Review

Richard Wagner
Wanderer's Entrance: Act I, Scene 2 Excerpt from the opera Siegfried

Arranged by Randall Malmstrom

6 tenor, 2 bass, (1 optional contrabass) trombones

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2020
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 8 trombones

Siegfried is the third of the four operas of Wagner’s epic Ring cycle. Fifteen years in the making, it was conceived as a prequel to Götterdämmerung, the end of the gods. Randall Malmstrom has excerpted moments from Act One, Scene Two of Siegfried and set them for eight trombones. This scene marks the visit of Wotan, disguised as a “wanderer,” to the abode of Mime, the dwarf who has raised the orphaned Siegfried.

The arrangement begins with the chorale-like “Wanderer’s” theme. The writing is quiet and sustained. The tempo quickens and a leitmotif representing Wotan’s spear enters. It features a forceful, dramatic descent of an octave and a tritone. The tempo once again slows. Quietly and resolutely the famous Valhalla leitmotif makes its entrance.  The musical intensity surges. Dynamic levels swell, and the tempo accelerates. Now several leitmotifs strive for ascendancy. “The downfall of the old order,” a powerful ascending line, competes with the descending leitmotif representing Wotan’s spear. The leitmotif representing service to the Ring interjects itself emphatically. The arrangement closes triumphantly. Leitmotifs symbolizing Siegfried’s magical sword and its forging overshadow the music of Wotan’s spear.

Malmstrom organizes the trombone octet into two quartets, each consisting of three tenor trombones and a bass trombone. The arrangement targets an advanced ensemble. Each part is interesting and contains important melodic and harmonic material. Part eight, the second bass part, includes the option of using a contra-bass trombone. It features significant stretches in the pedal register, descending to pedal EE-flat.  The first part challenges the upper register. Its first note is a pianissimo c-flat2 and the final statement of the sword motif rises to e-flat2. Most of the tenor trombone parts require an understanding of tenor clef.

Transcriptions from the operas of Wagner have long been a mainstay of the trombone ensemble repertoire. Malmstrom expertly weaves moments from an opera that has not been frequently visited in our repertoire. This arrangement will not disappoint. It is both tuneful and powerful and will repay the significant effort required to perform it.