o produce a singable translation of any of Wagner's operas is a very difficult task. It is easy to criticise the results that any translator has achieved but one
should first consider the challenges. The easiest stage of translating any libretto is that of literal translation: rendering, as closely as possible, the meaning of the original text into the target language.
This task grows more difficult as one progresses through the Wagner canon in chronological order, not least because Wagner's texts became increasingly ambiguous. On reaching the metaphysical language of
Tristan and the religious language of Parsifal and in view of the frequently obscure (to the unenlightened reader) texts of these operas, the translator has little chance of an exact
translation, even into prose. To achieve accuracy, much study is required to achieve the necessary understanding of the work. Unfortunately few if any of the available English translations of these operas show
sufficient understanding on the part of the translator.
ext in order of importance to accuracy is consistency. There are obvious, frequently-occurring key words in Tristan such as Sehnen,
Sehnsucht, Ehre, Wonne, Lust, Sühne. The translator should try to translate these words consistently. An important pair of words in Tristan is bewusst (conscious) and unbewusst
(unconscious); these words occur at a few significant points in the work. All key words need to be translated with great care to avoid losing meaning where it is important.
he second stage in the production of a singable translation is to fit the words to Wagner's music. In Wagner's scores, words and music work together to convey
meaning that words or music alone could not. The translator must find suitable words to achieve the right number of syllables in each line and keep, as far as possible, the metre (stress pattern) of the original
poetry. It is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve this without sacrificing accuracy. For example, consider the closing lines of Tristan: Unbewusst — höchste Lust! . Mapping unbewusst
to its exact translation does not fit the stress pattern needed here. Alternative words are sought in vain: Lionel Salter finds nothing better than the exact translation "conscious"; Andrew Porter chooses
"unaware", which does not convey the meaning of the German in the context. Incidentally, Porter's translation of Lust as "love" here is simply wrong; Lionel Salter scores higher with "bliss"; another
good choice would be "joy". Similar considerations apply in the case of Parsifal.
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