Grant Wareham plays Wotan's Farewell and Magic Fire Music Newberry Memorial Organ Woolsey Hall

Grant Wareham, a MM candidate at the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music (expected May 2020), performs Edwin Lemare's transcription of the final scene of Richard Wagner's Die Walküre from Der Ring Des Nibelungen. In this scene, Wotan, a god, bids farewell to his Rhinemaiden daughter Brünhilde, whom he must punish for her transgression by putting her into a deep sleep on a rock. As a part of her punishment, Wotan informs her that whomever finds and wakes her from her slumber will win her as his wife. Brünhilde begs her father to surround the rock with fire so that only the bravest warrior would dare approach. Although reticent initially, he relents. The listener will hear a climax on an E Major (6/4) chord as they embrace for the final time, an interlude as he puts her gently to rest, and then a stark change as Wotan rises to summon Loge, the god of Fire, to surround a now-sleeping Brünhilde. As the fire appears, the music changes drastically and suddenly becomes very peaceful. As the fire rises, the music builds to a climax, where Wagner introduces Siegfried's theme in the bass, signifying the character who will eventually rescue Brünhilde in the next Opera of the cycle.