List of films using the music of Richard Wagner

Last updated

The following is a sortable list of cinema films which have music by Richard Wagner in their soundtracks (other than films of Wagner's operas themselves). Casual references (and use of the Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin ) are not included.

Contents

Wagner music in films

FilmYearDirectorMusic used from:Ref.
The Birth of a Nation 1915 D. W. Griffith "Ride of the Valkyries" [1]
The Viking 1928 Roy William Neill Parsifal, Flying Dutchman , Die Walküre [2]
Un Chien Andalou 1929 Luis Buñuel Tristan und Isolde [3]
L'Age d'Or 1930 Luis Buñuel Tristan und Isolde [3]
Murder! 1930 Alfred Hitchcock Tristan und Isolde [1]
City Streets 1931 Rouben Mamoulian Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg [2]
A Farewell to Arms 1932 Frank Borzage Tristan und Isolde [4]
The Scarlet Empress 1934 Josef von Sternberg "Ride of the Valkyries" [2]
R.A.F. 1935 John Betts "Ride of the Valkyries" [5]
Triumph of the Will 1935 Leni Riefenstahl Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , "Wach' auf" chorus, (act 3, scene 5) [6]
The Right to Live 1935 William Keighley Tristan und Isolde [2]
The Lion Man 1936 John P. McCarthy "Ride of the Valkyries" [2]
One Hundred Men and a Girl 1937 Henry Koster Lohengrin , prelude to act 3 [7]
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars 1938 Frederick Stephani Parsifal [2]
Escape 1940 Mervyn LeRoy Tristan und Isolde ("Liebestod") [8]
The Great Dictator 1940 Charlie Chaplin Lohengrin , prelude [1] [9]
Red River Valley 1941 Joseph Kane "Ride of the Valkyries", Rienzi [2]
Sullivan’s Travels 1941 Preston Sturges "Ride of the Valkyries" [2]
Secret Mission 1942 Harold French Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg [8]
Christmas Holiday 1944 Robert Siodmak Tristan und Isolde (Liebestod) [10]
Humoresque 1946 Jean Negulesco Tristan und Isolde , arranged by Franz Waxman. [9]
A Foreign Affair 1948 Billy Wilder Lohengrin, overture [11]
Unfaithfully Yours 1948 Preston Sturges Tannhäuser [9]
The Blue Gardenia 1953 Fritz Lang "Tristan und Isolde" [12]
Abismos de pasión 1954 Luis Buñuel Tristan und Isolde [13]
Magic Fire 1955 William Dieterle Ring Cycle [9]
Love in the Afternoon 1957 Billy Wilder Tristan und Isolde [11]
What's Opera, Doc? 1957 Chuck Jones Ring Cycle , Tannhäuser , The Flying Dutchman [1] [9]
1963 Federico Fellini "Ride of the Valkyries" [14]
Sedmikrásky (Daisies)1966 Věra Chytilová Götterdämmerung [15]
Patriotism 1966 Yukio Mishima Tristan und Isolde [16]
Mondo Trasho 1969 John Waters "Ride of the Valkyries" [14]
Ludwig: Requiem for a Virgin King 1972 Hans-Jürgen Syberberg Ring Cycle , Tristan und Isolde , Lohengrin [17]
Ludwig (film) 1973 Luchino Visconti Tannhäuser , Tristan und Isolde , Lohengrin [18]
Lisztomania 1975 Ken Russell Rienzi, Ring Cycle [19]
Winifred Wagner und die Geschichte des Hauses Wahnfried 1914–19751975 Hans-Jürgen Syberberg Ring Cycle [20]
Hitler: A Film from Germany 1977 Hans-Jürgen Syberberg Ring Cycle [21]
That Obscure Object of Desire 1977 Luis Buñuel "Ride of the Valkyries" [22]
The Boys from Brazil 1978 Franklin Schaffner Siegfried Idyll [23]
Seven Beauties 1975 Lina Wertmüller "Ride of the Valkyries" [24]
Apocalypse Now 1979 Francis Ford Coppola "Ride of the Valkyries" [1] [9]
Nosferatu the Vampyre 1979 Werner Herzog Das Rheingold [25]
The Blues Brothers 1980 John Landis "Ride of the Valkyries" [1] [9]
Excalibur 1981 John Boorman Parsifal , Tristan und Isolde , Götterdämmerung [1] [9]
Wagner 1983 Tony Palmer Siegfried [1]
Détective 1985 Jean-Luc Godard Rienzi [26]
Come and See 1985 Elem Klimov Ride of the Valkyries [27]
The Running Man 1987 Paul Michael Glaser "Ride of the Valkyries" [28]
Romeo + Juliet 1996 Baz Luhrmann Tristan und Isolde, (Liebestod) [1]
24 Hour Party People 2002 Michael Winterbottom "Ride of the Valkyries" [29]
Birth 2004 Jonathan Glazer Die Walküre [9]
Jarhead 2005 Sam Mendes "Ride of the Valkyries" [30]
The New World 2006 Terrence Malick Das Rheingold [1] [9]
Norbit 2007 Brian Robbins "Ride of the Valkyries" [1]
Bronson 2008 Nicolas Winding Refn Götterdämmerung , Das Rheingold [31]
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 2008 David Fincher Tannhäuser , aria "Dich, teure Halle" [32]
Valkyrie 2008 Bryan Singer "Ride of the Valkyries" [33]
Watchmen 2009 Zack Snyder "Ride of the Valkyries" [34]
A Dangerous Method 2011 David Cronenberg Siegfried , Die Walküre [35]
Melancholia 2011 Lars von Trier Tristan und Isolde [1] [35]
Rango 2011 Gore Verbinski "Ride of the Valkyries" [36]
To the Wonder 2012 Terrence Malick Parsifal , prelude [37]
Nymphomaniac 2013 Lars von Trier Das Rheingold [38]
Florence Foster Jenkins 2016 Stephen Frears "Ride of the Valkyries" [39]
Alien: Covenant 2017 Ridley Scott Das Rheingold , Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla [40]
Promising Young Woman 2020 Emerald Fennell Tristan und Isolde [41]
Army of the Dead 2021 Zack Snyder Götterdämmerung [42]
Wrath of Man 2021 Guy Ritchie "Ride of the Valkyries" [43]
Army of Thieves 2021 Matthias Schweighöfer Götterdämmerung , Das Rheingold , Ride of the Valkyries , Siegfried [44]
Tár 2022 Todd Field Tannhäuser , overture [45]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Wagner</span> German composer (1813–1883)

