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| Valkyrie Flight | |
Ulm Philharmonic Orchestra, Conductor , June 3, 2014 | |
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Flight of the Valkyries ( German: Walkürenritt or Ritt der Walküren ) is the common name for the beginning of the third act of the opera Valkyrie , the second of Richard Wagner’s four operas that make up the cycle of the operas The Ring of the Nibelung . The leitmotif with the title “Flight of the Valkyries” was first recorded by the composer on July 23, 1851. A preliminary sketch was composed in 1854 as part of the structure of an entire opera, fully orchestrated by the end of the first quarter of 1856. In addition to The Wedding Choir from the opera Lohengrin is one of Wagner's most famous musical works.
The Valkyrie Flight, which lasts about 8 minutes, begins in a prelude to action, gradually erecting the following escort layers until the curtain rises and opens the mountain peak where four of the eight Valkyries , Brunnhilde sisters, gathered to send the fallen heroes to Valhalla . When they join the other four, a familiar melody sweeps while the Valkyries orchestra greet each other and sing their battle cry. In addition to the song of the Rhine’s daughters in the opera The Rhine Gold , this is the only orchestral piece of music in the first three operas from the Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung cycle.
Execution
The entire opera Valkyrie was performed on June 26, 1870 at the National Theater in Munich, contrary to the intention of the composer. By January next year, Wagner received requests for a separate performance of “Flight of the Valkyries,” but he wrote that such a performance should be considered “extreme imprudence” and forbade “any such things” [1] . However, the work was still being printed and sold in Leipzig , and Wagner subsequently wrote a complaint to the publisher Schott [2] . Until the first performance of the full cycle, The Ring of the Nibelung, Wagner continued to receive requests for individual performances, which his second wife, Cosima, noted:
| R. receives unpleasant letters - requests regarding the "Flight of the Valkyries" and something else.Cosima Wagner [3] |
The Nibelung Ring was performed in Bayreuth in 1876. Wagner himself conducted in London on May 12, 1877, repeating an encore [4] .
Notes
- ↑ Cosima Wagner , Diaries , entry for Wednesday 25 January 1871, translated Geoffrey Skelton .
- ↑ Cosima Wagner, Diaries , entry for Tuesday March 28, 1871.
- ↑ Cosima Wagner, Diaries , entry for Wednesday, 25 December 1872, translated Geoffrey Skelton.
- ↑ Cosima Wagner, Diaries , entry for Saturday 12 May 1877. Also note on above entry p.1150.
Links
- Wagner, Cosima. (1978). Diaries: Volume I 1869-1877 . Edited and annotated by Martin Gregor-Dellin and Dietrich Mack, translated by Geoffrey Skelton. Collins, London.
- Listen to the piece at the Gutenberg Project in MP3 format