Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences / Semiotics of the Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle: Language and Musical Codes

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Issue
Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences. 2022 15 (11)
Authors
Modestov, Filipp A.; Kulikova, Liudmila V.; Popova, Iana V.
Contact information
Modestov, Filipp A.: Mozarteum University Salzburg, Austria; Kulikova, Liudmila V.: Siberian Federal University Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation; Popova, Iana V.: Siberian Federal University Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation;
Keywords
semiotic system; opera; libretto; musical sign; intonation; leitmotif
Abstract

The article is devoted to a detailed description of Richard Wagner’s musical language as a complex semiotic system which combines music and verbal language. The authors apply a multimodal analytic approach to study the semiotic nature of the libretto and musical score of the opera tetralogy “The Ring of the Nibelung” (“Der Ring des Nibelungen”), one of the key works of the German composer. Linguo-semiotic analysis of monologues, dialogues, polylogues and the author’s remarks forming the libretto made it possible to characterize it as a semiotic space of interaction of verbal and non-verbal signs, as well as signs of a mixed nature, and to specify linguistic means of their realization. The music of Wagner’s work as a semiotic system is based on the principle of leitmotif development elaborated by the composer, the leitmotif being the dominant semiotic construct. The leitmotif in the article is understood as a relatively short musical configuration, which is repeated many times throughout the musical work and serves as a characteristic of a certain person, object, phenomenon, emotion or abstract concept. The text analysis of the musical score of the tetralogy “The Ring of the Nibelung” allowed the authors to identify the signs represented by various musical leitmotifs that describe specific characters, express their feelings, physical and emotional states, reflect the interaction of characters, determine the complex symbolic, mythological and ritual context of the operas of the cycle. In addition, it was noted that in the musical score the composer uses the techniques of intonational dramaturgy associated with changing leitmotif signs in the structural-semiotic aspect, highlighting the dramatic development presupposed by the libretto line

Pages
1619–1636
DOI
10.17516/1997-1370-0941
Paper at repository of SibFU
https://elib.sfu-kras.ru/handle/2311/148782

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