Knowledge, pity, redemption: Richard Wagner took up these major themes in “Parsifal”, the music drama that he completed 13 months before his death and referred to as his “most conciliatory work”. Already celebrated for its compositional technique and mystical sonorities at the premiere, its world of ideas has stimulated new debates and interpretations over and over again to the present day.
Wagner wrote the autograph score almost entirely in violet ink, a colour he preferred to use in the final years of his life. As the printed score was not yet finished for the premiere on 26 July 1882, this carefully written autograph lay on the conductor’s desk in its stead. The facsimile edition in high-quality four-colour printing reproduces the extensive score in its original size. Act and bar numbers on every page facilitate its use without diminishing the overall bibliophile appearance. In an accompanying essay (Ger/Eng), Ulrich Konrad elucidates the special features of the work and the manuscript.
- High-quality facsimile of Wagner’s final music drama
- Hermann Levi conducted the premiere from the autograph score reproduced here
- Clear and readily legible handwriting
- Series Documenta musicologica II/56
- ISBN: 9783761824184 (3761824181)
