Siegfried Idyll

Richard Wagner

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This work bears the designation WWV 103.

General Info

Year: 1870
Duration: 20:45
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Edwin F. Kalmus

Cost: Score and Parts - $45.00 | Score Only - $15.00

For availability information, see Discussion area.

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Trumpet
Horn in F I-II
Violin I-II
Viola
Cello
String Bass

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The Siegfried Idyll, WWV 103, by Richard Wagner is a symphonic poem for chamber orchestra.

Wagner composed the Siegfried Idyll as a birthday present to his second wife, Cosima, after the birth of their son Siegfried in 1869. It was first performed on Christmas morning, 25 December 1870, by a small ensemble of the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich on the stairs of their villa at Tribschen (today part of Lucerne), Switzerland. Cosima awoke to its opening melody. Conductor Hans Richter played the brief trumpet part in that private performance.

The original title was Triebschen Idyll with Fidi's birdsong and the orange sunrise, as symphonic birthday greeting. Presented to his Cosima by her Richard. "Fidi" was the family's nickname for their son Siegfried. It is thought that the birdsong and the sunrise refer to incidents of personal significance to the couple.

Wagner's opera Siegfried, which was premiered in 1876, incorporates music from the Idyll. Wagner adapted the material from an unfinished chamber piece into the Idyll before giving the theme to Brunhilde in the opera's final scene. The work also uses a German lullaby, "Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf (de)", played by solo oboe. Ernest Newman discovered it was linked to the Wagners' older daughter Eva. This and other musical references, whose meaning remained unknown to the outside world for many years, reveal the idyll's levels of personal significance for both Wagner and Cosima.

Wagner originally intended the Siegfried Idyll to remain a private piece. However, due to financial pressures, he decided to sell the score to publisher B. Schott in 1878. In doing so, Wagner expanded the orchestration to 35 players to make the piece more marketable. The original piece is scored for a small chamber orchestra of 13 players: flute, oboe, two clarinets, bassoon, two horns, trumpet, two violins, viola, cello and double bass. The trumpet part is very brief, lasting only 13 measures. The piece is commonly played today by orchestras with more than one player on each string part. Modern performances are much slower than those of earlier years.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

Commercial Discography

Audio CD: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (George Solti, conductor) - 2007

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

University of Southern California Thornton Wind Ensemble (H. Robert Reynolds, conductor) - 1 November 2015
Omega Ensemble (Sydney, Aust.) ( Paul Meyer, conductor) – 7 June 2014

