23rd Annual Student Research Conference
Musical Foreshadowing in Wagner's "Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral": A Contextual Analysis
Joshua E. Waymire♦
Dr. Warren Gooch, Faculty Mentor
The music for "Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral" is drawn from a scene in Richard Wagner's opera "Lohengrin". Lucien Calliet's wind band transcription of this piece constitutes one of the most widely performed works in the band repertoire. While "Elsa's Procession" can be successfully analyzed on its own merit and terms, an analysis of the piece within the context of the opera itself is particularly meaningful. This presentation will demonstrate that Wagner composed this piece using transitional material taken from other portions of the opera, and will also show that the composer employed motivic content to foreshadow the subsequent plot conflict in the opera's story line. The presenter will employ harmonic, motivic and thematic analytical techniques to support these conclusions.
Keywords: Elsa's, Procession, Wagner, Band, Lohengrin, Analysis
Topic(s):Music
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 57-2
Location: VH 1010
Time: 3:00