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas. Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works. Initially establishing his reputation as a composer of works in the romantic vein of Carl Maria von Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer, Wagner revolutionised opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk, by which he sought to synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. He described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen.

<i>Some Like It Hot</i> 1959 comedy film directed by Billy Wilder

Some Like It Hot is a 1959 American crime comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder. It stars Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, with George Raft, Pat O'Brien, Joe E. Brown, Joan Shawlee and Nehemiah Persoff in supporting roles. The screenplay by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond is based on a screenplay by Robert Thoeren and Michael Logan from the 1935 French film Fanfare of Love. The film is about two musicians who disguise themselves by dressing as women to escape from mafia gangsters whom they witnessed committing a crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trent Reznor</span> Musical artist

Michael Trent Reznor is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, which he founded in 1988 and of which he was the sole official member until 2016. The first Nine Inch Nails album, Pretty Hate Machine (1989), was a commercial and critical success. Reznor has since released 11 more Nine Inch Nails studio albums.

A leitmotif or Leitmotiv is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of idée fixe or motto-theme. The spelling leitmotif is an anglicization of the German Leitmotiv, literally meaning "leading motif", or "guiding motif". A musical motif has been defined as a "short musical idea ... melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic, or all three", a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition: "the smallest structural unit possessing thematic identity".

<i>Gesamtkunstwerk</i> total artwork making use of many or all art forms

A Gesamtkunstwerk is a work of art that makes use of all or many art forms or strives to do so. The term is a German loanword accepted in English as a term in aesthetics.

