Wolf's Glen, Samiel, and Fearsome Magic

On my way down from the hills today, I continued with How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, a series of 48 lectures on audio CD with professor Robert Greenberg. It's a course from The Teaching Company.

In Der Freishutz, Karl Maria von Weber brings us exceptionally dark and fearsome music about the visit of Max to Wolf's Glen, a terrifying place. There, within a circle of stones, Max deals with Samiel--who is the devil in disguise. One of numerous stories about deals with the devil, this one involves the dramatic and fiery casting of seven bullets, six of which will hit their targets in a shooting contest but the seventh will go where Samiel directs. The initial result will be quite favorable, but then the devil will have his way! This is the usual ending of such "deal with the devil" stories. This one, about the happenings in Wolf's Glen, forms one of the most dramatic stories in all of opera. Der Freishutz brought forth a new direction in opera. This probably included The Witches Sabbath in Symphony Fantastique by Hector Berlioz. Importantly, it is said that Weber made Richard Wagner possible.