:: Der Ring des Nibelungen :: An Animation ::

::2004-25-01
Alberich: musical characterization
By Jorge Carrillo

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In the cycle “The Ring of the Nibelung” only two of the Nibelungs appear as main characters. They are the brothers Alberich and Mime. The Nibelungs have an ephemeral appearance on stage in the third scene of The Rhinegold, and they are described at different moments by the orchestra, but only Alberich and Mime have singing roles.

Alberich and Mime, therefore, are both Nibelungs and close relatives, and logically they share many musical characteristics, above all in the use of the leitmotif. The musical motifs that characterize their people are basically the ones we are going to use to identify them.

As the reader knows, the masculine voices are classified according to three main types: tenor, baritone and bass, the tenor having the highest voice and the bass the deepest. The first difference we find in the characterization of the two characters, and maybe the most obvious, is that Alberich is written for a baritone and Mime is conceived for a tenor. The singers who create Alberich, in general, have a rather dark voice, whereas the singers who portray Mime are tenors, almost of a “comical” sort, though the character is not exactly a comic one. That means this differentiation in tessitura and tone between two characters, that share common musical motifs, is an immediate clue for the listener. Wagner also uses this distinction with other pairs of characters; as we will see in future articles this sort of characterization happens again with the giants Fasolt and Fafner.

Focusing now on Alberich, it is significant to pay attention to the moment he makes his first appearance in the opera. After the luminosity of the prelude in the key of Eb and what we might call the “introduction” of the Rhinemaidens, we are comfortably installed in the chord of Bb (dominant of the tonic Eb, which began the opera) and suddenly we hear the chord of g minor (relative minor of b flat). This chord is going to remain as a pedal-note. A pedal-note is the one that continues sounding throughout several measures or repeated frequently in some measures, establishing the listener’s point of reference.

While this happens, one of the motifs which is going to characterize the Nibelungs and specifically Alberich appears. Before we begin to explain this motif, it is pertinent to talk about the musical intervals. An interval is the difference in tessitura between two notes (to be exact, how higher one note is than the other). For example, if we go from C to the nearest D, we go up a whole step. Most of the intervals can be either major or minor (we have a minor second when we go from C to Db) except for the subdominant, dominant and octave. There is also another category of intervals: augmented and diminished, but, for now, we don’t need them to explain the Alberich’s motif.

Returning to the entry of Alberich, we hear the g minor chord (G, Bb, D) and on the fifth of this chord (D) we first hear a C#, almost like a mordent (this makes a minor second interval with D) after that comes a repetition of almost the same sounds, but now with a minor second which resolves on the descending D (the “mordent” note this time is a Eb), D remains as the pedal and in the following measures the minor second is replaced by a descending fourth (G-D) and a minor sixth (Bb -D), making that D act as a second pedal (we already have G) for three measures, stating the G chord, except for the mordents which form the minor second (the other notes belong to the chord).

So far, Alberich has not made his entry (he will do it in the following measure), but the listener (who till now has limited himself to enjoying the swimming skills of the Rhinemaidens) suddenly discovers that something already is amiss. The listener does not know what, but it is clear that something is happening. This way Wagner is anticipating, with only three measures, not only the immediate future (the appearance of Alberich) but also, with a wonderful capacity of synthesis, everything that represents the character: the corruption. This demonstrates on the staves with the poisoning through the mordents of minor seconds, which until now were the pure games and arpeggios of the Rhine maidens.

The melodic line corresponding to the role of Alberich enters immediately after, but now something has changed in the orchestra: the Ds also play the role of mordent (when these are part of the chord, that means, G or Bb). This simple, but skilful and seemingly insignificant, detail allows Wagner to give a major dynamism to the principal melodic line of the orchestra: the line, during this first intervention of Alberich, on which the singer’s vocal part rests.

Up to this moment, we have been speaking about the mordents, but probably we have not focused on why they are there. One of Wagner’s skills, as for the making of the leitmotifs (recurrent themes), was that he knew very effectively how to turn into music the images that were in the collective subconscious of western man of his time. Of course, this is neither an exclusive skill of Wagner nor one of his inventions. Already in past periods there were a multitude of musical figures representing concrete states of mind (I am thinking about how the chromatic descending scales in the time of Bach represented the affliction and the pain). But in contrast to what happens with some of this “images” of other times, those of Wagner still have validity, probably because our ties with the XIXth century are still strong.
Well then, what Wagner describes with these mordents is the staggered and sinuous gait of Alberich. This demonstrates an image of a deformed and twisted being which contrasting with the beauty and perfection of the Rhinemaidens’ arpeggios.

We will also see the genesis of another principal motif that defines Alberich and his people in the first scene of The Rhinegold. Looking at the vocal score for Alberich, we find one rhythm prevailing over the others: a dotted quaver (quaver plus semiquaver), quaver. Alberich almost always uses this rhythm, but this is not exclusive with him. This rhythm will always appear when other characters refer directly to Alberich. A very clear example is the following one: The Rhinemaidens use the same rhythm, followed by three quavers, when they laugh at Alberich, just before he steals the gold (and the orchestra repeats it with a mocking tone).

The same rhythm (dotted quaver –quaver plus semiquaver, quaver, followed by three quavers) will characterize the Nibelung’s hammering . The orchestra, and then 18 anvils alone, perform the famous hammering in the Descent to Nibelheim. Again, Wagner acts with a great skill associating musical elements in a very descriptive way. The first rhythmical association suggests the Nibelung’s limp; it seems as if after the quaver you there is nowhere to rest (the dot after the note), briefly treading on the semiquaver and finally assuring the support on the quaver. The three following quavers are like reiterative hammer blow, and here Wagner succeeds once again by associating them with the laugh of the Rhinemaidens . This laugh and mockery torment Alberich’s conscience and serve as catalyst in the decision to steal the gold. Another characteristic of this motif (when it turns out to be a motif) is that, melodically, it is very laconic, clattering on the same note and moving, at most, up by a third. This austerity and melodic reiteration serve to heighten the already demonstrated characteristics of the hammering expressed by the rhythm. This means the constant excavating of the Nibelung people in a night without hope, looking for treasures for their lord. A lord imprisoned by himself, tormented by the echoes of his own ambition and an unlimited greed.