The Ride of the Valkyries appeared as circus music even during Wagner’s lifetime. The best-known use took place during the Second World War: In the German newsreel of May 30, 1941, the Ride of the Valkyries was played as background music for recordings of the airborne battle for Crete, as well as for reporting on the bombing of the Saint Petersburg-Moscow railway line. The Japanese war propaganda of the Second World War also used the Ride of the Valkyries in the film documentation of the conquest of Indonesia.
Based on this, the probably best-known scene from the anti-war film Apocalypse Now (1979) by Francis Ford Coppola is highlighted with the Ride of the Valkyries: The US Army, led by Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, flies a helicopter attack on a Vietnamese village. This scene, in turn, has been widely cited in pop culture and has since found frequent use in films and video games.
The music is also used in a chase scene in Blues Brothers. The theme is also taken up by Ennio Morricone for the film music of the spaghetti western My Name is Nobody.
Wagner – The Ride of the Valkyries (piano solo) with sheet music
The Ride of the Valkyries or Valkyrie Ride is the name of the orchestral prelude to the third act of Richard Wagner’s opera Die Walküre, which has gained importance beyond the opera. In addition to the bridal choir from Lohengrin, the Valkyrie Ride is one of Wagner’s most famous melodies.
The theme was composed in 1851, the elaboration in connection with the opera took place in the years 1854-56.
The piece consists of a fanfare-like melody played by horns, trumpets and trombones with a moving orchestral accompaniment. Wagner prescribes the tempo to be “lively” and instructs the brass to “emphasize the rhythm very sharply and distinctly throughout”.
The orchestral prelude leads directly into the sung battle cry, accompanied by the orchestra, of the opera’s mounted female spirits called Valkyries. Together with him, the piece lasts around eight minutes; the better-known, purely instrumental variant is about five minutes long.
The Ride of the Valkyries appeared as circus music even during Wagner’s lifetime. The best-known use took place during the Second World War: In the German newsreel of May 30, 1941, the Ride of the Valkyries was played as background music for recordings of the airborne battle for Crete, as well as for reporting on the bombing of the Saint Petersburg-Moscow railway line. The Japanese war propaganda of the Second World War also used the Ride of the Valkyries in the film documentation of the conquest of Indonesia.
Based on this, the probably best-known scene from the anti-war film Apocalypse Now (1979) by Francis Ford Coppola is highlighted with the Ride of the Valkyries: The US Army, led by Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, flies a helicopter attack on a Vietnamese village. This scene, in turn, has been widely cited in pop culture and has since found frequent use in films and video games.
The music is also used in a chase scene in Blues Brothers. The theme is also taken up by Ennio Morricone for the film music of the spaghetti western My Name is Nobody.
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Das Thema wurde 1851 komponiert, die Ausarbeitung im Zusammenhang mit der Oper erfolgte in den Jahren 1854-56.
Das Stück besteht aus einer fanfarenartigen Melodie, gespielt von Hörnern, Trompeten und Posaunen mit bewegender Orchesterbegleitung. Wagner gibt das Tempo „lebendig“ vor und weist die Blechbläser an, „den Rhythmus durchweg sehr scharf und deutlich zu betonen“.
Das orchestrale Vorspiel leitet direkt in den vom Orchester begleiteten gesungenen Schlachtruf der berittenen weiblichen Geister der Oper namens Walküren über. Zusammen mit ihm dauert das Stück etwa acht Minuten; die bekanntere, rein instrumentale Variante ist etwa fünf Minuten lang.
The Ride of the Valkyries appeared as circus music even during Wagner’s lifetime. The best-known use took place during the Second World War: In the German newsreel of May 30, 1941, the Ride of the Valkyries was played as background music for recordings of the airborne battle for Crete, as well as for reporting on the bombing of the Saint Petersburg-Moscow railway line. The Japanese war propaganda of the Second World War also used the Ride of the Valkyries in the film documentation of the conquest of Indonesia.
Based on this, the probably best-known scene from the anti-war film Apocalypse Now (1979) by Francis Ford Coppola is highlighted with the Ride of the Valkyries: The US Army, led by Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, flies a helicopter attack on a Vietnamese village. This scene, in turn, has been widely cited in pop culture and has since found frequent use in films and video games.
The music is also used in a chase scene in Blues Brothers. The theme is also taken up by Ennio Morricone for the film music of the spaghetti western My Name is Nobody.
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