German.

An important addition to our newly produced orchestral materials is the first publication of vocal scores of Wagner's ten great operas, in every important version, based on the Complete Edition.

The score corresponds to the performance materials from the Complete Edition.
For practical use in rehearsal cues and bar numbers throughout.
The publisher has secured the services of renewed musicologists associated with the Richard Wagner Complete Edition who convey detailed information in critical forewords.
The forewords are given in three languages(German, English, French).
Uniform and attractive front cover designs with reproductions of paintings from the Wagner era underline the series design of the edition.

DIE WALKURE

In the tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen [The Ring of the Nibelung] which was subtitled by Wagner as A stage festival play for three days and a preliminary evening, Die Walkure [The Valkyrie] forms the first day following Das Rheingold as the preliminary evening. The beginning of the history of the origins of the tetralogy is frequently placed in 1848 when Wagner compiled a prose sketch entitled Die Nibelungensage (Erstschrift) [The Nibelung Saga (first draft)] or Die Sage von den Nibelungen (Reinschrift) [The Saga of the Niblelungs (fair copy)] which would suggest that this was already the text for the Ring des Nibelungen, but the actual concept for the tetralogy did not actually evolve until the autumn of 1851. When Wagner first compiled the libretto for the heroic opera Siegfried's Tod [Siegfried's Death] in November 1848 - during his period of employment as Hofkapellmeister[court music director] in Dresden - he was in fact only planning a single opera and continued to adhere to this concept even after his involvement in the failed Dresden uprising in 1849 and subsequent escape to Switzerland. He began with the composition of Siegfried's Tod in the summer of 1850 in Zurich, but soon laid it aside. He returned to the project almost a year later in May 1851 with the idea of a two-part drama: to lend the plot greater conclusiveness, Siegfried's Tod would be preceded by a second opera entitled Der junge Siegfried [The Young Siegfried], subsequently shortened to Siegfried, but this extension was still insufficient to satisfy Wagner's dramatic-dramaturgic aspirations. In November 1851, he began the first text drafts for Das Rheingold and Die Walkure which were followed by the libretti in 1852: Die Walkure was completed in June 1852.

The premiere of Die Walkure was held in Munich on 26 June 1870, but without Wagner's specific permission as he did not wish the operas to be performed separately. He held the opinion that Die Walkure was only logical and comprehendible within the context of the complete tetralogy. Wagner had however not only made a present of the autograph score to King Ludwig II of Bavaria who had been his generous benefactor since 1864, but had also sold him the rights to the tetralogy. The king was eager to experience performances of the already finished parts and Wagner was therefore powerless to prevent him from commanding performances of the individual operas. The premiere of Die Walkure within the context of the tetralogy took place in 1876 at the first Bayreuth Festival.

(Egon Voss, quoted from the foreword of the new Die Walkure vocal score. translated by Lindsay Chalmers-Gerbracht)

German.

An important addition to our newly produced orchestral materials is the first publication of vocal scores of Wagner?s ten great operas, in every important version, based on the Complete Edition. * The score corresponds to the performance materials from the Complete Edition. * For practical use in rehearsal cues and bar numbers throughout. * The publisher has secured the services of renewed musicologists associated with the Richard Wagner Complete Edition who convey detailed information in critical forewords. * The forewords are given in three languages(German, English, French). * Uniform and attractive front cover designs with reproductions of paintings from the Wagner era underline the series design of the edition. DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG ?Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is today still considered a German festival and national opera: this evaluation is borne out by the opera?s performance history, the history of its reception and customary performance practice. Critical minds will perhaps recall the quotation from Friedrich Nietzsche?s publication \"Jenseits von Gut und Böse\" [Beyond Good and Evil] in which the Vorspiel [Prelude] to Meistersinger is described as ?magnificent, ornate and ponderous art? and Wagner?s music in general as being ?rough and coarse?. This music according to Nietzsche possesses ?no trace of the fine southern clarity of the sky and nothing of grace?, but instead ?a cumbersome garb, with a touch of licentious barbarism and solemnity? and ?even a certain degree of ungainliness?. Nietzsche?s evaluation is regarded by many as an insight into the essence of the matter, although it is evident that Nietzsche was exaggerating in order to be provocative. What is more important today is however that this characterisation appears to have been the result of an approach to the performance of Meistersinger which had neglected or even gone as far as to misappropriate elements of this work. This is also the conclusion reached in the Meistersinger Edition of the Critical Complete Edition of the Musical Works of Richard Wagner (Richard Wagner, Sämtliche Werke, Vol. 9, I-III, edited by Egon Voss, Mainz 1979-1987). It has in fact been established that the first print of the score published by B. Schott?s Söhne in Mainz in 1868 contained numerous errors and omissions, particularly with regard to dynamic markings and articulation. The difference between staccato dots and dashes which has an influence on the tone was simply ignored. The substantial omission of these staccato markings unambiguously draws attention to the fact that Wagner intended a lighter-weight sound than was produced in adherence the first edition. The same also holds true for the dynamic markings which were submitted to a general levelling process in the first edition, thereby entirely masking their original broad scope of differentiation. [?] When the saying ?the music sets the tone? is cited, it is in actual fact tempo, dynamics which are implied. If the new findings incorporated into the Meistersinger edition of the Critical Complete Edition are taken seriously, this will inevitably produce a new Meistersinger sound.? (Egon Voss, quoted from the foreword of the new Meistersinger vocal score; translated by Lindsay Chalmers-Gerbracht).