RICHARD WAGNER: DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN

MS 5449
MS Short Title RICHARD WAGNER: DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN
Text RICHARD WAGNER: DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN: SIGFRIED, ACT 1, "SWORD-FORGING SONG", THE END OF THE CONCERT VERSION, AUTOGRAPH
Description MS in German on paper, Bayreuth, 1862, 1 f., 34x25 cm, 6 columns, (31x21 cm), ruled with 29 staves, full score on 25 staves, title: Sigfried No. 2. Einlage B (Schluss) pg. 144 nach den 2 ersten Tacten, autograph.
Binding Austria, 20th c. half calf marbled boards, sewn on 3 cords.
Context The Wagner-Werk Verzeichnis (1986) p. 384, records that Einlage A (Schmeizlied) and B (Hämmerlied) are both lost, but that a copy of B exists in the National Wagner Archive at Bayreuth (AIIId2) with the note "Abschrift eines seit 8 September 1894 in Langenburg befindlichen originales", but notes that it is no longer preserved there. The present MS did not reappear until Christie's sale 3 Dec. 2003.
Provenance 1. Christie's 3.12.2003:53; 2. Sotheby's 9.6.2010:99.
Commentary This is one of several adjustments made to the score of the Ring for a series of concerts in Wien in 1862-1863. Siegfried was completed in 1857, but the full opera was not performed until 1875. At the concert 1 Jan. 1863 Wagner conducted extracts from the Ring, and added the present 5 new bars to bring the "Hämmerlied" to its conclusion.
Place of origin Bayreuth
Dates 1862