GOTTERDAMMERUNG The awakening of Brunnhilde marks the commence ment of " Gotterdarnmerung " or " The Dusk of the Gods," for from that moment the dusk of the gods begins to lower. All the threads of the great mythical fabric now are brought together to form a sublime and transcendent conclusion. There is no depressing anti-climax, for the greatest single act in all opera is the last of the trilogy.
Siegfried. Gunther.
Hagen.
Alberich. Brunnhilde. Gutrune.
Waltraute. Woglinde, Wellgunde, Rhine Daughters.
Flosshilde, Vassals, women.
The action opens on the Valkyrie's rock, made famil iar to us in the previous divisions of the music drama. The black of night, lighted only by the glow from the magic fire, serves for the setting of a scene weird in the extreme. Here about the great fir-tree sit the three Norns or goddesses of Fate, weaving the web of destiny.
As they weave, they sing of the rape of the Rhinegold, of Siegfried and his deeds and of the fiery doom which awaits Walhalla. Suddenly, the great cord of fate snaps under their fingers, and they vanish to join their mother Erda in her dank subterranean caverns.
When the day breaks, Siegfried and Brunnhilde emerge from their cave, the hero clad in shining armor, and his companion leading Grane, her horse, by the bridle. They take a loving farewell, exchanging vows of con stancy, and Brunnhilde, no longer the stern martial Val kyrie, pleads with her hero not to forget her. Siegfried, as a pledge of his faith, gives her the magic ring. She gives him Grane and bravely sends him forth to fulfil his mission in the world, while she waits his return behind her wall of flame.
These two scenes have been but a prologue. When the curtain rises upon the first act, there is seen the hall of the Gibichungs on the Rhine. Here sits the mighty Rhenish chief, Gunther, his beautiful sister, Gutrune, and their half-brother Hagen. Hagen is the son of Alberich the dwarf and therefore his nature is evil. He has been charged by his father to win back the Nibelung gold. As the three speak, the horn of Siegfried is heard and before he has crossed the threshold, his ruin has been planned. He lands from his boat at the door of the
hall, is greeted with fair words of hospitality and Gutrune advances to offer him the drink of welcome, in which a potion of forgetfulness has been mixed. As he partakes of it, he murmurs The goblet's quaffed, With quenchless passion Brunnhilde, my bride, to thee.
But even as the sound of her names dies away, so does his remembrance of her and he gazes with swiftly kindled infatuation at the girl who stands before him with downcast eyes. Gunther speaks of Brunnhilde, whom he covets for his wife, and Siegfried offers to pass the magic barrier to win her for him if, in return, he may have Gutrune as bride. The compact is made and the two men swear blood-brotherhood.
Meanwhile, Brunnhilde, faithfully watching for her husband's return, is sought by \Valtraute, her sister Val kyrie, who comes to plead eloquently for the restoration of the ring of the Rhine Daughters. She has learned that by this means the gloom which weighs down Wotan in \Valhalla may be lifted. Brunnhilde recoils with indig nation from the suggestion of surrendering Siegfried's love token. It is to her More than \Valhalla's rapture, More than the god's renown.
In despair at the futility of her errand, Waltraute mounts her winged steed and flies away.
When evening has fallen, Brunnhilde listens with transport to the sound of Siegfried's horn and runs to meet him. It is indeed Siegfried but in Gunther's guise, for he has donned the Tarnhelm. The flames waver and yield as he boldly crosses their barrier. He announces to the terrified woman that she is to be his wife. With the strength the ring gives her, she repulses his rough wooing, until in the struggle he snatches the circlet from her finger. Then her power is gone and she is led to her chamber, where Siegfried, true to his oath to Gunther, lays his sword between himself and his blood-brother's bride that is to be.