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Richard Wagner
Tannhauser Synopsis |  |
A knightly minstrel, who has taken part
in one of the tournaments of song which tradition says used to be
held at the court of the Landgrave of Thuringia in the early part of
the thirteenth century, has, by his song and bearing, won the heart
of Elizabeth, niece of the Landgrave. Unmindful of his great good
fortune, he has found his way to the court held by the Goddess of
Love within the hollow of the Horselberg, which lies across the
valley and over against the Wartburg. Dame Venus herself becomes
enamoured of the knight, who calls himself Tannhauser, and for a
year and a day he remains at her side and in her arms. At length,
mind and senses surfeited, a longing seizes him for the world which
he has abandoned, for the refreshing sights and sounds of earth,
and even for its pains. Dame Venus seeks to detain him, but he is
resolute to leave her and her realm. Like a true knight, however, he
promises to sing her praises wherever he may go; but when she offers
to welcome him again if he should weary and sicken of the world and
seek redemption from its hypocrisies, he replies that for him
redemption rests only in the Virgin Mary. The invocation breaks the
bonds of enchantment which have held him. The scenes of allurement
which have so long surrounded him melt away, and he finds himself in
an attitude of prayer in a blooming valley below the Wartburg. It
is spring, and a shepherd lad, seated on a rock, trolls a lay to
spring's goddess. A troop of pilgrims passing by on their way to
Rome suggest by their canticle the need of absolution from the
burden of sin which rests upon him, but before he can join them, the
Landgrave and a hunting party come upon him. He is recognized by his
erstwhile companions in song, and consents to return to the castle
on being told by one of the minstrels, Wolfram von Esehenbach, that
his song had vanquished not only them, but the heart of the saintly
Elizabeth as well.
In the Wartburg Tannhauser meets the maiden whose heart he has won
just after she has apostrophized the walls which had echoed his
voice; and from him she learns the meaning of the strange emotion
which fills her in his presence. Again minstrels gather before a
company of great nobles for a contest in the Hall of Song. Love is
to be the theme, and the hand of Elizabeth the reward of the victor.
Spiritual love is hymned by Tannhauser's companions. Wolfram von
Eschenbach likens it to a pure fountain from which only high and
sacred feelings can flow. Tannhauser questions the right of those
who have not experienced the passion as he has felt it to define the
nature of love. Goaded by the taunts and threats of rude Biterolf,
he bursts forth in a praise of Venus. The assembly is in commotion.
Swords are drawn. Sacrilege must be punished. Death confronts the
impiously daring minstrel. But Elizabeth, whose heart has been
mortally pierced by his words, interposes to save him. She has been
stricken, but what is that to his danger of everlasting damnation?
Would they rob his soul of its eternal welfare? The knight,
indifferent to a score of swords, is crushed by such unselfish
devotion, and humbly accepts the Landgrave's clemency, which spares
his life that he may join a younger band of pilgrims and seek
absolution at Rome. He goes to the Holy City, mortifying his flesh
at every step, and humbles himself in self-abasement and accusation
before the Pope; but only to hear from the hard lips of the Keeper
of the Keys that for such sin as his there is as little hope of
deliverance as for the rebudding of the papal staff.
The elder pilgrims return in the fall of the year, and Elizabeth
eagerly seeks among them for the face of the knight whose soul and
body she had tried to save. He is not among them. Gently she puts
aside the proffered help of Wolfram, whose unselfish love is ever
with her, climbs the hill to the castle, and dies. Famished and
footsore, Tannhauser staggers after the band of pilgrims who
have returned to their homes with sins forgiven. His greeting of
Wolfram is harsh, but the good minstrel's sympathy constrains him to
tell the story of his vain pilgrimage. Salvation forfeited, naught
is left for him but to seek surcease of suffering in the arms of
Venus. Again he sees her grotto streaming with roseate light and
hears her alluring voice. He rushes forward toward the scene of
enchantment, but Wolfram utters again the name of her who is now
pleading for him before the judgment seat, of God Himself; and he
reels back. A funeral cortege descends from the castle. With an
agonized cry: "Holy Elizabeth, pray for me!" Tannhauser sinks
lifeless beside the bier just as the band of younger pilgrims comes
from Rome bearing the crozier of the Pope clothed in fresh verdure.
They hymn the miracle of redemption.
Richard Wagner Facts and Information
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