"You're welcome JRR Tolkien"

     The other day I briefly mentioned "Program Music" but did not give much of an explanation.  Program music is music which represents something as opposed to music whose only meaning is the notes which are heard.  You know, like Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. I've got some rockin examples for you but first a shameless plug for my new track and a note on Nordic Mythology...

     Recently a friend of mine was talking about JRR Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and I started blabbering on about how Tolkien took much of the material for the narrative from Wagner's "Der Ring Des Nibelungen."  There are many obvious parellels both thematic and musical such as a ring which grants its bearer ultimate power and the necessity of its destruction in order to redeem the world.  It would be a lot easier to believe Tolkien if his claim were that Wagner's Ring played only a small part in the conception of LOTR; however, Tolkien claims not to have been influenced by it at all.

     But hold on a minute, what is "Der Ring Des Nibelungen?" Often referred to as The Ring Cycle, it is a work of art which has no parallel.  Wagner believed that no artistic work could reach its full potential unless it incorporated as many different art forms as possible.  So he invented the "Gesamtkunstwerk" (or total-artwork). Gesamtkunstwerk is essentially an epic opera.  Epic meaning 4 hours long with a gigantic chorus and orchestra and deep psychological themes.  The Ring Cycle is a cycle of four operas totaling about 15 hours which took 30 years to create. It is the most written about work of musical art in existence (partally because every character and emotion in the cycle has a specific musical theme called a leitmotif attached to it).

     But we all know opera is boring, right (just kidding)? The important thing is that Wagner was a huge proponent of program music.

And now the important stuff: a few bits of knowledge on program music which will make you sound smart should you find yourself at a fancy dinner party...

1)Beethoven only wrote one opera, it was entitled "Fidelio" and the consensus among music scholars is that it is not very good.  Beethoven's Achilles heal so to speak.

2)In 1916 English composer Gustav Holst wrote "The Planets" - a suite in seven movements with each movement representing the astrological character of one planet from our solar system.  My personal favorite is Saturn - Bringer of Old Age which begins timid and mellow and proceeds to rock your face off...  Sarah you might also like Jupiter - Bringer of Jolity it's probably the most famous of the movements.

3)In 1874 Mussorgsky wrote Pictures at an Exhibition - a suite in ten movements which represents a walk through an exhibition of his friend, painter Viktor Hartmann.  The main theme is the 'promenade' which represents the viewer of the exhibition walking from piece to piece.  Each recurrence of the promenade has a different feeling depending on the mood of the pictures which have just been observed. Though originally composed for piano the suite is so colorful that it has been re-orchestrated time and time again.  The most famous version was done by Maurice Ravel.  Here are The Gnome and The Great Gates of Kiev - two of the movements as orchestrated by Ravel.

Stay tuned this week for fast cars, explosions and sex...