Motif 39: Good Friday Meadows

German name: Blumenauemotiv


Good Friday Meadows (ogg format)

As for Benediction, the motif of the Good Friday Meadows begins with a rising phrase related to Redemption (#1A). This is followed by a phrase (A) which, on close examination, is seen to have been developed (through the early part of the third act) from the unlikely material of the Parsifal motif #16. The third and final phrase of the theme (B) embodies the Bells motif #21.

The motif appears first at bar 157, in an initial form with syncopation between violins and violas, as shown in the example below.

Good Friday scene from Bayreuth 1957, staging by Wieland Wagner.

Above: the Good Friday scene from Bayreuth 1957, in a staging of Parsifal by Wieland Wagner.

Initial form of the Meadows. Bars 157-160.

Above: The initial form of the Good Friday Meadows (Blumenaue) motif.

References: von Wolzogen ex.24, Lorenz p.148-9, pp.164-5, Lavignac p.468, Kufferath ex.56, Newman ex.51, ENO ex.28.