The Epic of Rounds: an Elementary Interpretation of Wagner's Nibelungen
Ring. By Freda Winworth. (Simpkin, Marshall and Co.; Novell°, Ewer, and Co.)—Miss Winworth defines the aim of her admirable and timely little handbook as being intended to lend a helping hand to the newcomer who is desirous of investigating the marvels and mysteries of Wagner's great tetralogy. To this end she has related the stories of the four dramas in narrative form, using only the dialogue and scenic descriptions of Wagner, and treating the matter as a poetic whole. The narrative is prefaced by an analytical intro- duction, in which the dramatis personm, their relationships, spheres of action, and characters, are fully set forth, while at the end we have sixty-eight of the "leading motives" in musical notation numbered so as to correspond to the references in the narrative. Various ingenious typographical devices are employed to assist the reader and fix the crucial incidents in his mind, while the handy size of the little volume renders it avail- able for use not merely at home, but, if need be, during the intervals of the performance. Miss Winworth has done her work with marked ability; her preface is laudably free from any controversial expression of opinion, and to those intending patrons of "Bayreuth in London" during the next few weeks who are not already posted up in the literature of the " Ring " we can cordially recommend this capital primer. It is rather amusing to note, by the way, that the author deemed it necessary to secure Madame Wagner's consent before dedicating the book to Herr Siegfried Wagner.
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