Wagner gets a Ride in New York

Composers Datebook

Synopsis

In 1871, one year after the premiere in Munich of Richard Wagner’s opera Die Walküre, German-born American conductor Theodore Thomas wrote Wagner asking if he might perform excerpts of this new work in the United States. Wagner turned him down, worried that loose American copyright laws might not protect his new music.

Undeterred, Thomas turned to famous German conductor Hans von Bulow for advice, who suggested he try to arrange a face-to-face meeting with Wagner to plead his case. After all, Bulow told Thomas, Wagner was actually quite interested in America. The meeting never took place, but somehow Thomas secured a manuscript of what would become the most popular orchestral excerpt from Die Walküre, its famous Ride of the Valkyries.

No one knows how Thomas managed it. Some speculate von Bulow himself provided the music. Others suggest the American conductor got his copy from Franz Liszt.

In any case, on today’s date in 1872, Ride of the Valkyries was performed for the first time in America at one of Theodore Thomas’ concerts in Central Park.

It proved to be a smash hit with Manhattanites. As Thomas recounted in his memoirs, “the people jumped up on their chairs and cheered.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Richard Wagner (1813-1883): Ride of the Valkyries; from Die Walküre; Berlin Philharmonic; Claudio Abbado, conductor; DG 471 627