The Freytag: Richard Wagner - Redemption to the Redeemer and a throne room without a throne - Neuschwanstein and King Ludwig II.

I am currently setting many of my own lyrics to music. It's an exciting and creative process to set my own lines to music. I keep thinking about Richard Wagner and King Ludwig II - especially when setting my poems to music. Without the king, Wagner and his operas might never have existed. Perhaps not even his name would be known today. But this king did exist, and so my thoughts often wander back to my visits to Bayreuth, Neuschwanstein and the other royal castles in recent days.

Richard Wagner himself was never quite sure what he was: a poet or a composer? I am no longer sure whether he attributed the title “tone poet” to himself or to someone else, but this description hits the nail on the head. Many people don't know that Richard Wagner wrote numerous poems and prose texts - and an infinite number of letters. Wagner was extremely communicative when it came to writing.

Throughout his life, he was obsessed with the subject of redemption. In “Parifal”, this idea culminated in an opera. The question of redemption, whether it was also possible in this world, moved Wagner deeply. He himself longed for it because he was aware of his own fallibility - even if many connoisseurs and critics would classify him as an egomaniac. But it is the same with Wagner as with many great personalities: Their inner selves are fragile, fragile and vulnerable.

I have made the pilgrimage to the “Green Hill” in Bayreuth countless times. Every visit was more than an experience. The Festspielhaus - built according to Wagner's own designs - is an acoustic masterpiece. Nowhere else do his operas sound so fantastic. The entire area is a monument to Richard Wagner and his works.

Wagner's work is inextricably linked to his friend and greatest supporter, King Ludwig II. He had a second monument built for Wagner: Neuschwanstein Castle - a temple of salvation and a place of escape from this world for the king.

In the beginning was death

The connection between the castle and Richard Wagner is closely interwoven. The Wagner connection is unmistakable in the interiors. But for all friends of King Ludwig, it is a painful place, because this is where the tragic part of his story took its course.

On the night of June 11-12, 1886, a delegation led by medical councillor Dr. von Gudden arrived at the palace. Their mission: to arrest the king - after his incapacitation on June 9 - and take him into custody. On the morning of June 12, the delegation left Neuschwanstein with Ludwig II. Neuschwanstein. 24 hours later, the king was dead.

His body was found in Lake Starnberg. What happened that night leaves room for speculation. For believers, death stands for a new beginning. And indeed, death is closely linked to the creation of Neuschwanstein Castle.

Tristan and Isolde - no other Wagner opera has such a slow and theatrical death. It was this opera that inspired Ludwig II to build Neuschwanstein. While attending a performance, King Marke's castle appeared to him at the end of the first act. At that moment, the foundation stone for Neuschwanstein was laid - initially only in the king's imagination.

The background noise - behind the castle

The plans began to take shape - the “Tannhäuserte”. The architect and court building director Eduard von Riedel traveled to Wartburg Castle in Eisenach with his entourage to study the famous Singers' Hall. Its replica forms the centerpiece of Neuschwanstein today.

This hall is reminiscent of the old “Tannhäuser” ballad and the Singers' War. Wagner used this legend in his opera of the same name. It can be said that without “Tannhäuser” and “Tristan and Isolde”, Neuschwanstein would not exist.

King Ludwig II and Wagner remained close throughout their lives. Without Ludwig's financial support, Wagner would hardly have been able to realize his operas. And without these operas, there would be no Neuschwanstein today. King, Wagner and music - a “trinity” that resulted in a castle. An architectural legacy that reminds us of the spiritual sublimity of art and culture.

Sängersaal, Tannhäuser - the question of meaning

What is it about? Nothing less than the question of redemption - redemption through love. This idea pervades Wagner's entire oeuvre and culminates in “Parsifal” with the famous final verse:

“Salvation to the Savior!”

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote about Wagner:

“Wagner thought about nothing so deeply as about redemption. His opera is the opera of redemption.”

What thoughts King Ludwig II had when he chose the Singers' Hall as the center of the palace remains speculation. But as he was deeply religious, it is conceivable that he was also striving for redemption.

From fiction to form

After the planning phase, construction began in 1869. Initially, the castle was called “Vorderhohenschwangau”. It was not officially renamed “Neuschwanstein” until August 1, 1886. From the outside, the building is in the late romantic style - a homage to the 13th century.

But inside, Richard Wagner is everywhere. The operatic themes are taken up in a variety of ways and masterfully realized.

The Singers' Hall - the heart of the castle - does not depict saints and heroes like its model at Wartburg Castle, but figures from the “Parsifal” saga. The living room is full of swan motifs - a homage to Lohengrin. The Byzantine-style throne room on the third floor is particularly impressive. Gold and glitter dominate this room, but there is no throne. The reason? Budget problems.

At the king's request, the throne room was modeled on the setting of the Hall of the Holy Grail from “Parsifal” - it is also “Wagnerian” here.

Claude Debussy commented on “Parsifal”:

“You hear orchestral sounds that are unique and unimagined, noble and full of power. This is one of the most beautiful monuments of sound that have been erected for the everlasting glory of music.”
(See Claude Debussy: Monsieur Croche - complete writings and interviews).

Actually, the third act of “Parsifal” should be played permanently in the Throne Room:

“Miracle of salvation!” - “Salvation to the Savior!”

Because in this musical moment, you would probably be as close to Wagner and the king as possible.

And I am already in the process of setting a lyrical model to music again. My results can be heard in an overall list as well as in several partial lists separated by genre.

Sapere aude!

The link to the original German text: https://www.ganjingworld.com/s/Rnx08WMlzA

This is where the music plays:

All songs by Stefan Noir: https://www.ganjingworld.com/s/4ZB7jmQ07O

Opera songs by Stefan Noir: https://www.ganjingworld.com/s/bOW0WWE9w8

Chansons by Stefan Noir: https://www.ganjingworld.com/s/XojGw7bgyb

Rap songs by Stefan Noir: https://www.ganjingworld.com/s/RnplRAkJOw

Blues songs by Stefan Noir: https://www.ganjingworld.com/s/rGXnQlQBng

Jazz songs by Stefan Noir: https://www.ganjingworld.com/s/XoRXQw8JqJ

Soul songs by Stefan Noir: https://www.ganjingworld.com/s/Xo8BBgb8Vb

Shanty songs by Stefan Noir: https://www.ganjingworld.com/s/O37JzaZkjv

Wagner - King Ludwig II - Photo impressions:

Neuschwanstein Castle in the Bavarian municipality of Schwangau (Bavaria - Bavaria)

The Richard Wagner Festival Theatre - also known as the Bayreuth Festival Theatre - on the Green Hill in Bayreuth (Bavaria, Bavaria, Upper Franconia)

Bust of Richard and Cosima Wagner in Bayreuth on the Green Hill. Here Richard Wagner.

Bust of Richard and Cosima Wagner in Bayreuth on the Green Hill. Here Richard Wagner.

Bust of Richard and Cosima Wagner in Bayreuth on the Green Hill. Here Cosima Wagner.

Bust of Richard and Cosima Wagner in Bayreuth on the Green Hill. Here Cosima Wagner.

In the Festspielhaus - in the orchestra pit and in the opera hall

The Wahnfried House on the edge of the Bayreuth Hofgarten (Bavaria, Bavaria, Upper Franconia)
The former residence of Richard Wagner from 1874 to 1883.