Well, at first it is "Tannhaeuser" not "Tanhauser".
What do you mean with "pretty amazing" ? Is it the very finale of the act one
with the stage horns ?
I guess so. The last scene is quite long, 42 full score pages total, and it
begins when the Count (Landgraf) finds Tannhaeuser praying in the forest &
asks: "Wer ist der dort in bruenstigem Gebete ?"
("Who is the man there in ardent prayer ?").
Preceding to that is the famous hunting scene with the different horn signals
coming from different
places. Two different groups of 3-voiced horn choirs in F, (they used 2-valved
horns when there was the Munich first performance, Franz Strauss playing viola
that time because of illness for 18-months), answered by single horns in C
(hunting masters), and third group of four horns in E-flat answers them finally
before the single horn in C (hunting master !!) gives the final command signal.
At the very end of act one, the hunting master gives a very strong different
signal on a horn in F, to which all four groups of three horns answer with a
very loud three voiced triplet signal of 12c measures, to which the full
orchestra joins in the last measure to play the last sequence of 15 measures
until the break. The curtain closes with the last chord of the stage horns &
the entrance of the orchestra.
This is a quite real old hunting scene.
Other favorite moments in Wagner operas:
Beginning of third act of "Goetterdaemmerung" with the unison (1,3,5,7th horns
in the orchestra) Siegfried signal, answered by the solo stage horn, followed
by the other stage horns & the Stierhorn signal to end in another middle short
version of the Siegfried call. Then, yes, then comes an often heard disaster
spot with the daybreak, rhythmically & from the range quite tricky.
The "hoi-ho, hoi-ho, Waffen, starke Waffen" - call by Hagen in the 2nd act of
Goetterdaemmerung, some of the most demanding playing for all 8 horns. Anyway,
the first quartet should be filled with "fresh troups", while the other first
quartet celebrates a deserved break after two hours strong playing in the first
act. But they act as stage horns at the end of the 2nd act (Hochzeitsruf - call
to marriage).
Also, the stage call in the last scene of act one in Goetterdaemmerung, when
Bruennhilde sings "Zur Felsenspitze waelzt sich der feurige Schwall." ("to the
tip of the rock rolls the fiery wave ..") then the single solo horn on stage
enters with the introduction to the call & performs the shorter call slower
than usual but with a maximum of force, sounding above the full orchestra. The
sounds back pressure is that much, that one has to wait two moments until
walking of the stage (the call is played right on the edge of the scene, just
being covered by the frame of the stage). When we did that last time, there was
a lightning just at the very point entering the real Siegfried signal. This
moment illustrates the very moment, Siegfried is "taking" Bruennhilde.
Next: Funeral March & Trauermusik from third act of Goetterdaemmerung, with the
famous beginning of the Wagner Tuba quartet.
next: beginning of Rheingold with the 8 horns in E-flat
and the very finale of the same opera: March of the gods entering Valhalla.
next: Walkuere: very beginning, then 2nd scene with the Hunding motif, Ride of
Valyries
next: Tristan & Isolde, Prelude, Hunting scene
next: Parsifal as a whole & special the Klingsor appearance at the beginning of
act two & ther fine chorals at act three.
more, more, more
But Wagner, even genius, is not all. We also have Richard Strauss with e.g.
Frau ohne Schatten with the
important hits of the Wagner Tuba quartet, or Elektra with the great Orest
motif again played by the Wagner Tuba quartet.
Think about the transition from act two to act three of Puccinis Turandot.
Just a few favorite moments.
###########################################################
Am 14.05.2011 um 09:13 schrieb Horn List:
> The last scene of act one is pretty amazing. Anyone have a few favorite
> moments in other wagner operas?
>
> Sent from my iPod
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