 |
 Parsifal (initial
form) |
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| The first example (A) shows the Parsifal motif as it accompanies his first appearance: a fanfare introducing
a carefree huntsman. It is a bold and brash theme, that on closer examination is seen to
have developed from an added-sixth chord composed of the first four notes of the Grundthema (#1). This indicates that the respective destinies of
Parsifal and the Grail Knights are linked; which is confirmed by the opening notes of the
Prophecy motif almost hidden at (b). Wagner was true to his sources (especially, in this context, Wolfram) in so far as Parsifal tells the story of an individual's development. The Parsifal motif develops a little at each appearance, until it finally blazes forth in its final form (B) as Parsifal enters the Hall of the Grail with the recovered Spear. |
 Above: Bayreuth postcard showing the arrival of Parsifal with the healing spear (act three). |
The notes shown in red (a) are the germ cell from which the music of the Good Friday Meadows will develop. Note that the fragment (c) has been absorbed from the Riding motif.
Richard Wagner's Parsifal can be regarded, as it was by Cosima Wagner, as the
summation and recapitulation of his achievements. Theodor
Adorno considered it to be more like an echo, composed in a style that is typical of old
age: This character is revealed by a comparison between the sombre and, as it were,
toned-down fanfare motive in Parsifal and the motive associated with Siegfried: it is
as though the former motive were already a quotation cited from memory.