I seem to be on a Wagner kick. I can’t believe that I haven’t posted this before. This is the quintet in Act III of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger of Nurnberg. I have put up two videos. One from the 1950s and the other from 1931. They are both wonderful.
The Act III Quintet in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, often called “Selig wie die Sonne” (“Blessed, like the sun”), is a moment of profound reflection where Hans Sachs, Eva, Walther, Magdalena, and Beckmesser (or David, depending on the scene/performance) come together to praise the beauty of love, art, and the coming day, resolving the opera’s central themes of tradition vs. innovation, a high point before the grand finale and Procession of the Mastersingers. It follows Sachs’s wise guidance, where he encourages Walther to present his prize song at the Mastersingers’ festival, culminating in the famous “Dance of the Apprentices” and the final verdict.
This is really a wonderful piece. I hope that you enjoy both excerpts.
Wagner, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, “Selig, wie die Sonne”
EVA
Selig, wie die Sonne
meines Glückes lacht,
Morgen voller Wonne,
selig mir erwacht!
Traum der höchsten Hulden,
himmlich Morgenglüh’n:
Deutung euch zu schulden,
selig süss Bemüh’n!
Einer Weise mild und hehr,
sollt’ es hold gelingen,
meines Herzens süss Beschwer
deutend zu bezwingen.
Ob es nur ein Morgentraum?
Selig deut’ ich mir es kaum.
Doch die Weise,
was sie leise
mir vertraut,
hell und laut,
in der Meister vollem Kreis’,
deute sie auf den höchsten Preis.
MAGDALENE
Wach’ oder träum’ ich schon so früh’?
Das zu erklären macht mir Müh’:
‘s ist wohl nur ein Morgentraum?
Was ich seh’, begreif’ ich kaum!
Er zur Stelle
gleich Geselle?
Ich die Braut?
Im Kirchenraum wir
gar getraut?
Ja! Wahrhaftig, ‘s geht! Wer weiss,
dass ich Meist’rin bald heiss’!
WALTHER
Deine Liebe liess mir es gelingen,
meines Herzens süss Beschwer’
deutend zu bezwingen.
Ob es noch der Morgentraum?
Selig deut’ ich mir es kaum!
Doch die Weise,
was sie leise
dir vertraut
im stillen Raum,
hell und laut,
in der Meister vollem Kreis’,
werbe sie um den höchsten Preis.
DAVID
Wach’ oder träum’ ich schon so früh?
Das zu erklären macht mir Müh’:
‘s ist wohl nur ein Morgentraum!
Was ich seh’, begreif’ ich kaum.
Ward zur Stelle
gleich Geselle?
Lene Braut?
Im Kirchenraum wir
gar getraut?
‘s geht der Kopf mir wie im Kreis,
dass ich Meister bald heiss’!
SACHS
Vor dem Kinde, lieblich hold,
mocht’ ich gern wohl singen;
doch des Herzens süss’ Beschwer’
galt es zu bezwingen.
‘s war ein schöner Abendtraum;
d’ran zu denken wag’ ich kaum.
Diese Weise,
was sie leise
mir anvertraut,
im stillen Raum,
sagt mir laut:
auch der Jugend ew’ges Reis
grünt nur durch des Dichters Preis.
Wagner, The Master Singer of Nurnberg, Act III Quintet
EVA
As blissfully as the sun
of my happiness laughs,
a morning full of joy
blessedly awakens for me;
dream of highest favors,
heavenly morning glow:
interpretation to owe you,
blessedly sweet task!
A melody, tender and noble,
ought to succeed propitiously
in interpreting and subduing
my heart’s sweet burden.
Is it only a morning dream?
In my bliss, I can scarcely interpret it myself.
But the melody,
what it softly confides
to me,
clear and loud
in the full circle of the Masters
may its revelation point to the highest prize.
MAGDALENA
Do I wake or dream so early?
To explain it gives me trouble:
is it only a morning dream?
What I see I scarcely grasp!
Him here
a journeyman all of a sudden?
I the bride?
In the church
we shall even be married?
Yes, in truth, it is so! Who knows,
but that I may soon be a Master’s wife!
WALTHER
Your love made me succeed
in interpreting and subduing
my heart’s sweet burden.
Is it still the morning-dream?
In my bliss, I can scarcely interpret it myself.
But the melody,
what it softly
confides to you
in the silent room,
bright and loud
in the full circle of the Masters
may it compete for the highest prize!
DAVID
Do I wake or dream so early?
To explain it gives me trouble:
is it only a morning-dream?
What I see I scarcely grasp!
I became here
a journeyman all of a sudden?
Lena betrothed?
In the church
we shall even be married?
My mind is in a whirl
that I shall soon be a Master!
SACHS
Before the child, so charming and fair,
I would fain sing out:
but the heart’s sweet burden
had to be subdued.
It was a beautiful morning-dream;
I scarcely dare think of it.
This melody,
what it softly
confides to me
in the silent room,
says to me aloud:
even youth’s eternal twig
grows green only through the poet’s praise.
Synopsis:
Midsummer’s eve in Nuremberg and the real-life cobbler-poet Hans Sachs and the guild of mastersingers are pursuing their craft of poetry and music according to traditions and rules. A goldsmith’s daughter, Eva, and a knight, Walther von Stolzing, fall in love, but Eva’s father has promised her to the winner in the forthcoming song contest. Under the wise tuition of Sachs, Walther learns the mastersinger’s art in time to win Eva’s hand.
Richard Wagner’s only comic opera had a long gestation. Summer 1845: drawing on the History of German Literature as well as the biography of poet and shoemaker Hans Sachs, the composer sketches out ideas for a satirical counterpart to Tannhäuser. Autumn 1861: Wagner writes to his publisher that he intends to cheer himself up with ‘something lighter’ and begins composing Die Meistersinger, which he would not complete until six years later. With a sense of self-derision with which he is not usually associated, Wagner brings together an exercise in style and an aesthetic manifesto in praise of the ‘noble and holy German art!’. Here is an opera that speaks volumes about the composer’s own preoccupations: the widening divide between high art and popular culture, and the fracturing of tradition by the radically new. Wise and audacious, the characters of Sachs and Walther can be seen as a double self-portrait of their creator.