Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: opera
Song Meaning of “Der fliegende Holländer, WWV 63: Overture” by Richard Wagner
“Der fliegende Holländer” (The Flying Dutchman) is a symbolic tale which often serves as a cautionary warning, depicting one mans journey of doomed fate. This overture, composed by Richard Wagner, begins in a dizzying array of simultaneous crescendos and decrescendos, a perfect representation of the turbulent journey our hero is intended to take. The journey of the Flying Dutchman, though meant to be an eternity of unending isolation at sea, eventually leads to an eventual point of peace and bliss.
The themes of indefatigable hope in the midst of seemingly insurmountable trials is one that is echoed throughout Wagner’s composition. Greed and redemption, mysticism and isolation, desperation and redemption, are but a few of the motifs that can be found in this particular piece. The grandiose sweep of the strings is meant to evoke the seas swells, their motion growing more and more tumultuous as the protagonist finds himself ever closer to his goal.
Similarly, the brass section flows from restrained solemnity to thumping outbursts of near hysteria as the protagonist’s hope builds and fades. Finally, as the composer brings the piece to its conclusion, a single note is played on a single instrument, lending a momentary sense of sublime respite after our hero’s long and grueling journey.