Valse triste

Robert Borski · 11 Aug 1998, 00:32 · from urth-v0018.mbox · original

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From: "Robert Borski" <rborski at coredcs.com>
Subject: (urth) Re: Valse triste
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 00:32:03
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> 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.=20

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].)
=20
Robert Borski

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