Richard Wagner - Siegfried’s Funeral March (Götterdämmerung)
for Chamber Orchestra

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) composed his opera Götterdämmerung between 1869 and 1874. It is the last of the four operas that make up Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle, a project that had taken him over 25 years to complete. The opera is much renowned for its orchestral sequences, and these are often performed as concert extracts. Siegfried's Funeral March is taken from Act Three after he has been murdered by Hagen. It is made up of musical motives from previous operas that tell of Siegfried's background, including the Volsung theme, Siegmund and Sieglinde's theme, the Sword, Brünnhilde's love theme and the curse of the Ring. This is a reduction for chamber orchestra of Wagner's large score, preserving many of the different timbres and details of the original.  The concert ending is included to bring the work to a suitable end.

Available to hire or purchase from Aria Editions here

Instrumentation: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, 2 horns, trumpet, trombone, harp, timpani, percussion, violin 1, violin 2, viola, cello, double bass (at least 2.2.2.2.1)

Duration: c. 7 minutes

Listen to an extract of a performance of the arrangement here:

Siegfried's Funeral March (5'11)