Piece #12 - Overture to Rienzi - Richard Wagner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka8gTPFLcbo&feature=related

 

While I had heard this piece several times, it was on NPR and I had a chance to actually listen to it. In my classes, we speak a great deal about the difference between hearing and listening to music as outlined by Daniel Barenboim in his fascinating book Music Quickens Time. Essentially, hearing is a passive activity, noticing that Taylor Swift is on the radio as you shop for groceries; and listening is an active event where you focus on what is heard. I remind my students that listening is a selfish activity, and cannot be done while multi-tasking. Anyway, as I returned from going to the store, this piece was on NPR. I was so moved that I remained in the car and listened to the entire work.

 

Factoids:

• Richard Wagner (1813-1889), is without question one of the most tyrannical composers in history.
• He went so far as to write an aricle, Das Judenthum in der Musik or "Jewishness in Music" persecuting Jews in the music industry.
• In part because he was  openly antisemitic, his music was loved by Hitler and was played as Jews marched to their deaths.

• While his beliefs are reprehensible, his contributions to music, opera specifically, are undeniable.
• Wagner is credited with the expanded role of the Leitmotif.
• A Leitmotif is a musical idea that is associated with a specific character.

• The Rienzi Overture is one of his first works to become a mainstay in standard repertory.
• Prior to the Romantic Period (19th century) most operatic overtures had little to do with the opera that followed.
• This overture, and many others written in this era, piece together a highlight reel of melodies to be heard in the opera, an idea later copied by composers of musical theater.

• Musically speaking, it is difficult to miss the lovely lyrical melody played by the celli around 1:30.
• This theme recurs several times throughout the work, which seems to be almost a sonata form of sorts.
• In classical Wagnerian fashion, the climax of the work has extreme chromaticism (using notes not typically affiliated with a given key) applying additional tension and giving it an extra element of excitement.

• I should note that this is a performance by the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra.
• This is arguably the finest training program for musicians in the world.
• Where is it located...not France, Germany, England or Spain, but Venezuela.
• This performance is under the direction of wunderkind, graduate of the Bolivar program, and current music director of the L.A. Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel.

Have fun!