Personal Statement

by William Churchwell

One of the most illuminating and inspiring performances that I ever attended
was performed by the Vienna State Opera. I was fortunate enough to be able to
stand in the wings of the pit where the orchestra performed, behind the horn section.
Up until this point, I had never even been to a live opera performance. The level of
musicianship and precision displayed by the musicians of the Opera was quite
impressive, and as I was listening to Wagners Siegfried with its various motifs, I
came to the realisation that if it werent for the fantastic operas and tone poems of
composers such as Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss, and Gioachino Rossini,
music, particularly film scores, would be very different today. Motifs from music, all
the back to the days of medieval plainchant can be found in contemporary film
scores. As I listened to Siegfried, I thought, Wow this sounds like a Howard Shore
score, but really Howard Shore sounds like Richard Wagner. Nearly every depiction
of war that we see on tv, in the movies, or in the theatre is accompanied by Wagners
Ride of the Valkyries. The motifs and general ideas of Rossinis William Tell are
used in abundance in contemporary music. If we didnt have the shoulders of these
great men to stand on, contemporary music, and life in general would be much less
colorful.