Ride of the Valkyries
Encyclopedia : R : RI : RID : Ride of the Valkyries
"The Ride of the Valkyries" (German: Walkürenritt) is the popular term for the beginning of Act III of Die Walküre by Richard Wagner. It is probably Wagner's best-known piece after the Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin. It stands out in part because of its references in popular culture, where it is used to represent stereotypical Grand Opera.
In the opera-house, the Ride 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.
In popular culture
The music is an iconic opera stereotype: the principal Valkyrie Brünnhilde (who, actually, does not figure in the Ride) in breastplate and horned helmet, clutching a spear and shield, and crying out "HO JO TO HO!". In cartoons, she is usually depicted as rather heavier of build than most modern opera singers.The piece has been used to great effect in a wide variety of films. The best known example is the use by the fictional 1/9th Air Cavalry helicopter assault in Apocalypse Now. The stirring tones play as the helicopters swoop in to annihilate a village, Viet-Cong soldiers, women, children, livestock and all. The piece has also been lampooned in What's Opera, Doc? (where Elmer Fudd sings "kill da wabbit" to the tune) and The Blues Brothers, and appears in the spa sequence in Fellini's 8½. In the 1984 cult film Repo Man, Duke and the remainder of his gang hum the tune as they prepare to commit a robbery, presumably to work up courage. The song was used in a Nazi propaganda film, as the background to a film displaying German planes in flight.
The Ku Klux Klan rides into town against the Black militia to this tune in Birth of a Nation.
The Caltech undergraduate community has a tradition of playing "Ride of the Valkyries" loudly every morning of finals week, and a taboo against playing it at any other time.[[Citing sources citation needed]]
This piece is also the regimental march for the British Parachute Regiment.
In the computer game StarCraft, the Siege Tank unit hums the tune to "Ride of the Valkyries" if clicked on enough.
It is also heard in an episode of Cartoon Network's Courage the Cowardly Dog which involves Valkyries.
General Von Talon hums the tune to himself in the shower during Valiant.
In The Simpsons when Mr. Burns is about to storm the Simpsons house to arrest Mother Simpson, he plays The Ride of the Valkyries, but it then changes to Abba's Waterloo, since Mr. Smithers had taped over it.
In the Punch-Out!! game for NES, when you fight against Great Tiger, Super Macho Man or Von Kaiser, a piece from this song is played at the beginning of the first round (second and third, in Great Tiger's case).
In the "Grand Championship" arc of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Zigfried von Schroeder, the main villain in the arc, used a deck composing of Valkyrie monsters and spell and trap cards that support them. One of them was called Ride of the Valkyries.
In Rock-A-Doodle, the Grand Duke's nephew, Hunch, sings Ride of the Valkyries two times; one is when he and the other owls search for Edmond, Patou, Snipes, and Peepers to kill them and two is when he rockets around Murray's plane.
In the Hey Arnold! episode, "What's Opera, Arnold?", this piece is played in Helga's dream.
Audio
Listen to the piece at the Gutenberg Project: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10177
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.