WAGNER, Richard (1813-1883)
SIEGFRIED IDYLL (arr.Peter Lawson)
Concert Classics Series GMCL099
Level of Difficulty
Attributing a particular level of difficulty to an orchestral piece is awkward!
A piece may be easy for the strings but difficult for the brass; it may feature a tricky instrumental solo but the other parts may be relatively straight forward. A number of the arrangements listed are designed to simplify works to some extent but composers of many original works featured did not consider difficulty when writing them.
What our levels mean:
A = for players up to UK Grade 3
B = Grade 3 to 5
C = Grade 4 to 6
D = Grade 5 to 7
E = Grade 6 to 8
F = Grade 7 and over
Our gradings should be taken only as a rough guide.
To be sure if a piece is suitable for you, take a look at the score.
Orchestration
2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets in Bb (and A optional), 2 Bassoons
2 Horns in F, 2 Trumpets in Bb, 3 Trombones, Timpani (optional), Triangle (optional)
Strings (Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola, Cello, Bass)
Siegfried Idyll, written in 1870, was first performed at Wagner's home in Triebschen for the birthday of his wife, Cosima, who had just over a year earlier given birth to their eponymous son. It reworks material from Act II of Siegfried, the third of the four music-drama known as Der Ring des Nibelungen. Wagner's normally rich orchestral palette was undoubtedly cramped due to the impracticality of having too many musicians in his house and this arrangement attempts to scale up the fuller passages to standard orchestral textures stylistically consistent with the composer, whilst preserving the intimate nature of chamber-music in the more serene passages. Standard orchestral instruments are used rather than the crooked horns of the day and Wagner's beloved cor anglais and bass clarinet, so as to bring the work more into the domain of amateur orchestras. Tempi markings have been converted into Italian.
Duration: 14 minutes
A PACK comprises an A4 sized full score plus a complete set of parts including strings 4/4/3/4/2.
Audio Sample
Click the play button below to hear a performance which has been computer-generated from the score.