Lohengrin - Preludes to Acts 1 and 3

The audience at the first performance of Lohengrin in Weimar on 28 August 1850 could never have heard anything like the luminous sound that so mysteriously emerged from the orchestra as Franz Liszt brought down his baton on the opening bars. No composer before Wagner had dared to separate his violins from the rest of the strings, divide them into four sections, have them draw four slow-moving melodic lines in an attenuated texture in their upper register, and add a halo of four solo violins at an even higher pitch above them. But no composer before had been inspired to reflect the radiance of the Holy Grail in musical terms.

Since his hero, Lohengrin, was a Knight of the Holy Grail, it was a challenge that Wagner could not avoid. He did not stop at creating a new sound, however. The Prelude to Lohengrin is, in effect, a short tone poem representing the descent from heaven of a host of angels bearing the Holy Grail, a symbol of divine Grace, and their return to the ethereal regions from which they came. Although there are allusions to other motifs to be heard later in the opera, it is based on one just one sublime theme which, first heard high on the violins, descends through the rest of the orchestra by way of woodwind and lower strings, achieves a climax resplendent with trumpets and a well-placed cymbal clash, and then takes to the air again. The Prelude ends in much the same distant light as it began.

At the beginning of the third act of Lohengrin the curtain is about to rise on the wedding of Lohengrin to Elsa of Brabant – an event which, in spite of the reassuring presence of a now universally familiar bridal chorus, does not turn out to be quite the consummation so devoutly wished by both parties. The Prelude, however, offers no hint of impending disaster. It is inspired by the excited anticipation of a brilliant occasion as the whole orchestra flings itself without preliminaries into the jubilant main theme of the piece. A solo oboe introduces a rather more thoughtful middle section but, as the early return of the main theme confirms, this is neither the time nor the place for reflection.

Rupert Avis © 2010