Wagner, Richard

Wagner, Richard
Kaisermarsch (Emperor March)

Preface
After the victory in the Franco-Prussian war 1870/71 William of Prussia had himself proclaimed Emperor of the newly formed German Reich in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles on the 18th of January 1871. Ludwig II, the king of Bavaria, was forced to present the Emperor’s crown to his uncle, as he was the most influential of the German sovereigns. Ludwig’s influence dwindled as the result of these developments and Wagner wanted to associate with the new emperor of Hohenzollern. In Berlin Wagner initially offered to compose a “Requiem for those Fallen in the War”. There came a rejection from the capital. The celebrations were to take place with pomp and circumstance, and not with a requiem. Wagner made a second offer for music which would conclude with deification and the National Anthem. Berlin also rejected this. The reason was probably that Bismarck treated the sensitive Ludwig and his partnership in the new Reich with considerable care. As a result he was careful to maintain a distance to Wagner.
In spite of all this Wagner wanted to indicate to the public his new political attitude. For this reason he composed the Emperor March between February and March 1871 in Triebschen. The first performance took place in Berlin on the 14th of April 1871. Wagner hoped that the composition would be used as the coronation march and that the final choral section would become the new Reich’s anthem, as the popular Wacht am Rhein got on his nerves.

The structure of this work anticipates the idea of Sibelius to initially introduce only parts of the theme and to fit these together to a large theme in the last climax. The complete theme consists of 28 bars, where the last four are repeated. It first appears at number 21; here the people’s melody is introduced ad lib. This long theme can be split into five motives, which have been introduced previously. Also the start of the work is not at all fragmentary. At the beginning there is an 11 bar period (7+4) with an accumulation of repetitions and the avoidance of symmetry. In these 11 bars the motives a and b of the theme can be heard for the first time. Thereafter appears a rising figure in the strings, initially in the tonic, then in the dominant. This figure, together with the 11 bars at the beginning, forms an introduction. The main part of the work follows from number 2. It is initially characterised by the motive c.

At number 3 a part of Luther’s choral Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott is quoted for the first time, followed by a section that is determined by fanfare-like calls from the brass. In number 5 the choral is again quoted and developed in a similar manner.

From number 7 onwards Wagner strongly modulates into very distant keys. This section, in particular the bars marked with dolce, particularly recalls his Meistersinger. At number 18 and 19 Ein feste Burg sounds for the last time and the work concludes with the climax referred to above.

The Emperor March brought Wagner some fame. It was already printed in 1871 and was performed in many German cities. Wagner directed it together with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the laying of the foundation stone of the festival hall in Bayreuth. More recently Ricardo Muti engaged the work. He directed it on the occasion of the reopening of the Teatro La Fenice in 2003. The performance lasts about 11 minutes.

Translation: John Conrad

For performance material please contact the publisher Breitkopf und Härtel, Wiesbaden. Reprint of a copy from the collection Marcus Prieser, Wittmund.