<i>The Wages of Fear</i> 1953 thriller film by Henri-Georges Clouzot

The Wages of Fear is a 1953 thriller film directed and co-written by Henri-Georges Clouzot, and starring Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter van Eyck and Véra Clouzot. The film centers on a group of four down-on-their-luck European men who are hired by an American oil company to drive two trucks over mountain dirt roads, loaded with nitroglycerine needed to extinguish an oil well fire. It is adapted from a 1950 French novel by Georges Arnaud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atticus Ross</span> English musician, composer and record producer

Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross is an English musician, record producer, composer, and audio engineer. Along with Trent Reznor, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Social Network in 2010. In 2013, the pair won a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for their soundtrack to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. In 2021, alongside Jon Batiste, they won the Golden Globe and Academy Award for the soundtrack for Pixar's Soul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Hisaishi</span> Japanese composer and pianist (born 1950)

Mamoru Fujisawa, known professionally as Joe Hisaishi, is a Japanese composer, musical director, conductor and pianist, known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981. Hisaishi's music has been known to explore and incorporate different genres, including minimalist, experimental electronic, Western classical, and Japanese classical. He has also worked as a music engraver and arranger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Ellis (musician)</span> Australian musician and composer

Warren Ellis is an Australian musician and composer. He is a member of the rock groups Dirty Three and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. He also performed with the band Grinderman until its disbandment in 2013. He has also composed film scores with long-time friend, collaborator and band-mate Nick Cave. Ellis plays the violin, piano, accordion, bouzouki, guitar, flute, mandolin, mandocello and viola. He has been a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds since 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Weight</span> Song by The Band

"The Weight" is a song by the Canadian-American group the Band that was released as a single in 1968 and on the group's debut album Music from Big Pink. It was their first release under this name, after their previous releases as Canadian Squires and Levon and the Hawks. Written by Band member Robbie Robertson, the song is about a visitor's experiences in a town mentioned in the lyric's first line as Nazareth. "The Weight" has significantly influenced American popular music, having been listed as No. 41 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time published in 2004. Pitchfork Media named it the 13th best song of the 1960s, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named it one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. PBS, which broadcast performances of the song on Ramble at the Ryman (2011), Austin City Limits (2012), and Quick Hits (2012), describes it as "a masterpiece of Biblical allusions, enigmatic lines and iconic characters" and notes its enduring popularity as "an essential part of the American songbook."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heldentenor</span> Tenor voice type

A heldentenor, earlier called tenorbariton, is an operatic tenor voice, most often associated with Wagnerian repertoire.

<i>The Exterminating Angel</i> 1962 film by Luis Buñuel

The Exterminating Angel is a 1962 Mexican surrealist film written and directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Silvia Pinal, and produced by Pinal's then-husband Gustavo Alatriste. It tells the story of a group of wealthy guests who find themselves unable to leave after a lavish dinner party, and the chaos that ensues. Sharply satirical and allegorical, the film contains a depiction of the aristocracy that suggests they "harbor savage instincts and unspeakable secrets".

The music of The Lord of the Rings film series was composed, orchestrated, conducted and produced by Howard Shore between 2000 and 2004 to support Peter Jackson's film trilogy based on J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel of the same name. It is notable in terms of length of the score, the size of the staged forces, the unusual instrumentation, the featured soloists, the multitude of musical styles and the number of recurring musical themes used.

<i>Starstruck</i> (1982 film) 1982 Australian film

Starstruck is a 1982 Australian comedy-drama musical film directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Jo Kennedy, Ross O'Donovan and Margo Lee. The plot concerns two teenagers trying to break into the music industry. The film was shot on location in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was marketed with the tagline "A Comedy Musical." The hotel shots were filmed at the Harbour View Hotel in The Rocks, near the south pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Adrian Martin is an Australian film and arts critic. He now lives in Malgrat de Mar in Spain. He is Adjunct Associate Professor in Film Culture and Theory at Monash University. His work has appeared in many magazines, journals and newspapers around the world, and has been translated into over twenty languages and has regular columns in the Dutch De Filmkrant and in Caiman: Cuadernos de cine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Contrabass trombone</span> Lowest-pitched instrument in the trombone family

The contrabass trombone is the lowest-pitched instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. While modern instruments are pitched in 12 ft F with a single slide, the first practical contrabass trombones appeared in the mid-19th century built in 18 B♭ an octave below the tenor trombone with a double slide. German opera composer Richard Wagner notably called for this instrument in his Der Ring des Nibelungen opera cycle in the 1870s, and contrabass trombone has since appeared occasionally in large orchestral works without becoming a permanent member of the modern orchestra.

