Subject: (urth) Re: Valse triste

From: Robert Borski <rborski at coredcs.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 00:32:03 +0000

> For those as ignorant as me, the _Valse Triste_ was written as
> accompaniment to a scene where a dying woman dreams of a ball, and
> mistaking Death for her husband, starts to dance with him. 

What David neglected to add is that Valse Triste is by Jean Sibelius,
another Scandinavian composer (though from Finnland, whereas Grieg--the
composer of Peer Gynt--is from Norway). Valse Triste is excerpted from the
larger work, Kuolema (Death), a play by Arvid Jarnevelt.

Peer Gynt, of course, concerns the adventures of its eponymous hero, a
major proportion of which involve trolls (and hence is a major clue as to
who pilfers the Dunstan diary). The play itself was written by Henrik
Ibsen.

Wolfe, cheating a little (though I suppose it's easy enough to confuse
Scandinavian composers--outside of Grieg and Sibelius, who's left, besides
maybe Carl Nielsen?), manages to touch two tangents with one misascription.

I also believe David is dead on about when Castleview starts--Nov. 7 or
Geimhreadh. (It's also when 80% of the book's action takes place [Chapters
1-29].)
 
Robert Borski

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