Ride of the Valkyries

THE VIRGINIA SYMPHONY orchestra will play some of the works of Richard Wagner in concerts this weekend, but there's a good chance that many people in Hampton Roads, and not just classical music lovers, already have gotten a taste of it this week.

"Ride of the Valkyries" thrums in the background during a commercial for the NBC television show "Momma's Boys." In the current Tom Cruise film "Valkyrie," the music lends drama to a scene. People might even have heard it in cheeky use in a commercial that's been heating up the Internet lately - a spot by a Danish firm for washing machines in which a horde of topless models goes skydiving and spells out the name of the product in mid-air.

"Ride of the Valkyries" is a part of Wagner's "The Valkyrie," the second of four operas that make up his Ring cycle - "The Ring of the Nibelung."

It is one of many classical works that everyone seems to know, even if they've never set foot in a concert or opera hall. The use of the music in films, TV shows, cartoons and commercials has helped to spread its reach.

JoAnn Falletta, music director of the Virginia Symphony, said that rather than cringing at the idea of masterpieces being used to sell stuff, she is always glad to see the classics appear in the broader culture.

"I immediately realize that it's reaching millions more people who might never have heard it."

"Ride of the Valkyries" is used so often commercially because it moves people. However, the "Ring's" dramatic intensity and magnitude (together the four operas take up about 15 hours) also make it ripe for parody. The 1957 Looney Tunes cartoon "What's Opera, Doc?" is a prime example. Elmer Fudd, as the hero, Siegfried, sings "Kill the Wabbit" to the tune of "Ride of the Valkyries" while Bugs Bunny, sometimes disguised as Brunhilde, eludes him.

Mike Tanner, senior copywriter for The Meridian Group advertising and marketing firm in Virginia Beach, said "Ride" and other music are useful in his craft in two main ways.

"They support the images that we're using, because they are similar, or they can be used in opposition to those images to create tension or humor."

Scott Mackey, ad writer and co-owner of Mackey Ink in Norfolk, said he has used classical music, including "Ride of the Valkyries," in ads because it quickly conjures up feelings.

And for people who delighted in cartoons as children and soaked in classical music through them, there could be far deeper emotional hooks that would connect them to what's on the screen, Mackey said.

The Valkyries were beautiful demigods of Norse mythology, maidens of Odin who selected slain warriors for passage into Valhalla and attended them there.

Wagner wrote the music as he thought of them swooping over the battlefield, Falletta said.

"It has tremendous forward momentum, what we call a perpetual motion piece that never stops.... From beginning to end we're on this ride, and it's almost like we're breathless."

The passionate, surging "Ride of the Valkyries" often is associated with warlike imagery. Probably the best-known example is a battle scene in "Apocalypse Now" (1979), in which U.S. forces in helicopters attack a village in Vietnam.

Mackey used the music in a more benign setting - an ad for Stihl, maker of chain saws, weed whackers and similar equipment.

People who are moved by a minute or two of "Ride of the Valkyries," but intimidated by the thought of going to see a full performance of Wagner, should think again, Falletta said.

The common perception is that Wagner is heavy and difficult, but his work revolves around fairy tales, she said.

Warriors, shield-maidens, gods and magic rings tumble together in funny, tragic, heroic and common ways.

"With his amazing imagination," Falletta said, "he created these worlds."

In the audience this weekend, people may experience those ancient visions or they may see Elmer Fudd, topless skydivers and attack helicopters, but the genius of Wagner is that his work consistently ignites the imagination.

Dan Duke, (757) 446-2546, dan.duke@pilotonline.com