<i>Parsifal</i> (1982 film) 1982 film

Parsifal is a 1982 West German-French opera film directed by Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, based on the opera of the same name by Richard Wagner. It was shown out of competition at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filmmaking technique of Luis Buñuel</span>

Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish filmmaker who worked in Spain, Mexico and France. Buñuel is noted for his distinctive use of mise-en scene, distinctive sound editing, and original use of music in his films. Often Buñuel applies the techniques of mise-en-scène to combine multiple single scenes within a film directed by him to represent more encompassing aspects of the film when viewed as a whole.

Erich Witte was a German stage actor, operatic tenor and opera director. He was based for almost five decades at the Berlin State Opera, and performed leading roles at major opera houses in Europe and at the Metropolitan opera. He participated in world premieres, including Louise Talma's Die Alkestiade and Alan Bush's Joe Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helena Braun</span> German soprano (1903–1990)

Helena Braun was a German dramatic soprano. She made her stage debut in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro in 1928 and joined the Vienna State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera in 1939 and 1940, respectively. She became known for Wagnerian roles such as Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen and Ortrud in Lohengrin.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Sameer Rahim, "Wagner in film", The Daily Telegraph , 22 July 2013, accessed 15 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ross (2020) p. 574.
  3. 1 2 Sangild (2015).
  4. Ross (2020) pp. 574, 593.
  5. Short, Kenneth R. M. (1997). Screening the Propaganda of British Air Power. Flicks Books. p. 2. ISBN   978-0948911439.
  6. Strötgen (2008)
  7. Joe and Gilman (2010), p. 442.
  8. 1 2 Ross (2020) p. 582.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Jon Burlingame, "10 films that utilize Wagner's music", Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2010, accessed 17 August 2017.
  10. Ross (2020), pp. 591–93.
  11. 1 2 Ross (2020) p. 590.
  12. "The Blue Gardenia (1953) - Soundtracks - IMDb". IMDb .
  13. Ross (2020) p. 596.
  14. 1 2 Ross (2020) p. 598.
  15. Clouzot (1968), p. 36
  16. Ross (2020) pp. 598–601.
  17. Joe and Gilman (2010), p. 258.
  18. Joe and Gilman (2010), p. 258.
  19. Care (1978)
  20. Winifred Wagner und die Geschichte des Hauses Wahnfried 1914 - 1975, filmportal.de website (in German), accessed 26.5.2020
  21. Joe and Gilman (2010), pp. 254–8.
  22. Ross (2020) pp. 594, 596.
  23. Ross (2020), pp. 587–88.
  24. "Wagner in film", The Cinema Archives , accessed 21 June 2023.
  25. "Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) - IMDb". IMDb . Retrieved 2020-05-14.
  26. "Détective (1985)|Soundtracks", IMDB. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  27. name="Come and See IMDb"> "Come and See (1985) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  28. "The Running Man (1987) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 1987. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  29. "24 Hour Party People (2002) - IMDb". IMDb .
  30. Ross (2020) p. 607.
  31. "Bronson (2008) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  32. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)|Soundtracks", IMDB. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  33. IMDB, accessed 8 May 2019
  34. "Watchmen (2009) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  35. 1 2 Ng, David (November 25, 2011). "'A Dangerous Method', 'Melancholia' take cues from Richard Wagner". Los Angeles Times .
  36. "Rango (2011) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  37. "To the Wonder (2012)|Soundtracks", IMDB. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  38. Wadsworth, John. "Revenge Of The Auteur: Nymphomaniac's Musical Miscellany". The Quietus. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  39. "Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)|Soundtracks", IMDB. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  40. Brody, Richard (May 24, 2017). ""Alien: Covenant" Bursts with Pomposity". The New Yorker . Advance Publications . Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  41. Salazar, David (21 January 2021). "Opera Meets Film: How 'Promising Young Woman' Dialogues With Wagner's 'Tristan und Isolde'". OperaWire. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  42. Rooney, David (2021-05-11). "Zack Snyder's 'Army of the Dead': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  43. "Wrath of Man (1987) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  44. "Army of Thieves (2021) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  45. Brodeur, Michael Andor (14 October 2022). "Cate Blanchett on 'Tár' role: 'Music is often the starting point for me'" . The Washington Post . Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2023.

Sources