Relayed from the Queen's Hall
Parsifal Music - Wagner

MURIEL BRUNSKILL (Contralto)
HERBERT HEYNER (Baritone)
BERKELEY MASON (Organ)
THE NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
(Leader, S. KNEALE KELLEY)
Conducted by Sir HENRY WOOD

Prelude to Act I
Klingsor's Magic Garden and Flower-Maidens' Scene from Act II

Parsifal, Wagner's last work, was called by its composer a 'Sacred Festival Drama.' In it, he treats of that legendary relic of the Eucharist, the Holy Grail. The life of the Knights of the Grail is brought before us. Amfortas, the guardian of the holy vessel, has sinned, and has brought distress upon himself and his companions. Blessing comes to them again through Parsifal, the innocent youth who resists temptation.

The Prelude, from its first bars, invokes the emotional atmosphere of the whole drama. In particular, wo hear in it much of the music that is associated with the Grail itself, and with the sufferings and heroism of the knights.

An evil magician, Klingsor, angry at his exclusion from the sacred Knighthood, has created an enchanted castle and garden. Here, with the help of Kundry, a beautiful woman, and her attendant Flower Maidens, he tempt the Knights. Parsifal is led there, and in this scene we hear their seductive music.

MURIEL BRUNSKILL and Orchestra
Kundry's Song, 'Herzeleide' (Heart of Sorrow, from Act II)

After the temptations of the Flower Maidens have failed to move Parsifal, Kundry appears, bewitchingly beautiful. She sends away the maidens, and tells the youth many things that she has long waited to impart-that he was named Parsifal, ' the foolish pure one.' by his father King Gamurot, who died when his son was a babe. She goes on to describe the loving care of his mother Herzeleide, who, bereft of her husband, jealously shielded her son, and kept him in innocence. When he went away, and did not return, sorrow killed her.

ORCHESTRA
Prelude to Act III

Parsifal has wandered far, seeking the home of the Grail. Sadness and hopelessness have come upon the Knights meanwhile, and the Prelude depicts their dispirited mood.

As the concert version of the Prelude continues into the opening of the stage scene, we have a hint of the coming of Spring.