Editing Das Rheingold (section)

===First scene===
When the prelude reaches its climax the curtain rises and the key shifts to A{{music|b}} as Woglinde sings a "greeting to the waters".{{sfn|Newman|1949|p=476}} The first two and last two notes of this short, lilting passage form a falling musical step which, in different guises, will recur throughout the opera, signifying variously the Rhinemaidens' innocence, their joy in the gold and conversely, in the minor key,{{sfn|Millington|2006|p=100}} Alberich's woe at his rejection by the maidens, and his enslavement of the Nibelungs.{{sfn|Holman|2001|p=111}} The first appearance of the gold is signified by a muted horn call in the lower register, played under a shimmer of undulating strings,{{sfn|Newman|1949|p=478}} conveying, says Holman, "the shining, innocent beauty of the Rhinegold in its unfashioned state."{{sfn|Holman|2001|p=112}} The motif for the ring itself first appears in the woodwind,{{sfn|Newman|1949|p=479}} as Wellgunde reveals that a ring fashioned from the gold would confer on its owner the power to win the wealth of the world.{{sfn|Holman|2001|p=114}} This is followed by what is sometimes known as the "renunciation" motif, when Woglinde sings that to fashion such a ring, the owner must first renounce love. Confusion arises because this same motif is used later in the ''Ring'' cycle to represent affirmation rather than rejection of love;{{sfn|Holman|2001|p=114}} [[Roger Scruton]] suggests the motif would be more appropriately labelled "existential choice".{{sfn|Scruton|2017|p=313}} Alberich duly curses love, seizes the gold and departs, to the sounds of the despairing shrieks of the Rhinemaidens.{{sfn|Millington|2006|p=101}}