Motif 33: Straying

German name: Motiv des Irrens

Straying (ogg format)

Newman called this motif Straying. Kufferath saw it as a development of the Riding motif. It first appears in the prelude to act III, where it represents Parsifal's confused and stumbling course through the world. We hear it again when Parsifal tells Gurnemanz of his wanderings on paths of suffering and of how dangers, battles and duels forced him from the path that leads to Monsalvat.