(Ger.).
Prelude. The term appears frequently in German operatic scores from Wagner’s Lohengrin (1846–8) onwards. Following Wagner’s prescriptions in Oper und Drama, the Vorspiel was invariably linked closely with the musical and dramatic events of the opera. The two that function as symphonic prologues to the first and third acts of Die Walküre, for instance, depict respectively the storm that drives Siegmund to seek shelter in Hunding’s hut and the ride of the Valkyries before their assembly. The Vorspiel was not necessarily purely orchestral, however. That to Act 1 of Götterdämmerung embraces the Norns’ scene, Siegfried and Brünnhilde’s duet and the Rhine Journey. This structure was probably influenced by the opening of Marschner’s Hans Heiling (1833), where the Vorspiel, consisting of choruses flanking a solo for Heiling, precedes the overture. The term is also used of preludes in general (e.g. Choralvorspiel, denoting a chorale prelude).
MICHAEL TILMOUTH/R