Editing Der Ring des Nibelungen (section)

==Composition==
{{more citations needed section|date=April 2017}}

===The text===
{{Main|Der Ring des Nibelungen: composition of the text{{!}}''Der Ring des Nibelungen'': composition of the text}}
In summer 1848 Wagner wrote ''The Nibelung Myth as Sketch for a Drama'', combining the medieval sources previously mentioned into a single narrative, very similar to the plot of the eventual ''Ring'' cycle, but nevertheless with substantial differences. Later that year he began writing a libretto entitled ''Siegfrieds Tod'' ("Siegfried's Death"). He was possibly stimulated by a series of articles in the ''[[Neue Zeitschrift für Musik]]'', inviting composers to write a 'national opera' based on the [[Nibelungenlied]], a 12th-century High German poem which, since its rediscovery in 1755, had been hailed by the [[German Romantics]] as the "German [[national epic]]". ''Siegfrieds Tod'' dealt with the death of Siegfried, the central heroic figure of the Nibelungenlied. The idea had occurred to others – the correspondence of [[Fanny Mendelssohn|Fanny]] and [[Felix Mendelssohn]] in 1840/41 reveals that they were both outlining scenarios on the subject: Fanny wrote 'The hunt with Siegfried's death provides a splendid finale to the second act'.<ref>Letter of 9 December 1840. See {{harvp|Mendelssohn|1987|pp=299–301}}</ref>

By 1850, Wagner had completed a musical sketch (which he abandoned) for ''Siegfrieds Tod''.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}} He now felt that he needed a preliminary opera, ''Der junge Siegfried'' ("The Young Siegfried", later renamed to "Siegfried"), to explain the events in ''Siegfrieds Tod'' and his verse draft of this was completed in May 1851.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}} By October, he had made the momentous decision to embark on a cycle of four operas, to be played over four nights: ''Das Rheingold'', ''Die Walküre'', ''Der Junge Siegfried'' and ''Siegfrieds Tod''; the text for all four parts was completed in December 1852 and privately published in February 1853.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}

===The music===
{{Main|Der Ring des Nibelungen: composition of the music{{!}}''Der Ring des Nibelungen'': composition of the music}}
In November 1853, Wagner began the composition draft of ''Das Rheingold''. Unlike the verses, which were written as it were in reverse order, the music would be composed in the same order as the narrative. Composition proceeded until 1857, when the final score up to the end of act 2 of ''Siegfried'' was completed. Wagner then laid the work aside for twelve years, during which he wrote ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'' and ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]''.

By 1869, Wagner was living at [[Tribschen]] on [[Lake Lucerne]], sponsored by King [[Ludwig II of Bavaria]]. He returned to ''Siegfried'' and, remarkably, was able to pick up where he left off. In October, he completed the final work in the cycle. He chose the title ''Götterdämmerung'' instead of ''Siegfrieds Tod''. In the completed work the gods are destroyed in accordance with the new pessimistic thrust of the cycle, not redeemed as in the more optimistic originally planned ending. Wagner also decided to show onstage the events of ''Das Rheingold'' and ''Die Walküre'', which had hitherto only been presented as back-narration in the other two parts. These changes resulted in some discrepancies in the cycle, but these do not diminish the value of the work.