Limericks re-telling the plots of the Ring operas may be found here: Ring (2019). Limericks re-telling the plots of the canonical non-Ring opera may be found here: non-Ring (2020)
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Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) revolutionized opera in the last half of the nineteenth century.
Six Limericks for R.W.
Festival Fodder
Herr Wagner was full of the knowledge he
Had gathered on German mythology,
And so, in due course,
These tales from the Norse
Became a titanic tetralogy.
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“Don’t You Wish Everyone Did?”
And remember, there is no air-conditioning in the house.... —- Anthony Tommasini on the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, New York Times
Wagnerian birds of a feather
Who gather at Bayreuth together,
Pin fatuous hopes
On deodorant soaps
In stretches of hot summer weather.
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Lyrical Logo
The Leitmotif was an invention
Designed to give sonic dimension
To points in the plot,
Or to any stray thought
That the characters happen to mention.
The Unanswered Question
The musical world was floored
By Tristan’s mysterious chord;
It’s tonal deflection
Was pregnant with direction -
But was it away or toward?
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A Theorist Opines
Wagnerian harmonic analysis
Has led me to mental paralysis.
The recondite grind
On my erudite mind
Is causing me cognitive calluses.
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The Answered Question
Miss Russell, whose Guide to the Ring
Makes affectionate fun of the thing,
Explains why we spend
Fifteen hours on end
On a tale about magical bling.
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