opera; and Wagner's use of processional scenes, so effective in both Tannhduser and Lohengrin, was modelled on works like Robert le Diable and Halevy's La Juivel.

Modern writers on Wagner, not looking back beyond 1841, find in Tannhduser a personal confession of the disgust with which he turned

away from the frivolity of Paris to the German fatherland. Considera- tions like the above show, I think, that this view requires modification; they tend to minimise this particular subjective basis. I believe that Tannhduser, like Der fliegende Hollander, belongs in its essential plan to the years before Wagner visited Paris at all. Like the earlier opera, it was, in the first instance, inspired by Hoffmann; Fouqu6's play, Wagner's use of which almost certainly pre-dated his substitution of Tannhiuser for Ofterdingen, would hardly have been accessible to him in Paris; and other works, the influence of which comes into question, Wagner had already seen on the Leipzig stage in the early thirties. The ties of Tannhduser with the literature of the theatre-French as well as German-of its day are closer than has hitherto been suspected. As poetry, it is essentially a work of the Young German era, embodying the conflict which was uppermost in the literature of the time, between the flesh and the spirit; and in that conflict which was, at bottom, Young Germany's struggle of life and death with the old Romanticism, it is significant for Wagner's place in the movement of his time that his

sympathies were on the Romantic side. None of Wagner's works shows such inequality in its poetic diction

as Tannhduser. In itself this is a testimony to the time that must have

elapsed between its earlier and later parts. Particularly tawdry'libretto' verses disfigure some of what I have called the Ofterdingen scenes, more

especially where the poet is faced with the task of writing verses adapted for concerted composition; here the poet disappears and the opera librettist takes his place. The second act stands on a higher level than the latter part at least of the first; but there is again a relapse when the Elisabeth-Tannhauser dialogue becomes a duet. The Landgrafs address to the singers is poetry, but again not sustained, notably in the

1 It might be added that the scene with the crucifix in Act Im of Robert was probably in Wagner's memory when he conceived his Thuringian valley.

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470 The Genesis of Wagner's Drama 'Tannhduser'

lines given to Walther and Biterolf. Very much higher stands the third act. The song of the pilgrims (716 ff.) marks a quite extraordinary advance; the Wolfram-Tannhauser dialogue is excellent, and Tann- hauser's account of his pilgrimage reaches a very high level indeed; it forms unquestionably the poetic apex of the work.

Whatever may be said of the music, it is not possible to regard the verses which Wagner added to Tannhduser for Paris in 1860 as

advantageous to the work. The elaboration of the spectacular element of the Venusberg was-however Wagner may have tried to justify it on higher grounds-merely a concession to the French craving for such

things which had been fostered by the 'grand opera'; it was an attempt to bring Tannhduser into line with that species of compositionl. As the new verses of this scene had to be grafted on to what was poetically a weak part of the old drama, the contrast is the more glaring. In the new conception Venus is no longer merely the 'Teufelinne' of the

saga who holds the hero in her thrall; she becomes a tragic personality, an Isolde of passion, who has been 'bekampft und besiegt,' 'verhohnt mit jubelndem Stolz.' The curse she pronounces on Tannhiiuser is elaborated in the poet's later style: scorn shall pursue him; crushed and trampled upon, his dishonoured head covered with dust, he will be

obliged to return to her. Venus, who, like a Briinnhilde, opens her

kingdom only to heroes, pictures Tannhauser coming back, not in search of the happiness he has renounced, but seeking sympathy from the woman he has so lightly abandoned. The words of the old version: so sei verfluchet von mir das ganze rnenschliche Geschlecht '-words pro- bably inserted without much thought of what they might mean on Venus's lips-become transformed into a kind of Nibelung's curse (70 f.): 'Ach kehrest du nicht wieder, dann trafe Fluch der Welt.' Like Freya, she, the goddess of love, will withdraw her light from the world:' fUir

ewig lag' sie ode, aus der die Gottin schwand!' While Tannhauser, another Tristan, seeks, not happiness, but death: 'rnich drangt es hin zum Tod !'

The Tannhdtuser legend is, no doubt, raised by this new conception of Venus to a higher poetic plane; but the change was too radical to be effected otherwise than by a fundamental remodelling of the whole. As it is, the new scene is disastrous to the harmony of the old naive Tannhduser of 1845. J. G. ROBERTSON.

LONDON.

See especially Der vollstdndige poetische Entwurf zunt Ballet im Tannhduser in der Pariser Bearbeitung, Die Musik, iv, 2, 19, pp. 250 ff., now in the Sdmtliche Schriften, xi, pp. 414 ff.