Wolfram's name is drawn first and he sings of a chaste idea! as pure as crystalline waters, an ideal which he is con tent to worship from afar, lifting his eyes to it as to a star. Walter von der Vogelweide voices his poetical conviction that the crystal fountain's sacred treasure is spiritual bliss rather than lawless pleasure. But Tannhauser, as if again under the spell of Venus and mindful only of the voluptuous joys of unholy love, scoffs at their pale ideals in impassioned terms and even boldly recommends the delights of Venus' abode. Expressions of horror are heard on every hand and women hastily rush from the hall. As the knights press upon Tannhauser with drawn swords, Elisabeth, who has remained behind, springs forward and begs that he be not forever doomed to hell but that he be allowed time to live and repent. Touched by her pleading, his accusers draw back. The sensual madness of Tannhauser slips from him like a besmirched garment and he falls prostrate. The Landgrave advises him to seek grace in the Eternal City and, as the song of a party of young pilgrims floats up from the valley, the disgraced and repentant singer hastens to join them.
A weary stretch of time has elapsed before the third and last act, the scene of which is again the peaceful valley overlooked by the stately towers of the Wartburg. Count less hours have been spent by the saintly Elisabeth praying before the wayside shrine for Tannhauser's salvation and safe return, the devoted Wolfram watching over her from a distance. They are discovered there when the curtain rises. There steals upon their ears the chant of returning pilgrims rejoicing in their home-coming. Elisabeth, in an agony of suspense, scans the procession of devotees for a glimpse of Tannhauser. He is not among those who have come back from Rome! As the song dies away and the sun goes down, she turns again to the shrine. With all desire for earth ban ished by Tannhauser's failure to return, she prays to the Virgin for death and, feeling that its wing already has brushed her cheek, she sadly declines the proffered escort of Wolfram, bids him farewell in pathetic silence and walks slowly homeward. Wolfram, having watched until she has disappeared, seats himself at the foot of the hill and, taking his harp, sings of his love to the evening star. The shades of night settle deeper and deeper and Tannhauser, clad in tattered pilgrim's garments and leaning dejectedly upon his staff, makes a weary progress up the mountain path. Wolfram recognizes him with difficulty but, when ques tioned, Tannhauser tells of a fruitless pilgrimage to Rome. Upheld by the thought of Elisabeth and her faith, he volun tarily bore the severest penance; walked on thorns and stones with bleeding feet; refused to quench his thirst in days of raging heat and stretched his weary limbs in snow and ice; leaving all comforts for those who were less sin burdened. But when, the journey accomplished, he im plored pardon of God's Viceroy, he was told that there was no more hope of redemption for him than there was that the staff in the Pope's hand would ever again grow fresh and green. Since earth and heaven hold no promise for him, he thinks of Venus' parting invitation to return, and resolves to accept it. As he makes this declaration, a rosy mist appears, through which gleam the forms of dancing nymphs and, as they float aside, Venus is disclosed, lying upon her couch. Tannhauser is about to yield to her allure ment when the faithful Wolfram again utters the name of Elisabeth and Venus and her attendants vanish, baffled.
The sound of a funeral bell is heard from the Wart burg and, as the morning breaks, the bier upon which lies the body of Elisabeth is borne slowly down the hill. Call ing upon her soul to plead for him to heaven, Tannhauser sinks lifeless to the ground. As the rising sun bathes the valley in light, a party of young pilgrims appear bearing the Pope's staff, budded and leaved in green, a symbol of Tann hauser's redemption.
Although " Tannhauser " was not written until many years later, its seed was sown in the mind of Wagner when he was but a lad. At that sentimental period when ambi tions and ideals were beginning to take form in his great mind ; when the figure of Weber, passing the house, was watched by the boy with " something akin to religious awe; " when his musical instruction at the hands of Gottlieb Muller had come to grief and he had begun to doubt his own musical aptitude — then it was that he took refuge in libraries and, browsing therein, met many of the stories and legends which he developed in his maturity. He found in the novels of Hoffmann the story of the Mastersingers of Nuremberg and in the verses of Ludwig Tieck, the legend of Tannhauser. Of this legend, which is well suited to dramatic purposes, Wagner made a successful moderniza tion. The sketch was drawn up by him in 1842, during a stay in the Bohemian mountains and was completed three years later.
In this work. Wagner evinces his tendency to shake off Italian conventionality. Among its distinguishing features is the association of a certain instrument or class of instruments with one of the characters, as the wood winds with Elisabeth, a method employed before by Gluck and others. While the music is less strongly individualized than is that of his later works, it is, nevertheless, unmis takably " Wagnerian." The later employment of representative themes (leit motifs) is indicated and the remarkable ability to char acterize clearly in music the different personages in the drama is already finely in evidence. The story is one which can never grow old for it has a deep human interest and in it as ever, Wagner's active and massive intellect makes it apparently impossible for him to conceive of a story without some underlying significance. Venus is not merely a beautiful woman but represents a power antago nistic to Christianity, while the ethical idea which imbues " Tannhauser," as it does those other dramas of Wagner's which are based on mythical tales, is that salvation comes to humanity through the love of woman and through her glory in self-sacrifice.
The reception of " Tannhauser " was, in the main, unenthusiastic. While an occasional hearer found in it something more than promise, the majority called its music ugly and critical shoulders were shrugged even over the song of the " Evening Star," which nowadays is regarded as essentially Italian and distinctly " unWagnerian " in its outspoken melodiousness. The overture to " Tannhauser " is now one of the most generally known and widely admired numbers in the entire orchestral repertory and is regarded by layman and musician alike as one of Wagner's master achievements. The so-called " Parisian Bacchanale," which was composed for the presentation of the opera in Paris, an event which resulted in a disgraceful exhibition of ill will by certain influential parties in Paris, is an elaboration of the music of the Venusberg scene. It is followed by an impassioned duet for Tannhauser and Venus. There comes the change to the valley of the Wartburg and the shepherd is heard singing his roundelay to Spring; the pilgrim's chorus is chanted and there is an elaborate ensemble for men's voices when the Landgrave and the singers persuade Tannhauser to rejoin them. Elisabeth's greeting to the hall of song begins the second act. It is one of the selections beloved by concert sopranos. The duet for Tannhauser and Elisabeth which follows is of exceptional beauty and the song of Wolfram at the commencement of the tournament, as well as the great finale of the act are among the finest pages in the score. The " Prayer " of Elisabeth, the " Evening Star " romanza for Wolfram and the long and dramatic " Recital " for Tannhauser form the chief musical incidents of the third act, which is preceded by an orchestral introduction descriptive of the pilgrimage and condemnation of Tannhauser.