Ride of the Valkyries Variation

Jason Earls

“The ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ refers to the beginning of act 3 of Die Walküre, the second of the four operas constituting Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. As a separate piece, the ‘Ride’ is often heard in a purely instrumental version, which may be as short as three minutes. ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ is one of Wagner’s best-known pieces. Wagner was receiving requests for the ‘Ride’ to be performed separately, but wrote that such a performance should be considered ‘an utter indiscretion’ and forbade ‘any such thing’.” -Wikipedia