Parsifal is Wagner’s last musical drama and his only one written especially for the theatre in Bayreuth. The composer became interested in the subject in 1845, when he read Wolfram of Eschenbach’s courtly epic on the life and the valiant deeds of the king of the knights of Monsalvat. Wagner completed the libretto only in April 1877, and then spent the next five years on composing the music. Parsifal was finally completed in January 1882 and premiered already on 26 July the same year; until its first publication in 1913, the Bayreuth stage had an exclusive right to the performance.
The story of Parsifal is a synthesis of ideas contained in various versions of the Holy Grail legends and mirrors Wagner’s belief that “where Religion becomes artificial, it is reserved for Art to save the spirit of religion”. Emphasizing his message, the composer described his work as “a stage-consecrating festival-play instead of developing the epic plot, he presents it in long monologues. The ideas are Wagner’s own blend of Christianity, Buddhism and Schopenhauer. The main message, best summarized by the lines “Enlightened through compassion, the innocent fool,” preaches compassion for the others’ pain and rejection of sensual happiness to gain salvation. Artistically, Parsifal embodies Wagner’s concept of a total work of art.
Each of the three acts of Parsifal begins with a musical introduction of the orchestra to usher in the mood and the subject of the act. Prelude to Act One, with its discernible recapitulative formal model, begins with a lofty theme intoned in unison by strings and woodwinds. It symbolizes the mystery of the Last Supper: love, faith and hope. The theme is then repeated over tremolando strings and harp passages that strike a seraphic tone, commented on by Wagner: “the melody dissolves, repeated by angelic voices”. The initial theme sets the stage for two leitmotifs of crucial import for the work’s ideology: those of the Grail and of Faith, appearing in the middle fragment of the introduction in majestic tones of brass.
The instrumental fragment known as “the magic of Good Friday” belongs to Act Three. It comes after Parsifal’s anointment as king of the Grail knights and expresses the hero's delight in the surrounding nature. It is one of the most inspired musical moments, characteristic in its subtle instrumentation and its lyrical melodics that uses the motives of Good Friday, flowery meadows and absolution and blessing.
 

Ewa Siemdaj