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WAGNER, Richard – Siegfried Idyll (1870) – Quartet of FOUR SOLO CELLOS

Other Identification:
Wagner composed the Siegfried Idyll as a birthday present to his second wife, Cosima, after the birth of their son Siegfried in 1869. It was first performed on Christmas morning, 25th December 1870, by a small ensemble of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich on the stairs of their villa at Tribschen (today part of Lucerne), Switzerland. Cosima awoke to its opening melody. The famous conductor Hans Richter even learned the trumpet in order to play the brief trumpet part, which lasts only 13 measures, in that private performance, reportedly having sailed out to the centre of Lake Lucerne to practise, so as not to be heard!

The original title was “Triebschen Idyll with Fidi’s birdsong and the orange sunrise”, as symphonic birthday greeting (“Fidi” was the family’s nickname for their son Siegfried). The Idyll was of high personal significance for both Wagner and Cosima. However, Wagner originally intended the Siegfried Idyll to remain a private piece and for a small chamber orchestra of just 13 players: flute, oboe, two clarinets, bassoon, two horns, trumpet, two violins, viola, cello and double bass.

Movements or sections:
Wagner re-orchestrated the music to include 35 players in 1878, when he sold the score to the publisher ‘Schott’ (supposedly this new orchestration was to make the piece more marketable, and the ‘Wagners’ were a little unstable financially at that time). The composition is usually played today by orchestras with multi-players in each string part. It is also believed that modern performances are generally slower than those of the early years. Wagner’s opera Siegfried, which was premiered in 1876, also incorporates music from the Idyll.

Instrumentation:
QUARTET OF FOUR SOLO CELLOS

Arranged and prepared by David Johnstone

The music is in 5 PDFs:
1 – Part to Cello 1
2 – Part to Cello 2
3 – Part to Cello 3
4 – Part to Cello 4
5 – General study score for cellists

Approximate difficulty: Very difficult

The idea for arranging this music came from the desire to meet the challenges that this project presented! As far as I know, it has not been previously attempted for cello ensemble.

Firstly, the tonality of the work has been lowered a major third, to an opening and closure in C Major. These two ‘extra’ tones available, both for incorporating the low ‘C’ string and equally alleviating some of the upper register fingerings (above all in cellos 1 and 2) have been crucial to the new orchestration.

Many of my arrangements are designed both for individual cellists one per part, or larger ensembles where parts are doubled up. However, in Siegfried Idyll, it is all envisaged solely with four soloist cellos. Furthermore, these cellists – all of them – need to be experienced advanced players; this is difficult both technically and emotionally!

The arrangement
Conceived in this new version as a chamber music concert piece, it would be very useful to hear an orchestral audio version with the general cello score in the hand before rehearsing, and it is suggested marking one’s part for where melodic importance is heard.

Dedicatee of this presentation (if applicable):
This project is offered to the British Cello Society, and especially to Selma Gokcen, as a sign of gratitude for their confidence in my work!

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