Works for Winds by This Composer

Awake (arr. Houseknecht) (1868/1957)
Chor der Junger from "Das Liebesmahl der Apostel" (arr. Pohler)
Die Meistersinger (arr. Milford) (1868/1998)
Die Meistersinger, Excerpts from the Opera (arr. Eric Osterling)
Die Meistersinger Overture (tr. Hindsley) (1868/197-?)
Die Meistersinger, Prelude (arr. Moses-Tobani/H.R. Kent) (1904/1948)
Die Meistersinger Themes (arr. Daehn) (18684/2009)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnbürg (tr. Hindsley) (1868/196-?)
Die Walkure, Act 2, Scene 4 (arr. King)
Elsa's feierlicher Zug zum Münster (tr. Nefs) (1848/2017)
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral from "Lohengrin" (tr. Bourgeois) (1848/1997)
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral from "Lohengrin" (tr. Cailliet) (1848/1938)
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral (arr. Cherry) (1848/1999/2019)
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral. See also: Procession to the Cathedral (tr. Patterson)
Entry of the Gods into Valhalla (arr. Godfrey) (1869/1906)
Entry of the Gods into Valhalla (arr. O'Neill) (1869/1930)
Evening Star (arr. Barnard) (1845/1927)
Festmusik (arr. Seifert-Kressbronn) (1843-1982)
Fest Marsch from "Tannhäuser" (tr. Rumbelow) (1845/1997)
The Flying Dutchman (tr. Hindsley) (1843/197-?)
The Flying Dutchman Overture (arr. Godfrey) (1843/1955)
Funeral Music from "The Dusk of the Gods" (arr. Godfrey) (1876/1919)
Gathering of the Armies (arr. Friedman) (1850/1995)
Homage March (ed. Bourgeois)
Huldigungsmarsch (ed. Reed) (1864/2002)
Huldigungsmarsch (ed. Schaefer) (1864/1971)
Huldigungsmarsch (ed. Whitwell) (1864/2015)
Italian Polka (arr. Leidzen) (1941)
Kaisermarsch (tr. Godfrey) (1871/1912)
King Heinrich’s Call (tr. Bourgeois) (1850/1983)
Invocation of Alberich from "Rheingold" (arr. Cailliet) (1869/1940)
Liebestod (arr. Shishikura) (1856/2014)
Liebestod (arr. Bainum) (1856/1964)
Lohengrin (arr. Patterson) (1850/2016)
Lohengrin (arr. Tamanini) (1850/2005)
Lohengrin: Introduction to Act III (arr. Drumm) (1850/1937)
March from "Tannhäuser" (arr. Lake) (1926)
March on, America
Nibelungen March (arr. Stretton) (c.1874/1909)
Overture to Rienzi (arr. Grabel) (1842/1933)
Pilgrim's Chorus (arr. Geese) (1845/2009)
Pilgrim's Chorus (arr. Musser) (1845/)
Pilgrim's Chorus (arr. Musser; ed. Rapp) (1845/2009)
Pilgrim's Chorus (arr. Reed) (1845/1991)
Prelude to Act I of "Die Meistersinger" (trans. Kreines) (1862/2012)
Prelude to Act III from "Lohengren" (tr. Hindsley) (1850)
Prelude to Act III from "Lohengrin" (tr. Brand) (1850/2001)
Prelude to Act III from "Lohengrin" (arr. McAlister and Reed) (1850/2006)
Prelude to Parsifal (tr. Bourgeois) (1882/2016)
Procession of the Knights of the Holy Grail from "Parsifal" (arr. Houseknecht) (1964)
Procession to the Cathedral (tr. Patterson) (1846-48/1997)
Ride of the Valkyries (tr. Patterson)
Ride of the Valkyries (arr. Laurendeau) (1870/1908)
Ride of the Valkyries (tr. Longwood) (1870/2000)
Ride of the Valkyries (arr. Hernandez) (1870)
Rienzi Overture (arr. Meyrelles) (1842/1892)
The Ring (arr. Higgins) (1848-1874/2020)
Selections from Act III of "Die Meistersinger von Nurnbürg" (arr. Hanna) (1868/2015)
Seigfried Fantasie (arr. Seidel) (1876/1893)
Siegfried Idyll (1870)
Siegfried's Funeral March (tr. Tanick) (1876/)
Siegfried's Funeral March from "Gotterdammerung" (tr. Bourgeois)
Siegfried's Funeral Music (arr. Whear) (1876/1966)
Tannhäuser (arr. Lake) (1845/1926)
Tannhäuser Grand March (tr. McAlister) (1845/2005)
Tannhäuser March (arr. E. Fall) (1845)
Tannhäuser Overture (arr. Fall) (1845/1936)
Tannhäuser Overture (tr. Safranek) (1845/1913)
Tannhäuser Overture (arr. Sousa) (1845/)
Tannhäuser Overture (arr. Winterbottom) (1845/1903)
Tannhäuser Selection (arr. Lake) (1926)
Trauersinfonie (ed. Votta/Boyd) (1844/1924/1994)
Trauersinfonie (tr. Leidzen) (1844/1924/1949)
Tristan und Isolde (tr. Janssen) (1862/2015)
Vorspiel und Liebestod (arr. Godfrey) (1865/1909)
Wotan's Farewell and Magic Fire Music from "Die Walküre" (arr. Lake) (1874/1937)

Resources

Siegfried Idyll, Wikipedia
Wagner, R. (no date). Siegfried Idyll, Wagner (Full Score + Parts). Kalmus: [s.l.]