Don Mario Roso de Luna, the great Spanish Sage writes:
“The overture of Parsifal, says Rogelio Villar, amazes in general with the grandiosity, majesty, inspiration and beauty of its arrangement, with the purity of its lines and with the color and tinge of its wise and artistic instrumentation; sweet and gentle, grandiose and solemn. It marks the end of the evolution initiated in Tannhauser and Lohen grin. In these inspired works are found sketched his theories about the lyrical drama, that reaches its ultimate extremes in the very beautiful overture of Parsifal.
“Its melodic fragmentary pieces (leitmotivs), which were heard during the course of Wagner’s drama in the different situations, are of a great expressive potency. In relation with the character of the poem, these are always subordinated to the spirit of the literary phrase.
“The prelude and the consecration of the Holy Grail (Supper of the Apostles) is a magnificent scene and with intense emotion in the first act. The prelude and enchanted garden of Klingsor (voluptuous scene of the flowers), and the dramatic duo of seduction between Kundry and Parsifal, is in the second act. The brief and melancholic prelude, the moving scene of the baptism (one of the moments of more emotion in Parsifal), and the enchantments of Holy Friday, scenes of sublime beauty, are in the third act. It is most gentle and poetic because of its delicacies, and rich and exuberant because of its orchestration, as are all of the salient situations of the opera, filled with enchanted poetry and of an exquisite tenderness, delicate or sweet, somber or gloomy always with the character of the poem.
“Other interesting episodic pieces, due to the work of its orchestration that gives a descriptive character, are: The morning prayer of Gurnemanz, the departure of Kundry, the King’s cortege with its panoramic view, as well as the parliament of Gurnemanz under the shade of a secular tree, where Gurnemanz talks to his Squires about the origin of the Order of the Grail, Kundry, the agony of Amfortas and the sortilege of Klingsor.
“What also stands out in the second act is the whole sinister scene of the infernal Magician, in which he takes advantage of his cunning skills in order for Kundry, the Eve of Hebrew mythology, to seduce Parsifal; and in the third act what stands out is the desolated scene of Amfortas, with its deep emotion and the funeral march.
“In the overture of Parsifal, there are symphonic melodies of an imponderable beauty, delectable sounds covered and fused with an art so new, so suitable to the environment in which the action is developed, the character of the landscape, poetic musical images so expressive, and true assertions of interpretations of the legend of the Holy Grail that subjugate.
“Intermixed with an art without precedents are themes heard from the orchestra, such as: The Supper, Titurel (the Order of the Grail), Kundry, Amfort Parsifal, which symbolize faith, compassion, humbleness, melancholy, love, resignation, the Swan, the Spear and others whose signification is important to know in order to enjoy completely of the Wagnerian conception in the whole of its magnitude and grandiosity. Amfortas symbolizes remorse, Titurel is the voice of the past, Klingsor is sin (the ‘I’), Parsifal is redemption, Gurnemanz (the Guru) is tradition and Kundry is seduction.
Samael Aun Weor
