Reading Opera between the Lines
Orchestral Interludes and Cultural Meaning from Wagner to Berg

This book investigates the use of orchestral interludes to link scenes in Wagnerian and post-Wagnerian opera.

Christopher Morris (Author)

9780521001977, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 5 July 2007

232 pages, 43 music examples
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.355 kg

'A rewarding as well as a provocative piece of work.' Musical Times

A characteristic feature of Wagnerian and post-Wagnerian opera is the tendency to link scenes with numerous and often surprisingly lengthy orchestral interludes, frequently performed with the curtain closed. Often taken for granted or treated as a filler by audiences and critics, these interludes can take on very prominent roles, representing dream sequences, journeys and sexual encounters, and in some cases becoming a highlight of the opera. Christopher Morris investigates the implications of these important but strangely overlooked passages. Combining close readings of individual musical texts with an investigation of the critical discourse surrounding the operas, Morris shows how the interludes shed light not only on the representational and narrative capacities of the orchestra, but also on the supposed 'absolute' realm of instrumental music, a concept to which many critics appealed when they associated the interludes with 'purely musical' and 'symphonic' qualities.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. A walk on the wild side
2. What the conductor saw
3. Lost in the forest
4. 'Sympathy with death'
5. 'A torrent of unsettling sounds'
6. Wagner and 'invisible theatre'
Conclusion: 'innocence among opposites'
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Opera [AVGC9], Romantic music [c 1830 to c 1900 AVGC5], Theory of music & musicology [AVA]