In this installment of articles, we’re looking at some of the angry classical music that has dotted the landscape in the past few centuries. First, we have Wagner’s La Chevauchee des Walkyries. This is a very famous piece that has a famous horn opening in all its splender. Cue the B minor (B,B, B, D, B, D, B, D, F#, D, F#, D, F#, A, F#, D, D, D F#…) Hold on and picture the sound in your ears for a moment. It is such an epic opening that it sends tingles and goosebumps up your spine and back again. You’re in for a magical experience. There are so many elements to take in and the solo of the horns is only the start. Don’t forget the chromatic rising that almost amounts to an eager slide, almost like that of a slide of guitar.
It is taking things to the max. After the Ring cycle, wow. This is the other swinging, opposite side of the spectrum. You’d think that Wagner has gone crazy, but it’s just the way he writes music. It's him on the opposite side of the spectrum just playing his heart away. I can't imagine what it would be like to write the ring cycle or this piece and have it played on TV no less.
The piece was expertly played by the orchestras who play it on the TV, radio or in concert. It’s one of the many pieces that have survived the test of time across the vast changes in the many genres that have taken place in the last few decades especially. The skyscraper of the wash of sound that awash in the texture of the orchestra is standing strong. It's another one of his pieces that makes you stop and go, “wow, this is probably one of the best pieces in on the 20th Century classical literature. It does piggyback off of the “Ring Cycle” with the many key changes from major to minor and more.
I don't know what else to say about it, except the fact that I want to compose a piece just like that. Makes me go back into my hard drive and dig out a piece or two that is particularly dramatic.
This piece was written at the height of his decline in the popular culture. He wrote this right after the ring as the antithesis of the “Ring” right as he is starting his final opera. You could call it the last gasp before the final big opera of his career.
