Editing Parsifal (section)

===Act 1===

Prelude to act 1

Musical introduction to the work with a duration of c. 12–16 minutes.

''Scene 1''

[[File:Wagner - Parsifal, act I - Gurnemanz and the novices - Pach Bros., N.Y. - The Victrola book of the opera.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Gurnemanz and the squires, act 1, scene 1, in the 1903 performance of the work in New York]]

In a forest near the seat of the Grail and its knights, [[Gornemant|Gurnemanz]], an elder knight of the Grail, wakes his young squires and leads them in morning prayer ("He! Ho! Waldhüter ihr"). Their king, Amfortas, has been stabbed by the [[Holy Lance|Holy Spear]], once bequeathed to him into his guardianship, and the wound will not heal.

A woman named Kundry arrives in a frenzy, with soothing balsam from Arabia. The squires eye Kundry with mistrust and question her. They believe Kundry to be an evil pagan witch. Gurnemanz restrains them and defends her. He relates the history of Amfortas and the spear; it was stolen from him by the failed knight Klingsor.

[[File:Richard Wagner Parsifal Titurel, der fromme Held excerpt.mp3|thumb|Gurnemanz singing "Titurel, der fromme Held", excerpt from a 1942 recording]]

Gurnemanz's squires ask how it is that he knew Klingsor. Gurnemanz tells them that Klingsor was once a respected knight. Unable to cleanse himself of sin, he castrated himself in an effort to attain purity, but instead became an evil monstrosity.

A boy named Parsifal enters, carrying a swan which he has killed. Shocked, Gurnemanz speaks sternly to the lad, saying that this land is a holy place, not to be defiled by murder. Remorsefully the young man breaks his bow in agitation and casts it aside. Kundry tells him that she has seen that his mother has died. Parsifal, who cannot remember much of his past, is crestfallen.

Gurnemanz wonders if Parsifal might be the predicted "pure fool"; he invites Parsifal to witness the Ceremony of the Uncovering of the Grail, which renews the knights' immortality.

Orchestral interlude – ''Verwandlungsmusik'' (''Transformation music'')

''Scene 2''

[[File:Paul von Joukowsky - Bühnenbild Parsifal - Gralstempel.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Paul von Joukowsky]]: Design for the hall of the Grail (second scenes of acts 1 and 3), 1882]]

The voice of the retired king Titurel resounds from a vaulted crypt in the background, demanding that his son Amfortas uncover the Grail and serve his kingly office ("Mein Sohn Amfortas, bist du am Amt?"). Only through the immortality-conferring power of the sacred chalice and the Saviour's blood contained therein may Titurel himself, now aged and very feeble, live on.  Amfortas is overcome with shame and suffering ("Wehvolles Erbe, dem ich verfallen"). He, the chosen guardian of the holiest of relics, has succumbed to sin and lost the Holy Spear, suffering an ever-bleeding wound in the process; uncovering the Grail causes him great pain. The young man appears to suffer with him, clutching convulsively at his heart. The knights and Titurel urge Amfortas to reveal the Grail ("Enthüllet den Gral!"), and he finally does. The dark hall is illuminated by its radiant light and the round table of the knights is miraculously filled with wine and bread. Slowly all the knights and squires disappear, leaving Gurnemanz and the youth alone. Gurnemanz asks the youth if he has understood what he has seen. As the boy is unable to answer the question, Gurnemanz dismisses him as just an ordinary fool after all and angrily exiles him from the realm with a warning to let the swans in the Grail Kingdom live in peace.