Ride of the Valkyries

The Ride of the Valkyries ( _de. Walkürenritt), is the popular term for the beginning of Act III of "Die Walküre" by Richard Wagner. The main theme of the ride, the leitmotif labelled "Walkürenritt" was first written down by the composer on 23 July 1851. The preliminary draft for the "Ride" was composed in 1854 as part of the composition of the entire opera which was fully orchestrated by the end of the first quarter of 1856. Together with the Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin, the "Ride of the Valkyries" is one of Wagner's best-known pieces. It stands out in part because of its references in popular culture, where it is used to represent stereotypical Grand Opera and, perhaps more, to accompany military-like exercises in film and television.

In the opera-house, the Ride, which takes around eight minutes, begins in the prelude to the Act, building up successive layers of accompaniment until the curtain rises to reveal a mountain peak where four of the eight Valkyrie sisters of Brünnhilde have gathered in preparation for the transportation of fallen heroes to Valhalla. As they are joined by the other four, the familiar tune is carried by the orchestra, while, above it, the Valkyries greet each other and sing their battle-cry. Apart from the song of the Rhinemaidens in "Das Rheingold", it is the only ensemble piece in the first three operas of Wagner's "Ring" cycle. Outside the opera-house, it is usually heard in a purely instrumental version, which may be as short as three minutes.

Performance

listen
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format = OggThe complete opera "Die Walküre" was first performed on 26 June 1870 in Munich against the composer's wishes. By January of the next year, Wagner was receiving requests for the "Ride" to be performed separately, but wrote that such a performance should be considered "an utter indiscretion" and forbade "any such thing". [Cosima Wagner, "Diaries", entry for Wednesday 25 January 1871, translated Geoffrey Skelton.] However, the piece was still printed and sold in Leipzig, and Wagner subsequently wrote a complaint to the publisher Schott. [Cosima Wagner, "Diaries", entry for Tuesday March 28 1871.] In the period up to the first performance of the complete "Ring" cycle, Wagner continued to receive requests for separate performances, his second wife Cosima noting "Unsavory letters arrive for R. – requests for the "Ride of the Valkyries" and I don't know what else." [Cosima Wagner, "Diaries", entry for Wednesday, 25 December 1872, translated Geoffrey Skelton.] Once the "Ring" had been given in Bayreuth in 1876, Wagner lifted the embargo. He himself conducted it in London on Saturday 12 May 1877, repeating it as an encore. [Cosima Wagner, "Diaries", entry for Saturday 12 May 1877. Also note on above entry p.1150.]

Within the concert repertoire, the "Ride of the Valkyries" remains a popular encore, especially when other Wagnerian extracts feature in the scheduled programme. For example, at the BBC Proms it has been performed as such by Klaus Tennstedt and the London Philharmonic Orchestra on 6 August 1992 [Nick Breckenfield (2006) " [http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_features.php?id=3070 Feature Review – Klaus Tennstedt Concerts on CD] ", www.clasicalsource.com, link checked 7 August 2007.] and also by Valery Gergiev with the Kirov Orchestra on 28 August 2001. [Geoffrey Norris [http://cefc.org.uk/280801_DT.htm review of (Prom 50) 28 August 2001] , "Daily Telegraph", link checked 7 August 2007.] It was also performed as part of the BBC Doctor Who Prom on July 27, 2008.

In popular culture

The original score for D. W. Griffith's film "The Birth of a Nation" (1915), compiled by Joseph Carl Breil and Griffith, used the Ride of the Valkyries in the climactic scene of the third act, when "The former enemies of North and South are united again in defense of their Aryan birthright" against liberated former black slaves after the end of the American Civil War. The beleaguered white group are rescued by the Ku Klux Klan to the sound of the music.

The Ride of the Valkyries is probably best known to filmgoers as the music used by the 1979 movie "Apocalypse Now" for a scene in which a squadron of helicopters attacks a Vietnamese village. It is also well known for being prominently featured in Chuck Jones's 1957 animated short "What's Opera Doc?" starring Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny, and featuring the lyrics "Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit!" sung to the main theme. It has since been used in a countless number of movies, video games, commercials and video clips for dramatic emphasis, e.g. in the movies "Jarhead" and "The Blues Brothers" as well as "Lord of War", and in the popular war strategy game "Hearts of Iron". The theme has also an important role in Federico Fellini's "8½", during the riot in the "harem scene".

In real life

A group of German tanks are said to have played "Ride of the Valkyries" on their shortwave radios just before an assault launched in World War II. The scenario is described in the book "The Forgotten Soldier", written in late 1940s and first published in French in the 1960s, which claims to be a personal account of the author, Guy Sajer, and his experience as a soldier of the German "Großdeutschland Division". He describes standing next to the tanks in the Battle of Memel (now Klaipeda) where he was gathering together with a ragtag force to attempt a breakout from a surrounded position, and says in the book that it was "a fitting accompaniment to supreme sacrifice". ["The Forgotten Soldier", Brassy's 2001 edition, p.418.]

Notes

References

* Wagner, Cosima. (1978). "Diaries: Volume I 1869–1877". Edited and annotated by Martin Gregor-Dellin and Dietrich Mack, translated by Geoffrey Skelton. London, Collins.

External links

* Listen to [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10177 the piece] at the Gutenberg Project in MP3 format
* Listen to the [http://www.carolinaclassical.com/articles/wagnervalkyries.m3u full piece] at Carolina Classical in MP3 format