Part One I Part Two I Part Three I Part Four
The Meistersinger Experience Part Two - Second Half
Act I & II
Act III is below,
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ACT III
As morning dawns, Sachs is reading a large book in his workshop. Lost in thought, he does not respond as David returns from delivering Beckmesser's shoes. David finally manages to attract his master's attention, and they discuss the upcoming festivities – it is St. John's day, Hans Sachs' name day! David recites his verses for Sachs, and leaves to prepare for the festival. Alone, Sachs ponders last night's riot. "Madness! Madness! Everywhere madness!" (Wahn! Wahn! Überall Wahn!) His attempt to prevent an elopement had ended in shocking violence. This is the other pivotal moment in the opera, the chance for Wagner to delve deep into the nature of creativity. This monologue has always provoked debate. Wahn can be translated, if at all in many ways: Illusion, folly,. Madness or De-lusion. Sachs speaks for Wagner as he questions why people torment one another in ‘useless, foolish anger. Nevertheless, he is resolved to make madness work for him today. He will help Walther fashion his dream into a prize-winning song. Wagner is here channeling the philosopher Nietzsche (who incidentally would soon become a great friend of Wagner’s-for a while). Nietzsche wrote in his tract ‘Twilight of the Idols’: : that art is the only thing that justifies life.
Walther, who has spent the night in Sachs' home, enters the room. He tells Sachs that he had a pleasant dream, and, with Sachs' encouragement, fashions two sections of a new Prize Song from it. Sachs copies down the verses as they are sung. A final section remains to be composed, but Walther is tired of words. The two men leave the room to dress for the festival.
Beckmesser, still sore from his drubbing the night before, enters the workshop. He spots the verses of the Prize Song, laid down in Sachs' handwriting, and draws the conclusion that Sachs is joining the contest for Eva's hand. The cobbler re-enters the room, and Beckmesser confronts him with the verses. However, Sachs declares that he has no intention of wooing Eva, and agrees to let Beckmesser take the poem with him; he even promises never to claim the song to be his own. Beckmesser rushes off to prepare for the song contest, ecstatic at the prospect of using verses written by the famous Hans Sachs.
Eva arrives at the workshop. She is looking for Walther, but pretends to have complaints about a shoe that Sachs made for her. Sachs realizes that the shoe is a perfect fit, but pretends to set about altering the stitching. As he works, he tells Eva that he has just heard a beautiful song, lacking only an ending. Eva cries out as Walther enters the room, splendidly attired for the festival, and sings the third and final section of the Prize Song. The couple are overwhelmed with gratitude for Sachs, and Eva asks Sachs to forgive her for playing with his feelings, but the cobbler brushes them off with bantering complaints about his lot as a shoemaker, poet, and widower. At last, however, he admits to Eva that, despite his feelings for her, he is resolved to avoid the fate of King Mark (a reference to the subject of another Wagner opera, Tristan und Isolde), thus extending his blessing upon the lovers. Eva is ecstatic in her gratitude.
David and Magdalena appear. Sachs announces to the group that a new master-song has been born, which, following the rules of the Meistersingers, is to be baptized. As an apprentice cannot serve as a witness for the baptism, he promotes David to the rank of journeyman with the traditional cuff on the ear. He then christens the Prize Song the Morning Dream Song (Selige Morgentraumdeut-Weise). After musing on their good fortunes, the group departs for the festival. And it is this moment, one of the most sublime moments of the opera that Wagner does something totally unconventional for him, but totally conventional in the history of opera. He stops the action, allows the five principal singers to each voice their emotions in a most traditional Quintet.
The feast of St. John is taking place in the meadow near the Pegnitz River. The various guilds hold their processions, culminating in the arrival of the Meistersingers. The crowd sings the praises of Hans Sachs, the most beloved of the Meistersingers. The prize contest begins. Due to his age the first contestant is Beckmesser, who attempts to use the verses that he had obtained from Sachs. However, he is unable remember and fit the words to an appropriate melody, and ends up singing so clumsily that the crowd laughs. Here is a comparison in German and in English of the text of just the first verse-as Sachs and Walther wrote it and as Beckmesser bumbles it.
Before storming off in anger, he claims that Hans Sachs was the author of the song. Sachs denies this; as proof, he invites Walther onto the stage. Walther's performance of the Prize Song breaks more of the Meistersingers' rules than ever, but it is so beautiful that everyone is won over.
He has won the contest, and Eva's hand in marriage. The Meistersingers want to make him a member of their guild on the spot, but, to their dismay, he refuses. Sachs intervenes once more. "Scorn not the Masters, I bid you!" he chastises Walther. In spite of their faults, the Meistersingers have cared for German art in their own way, preserving it through years of unrest. Walther finally assents, and the people sing once more the praises of Hans Sachs, the beloved Meistersinger of Nuremberg.
