Good Friday Spell from “Parsifal”
The Good Friday Spell is placed at the end of the first scene in Act III of the opera. Gurnemanz is now an old hermit who lives in a humble abode at the edge of a forest. He comes out of the hut when he hears a groaning sound in the distance. Presently Parsifal arrives. He is a knight clad in black armor, carrying the sacred spear and a buckler. He is weary. The old Gurnemanz plies him with questions, but Parsifal will not answer until he is apprised of the fact that it is Good Friday. Whereupon he drives the spear into the ground, removes his helmet, and kneels in prayer.
Subsequently Kundry fetches water and washes his feet and anoints him with holy oil. And Gurnemanz, recognizing in him the Guileless Fool now worthy of the title King of the Grail, blesses him and greets him as the king. They soon set out for Montsalvat.
The music of the Good Friday Spell comprises thematically a hymn of thanksgiving, the music of Kundry’s Sigh, of the Holy Supper, of the Spear, of the Grail, of the Complaint, of the Flower Girls. All of these are finally fused into a pastoral poem ending with the Good Friday melody, which is suddenly interrupted by the doleful sound of bells. During Gurnemanz’s blessing of Parsifal, horns, trumpets and trombones play the Parsifal motive. This is given out in an impressive manner, and it leads into the Grail theme. There follows a series of chords which usher in the motives of Baptism and Faith.
COMPLETE LIST OF RECORDINGS
BY THE
PHILHARMONIC-SYMPHONY SOCIETY OF NEW YORK
COLUMBIA RECORDS
LP—Also available on Long Playing Microgroove Recordings as well as on the conventional Columbia Masterworks.
Under the Direction of Bruno Walter
Barber—Symphony No. 1, Op. 9 Beethoven—Concerto for Violin, Cello, Piano and Orchestra in C major (with J. Corigliano, L. Rose and W. Hendl)—LP Beethoven—Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major (“Emperor”) (with Rudolf Serkin, piano)—LP Beethoven—Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra (with Joseph Szigeti)—LP Beethoven—Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21—LP Beethoven—Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major (“Eroica”)—LP Beethoven—Symphony No. 5 in C minor—LP Beethoven—Symphony No. 8 in F major—LP Beethoven—Symphony No. 9 in D minor (“Choral”) (with Elena Nikolaidi, contralto, and Raoul Jobin, tenor)—LP Brahms—Song of Destiny (with Westminster Choir)—LP Dvorak—Slavonic Dance No. 1 Dvorak—Symphony No. 4 in G Major—LP Mahler—Symphony No. 4 in G major (with Desi Halban, soprano)—LP Mahler—Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor Mendelssohn—Concerto in E minor (with Nathan Milstein, violin)—LP Mendelssohn—Scherzo (from Midsummer Night’s Dream) Mozart—Cosi fan Tutti—Overture Mozart—Symphony No. 41 in C major (“Jupiter”), K. 551—LP Schubert—Symphony No. 7 in C major—LP Schumann, R.—Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major (“Rhenish”)—LP Smetana—The Moldau (“Vltava”)—LP Strauss, J.—Emperor Waltz
Under the Direction of Leopold Stokowski
Copland—Billy the Kid (2 parts) Griffes—“The White Peacock,” Op. 7, No. 1—LP 7″ Ippolitow—“In the Village” from Caucasian Sketches (W. Lincer and M. Nazzi, soloists) Khachaturian—“Masquerade Suite”—LP Messian—“L’Ascension”—LP Sibelius—“Maiden with the Roses”—LP Tschaikowsky—Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32—LP Tschaikowsky—Overture Fantasy—Romeo and Juliet—LP Vaughan-Williams—Greensleeves Vaughan-Williams—Symphony No. 6 in E minor—LP Wagner—Die Walküre—Wotan Farewell and Magic Fire Music (Act III—Scene 3) Wagner—Siegfried’s Rhine journey and Siegfried’s Funeral March—(“Die Götterdämmerung”)—LP
Under the Direction of Efrem Kurtz
Chopin—Les Sylphides—LP Glinka—Mazurka—“Life of the Czar”—LP 7″ Grieg—Concerto in A minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 16 (with Oscar Levant, piano)—LP Herold—Zampa—Overture Kabalevsky—“The Comedians,” Op. 26—LP Khachaturian—Gayne—Ballet Suite No. 1—LP Khachaturian—Gayne—Ballet Suite No. 2—LP Lecoq—Mme. Angot Suite—LP Prokofieff—March, Op. 99—LP Rimsky-Korsakov—The Flight of the Bumble Bee—LP 7″ Shostakovich—Polka No. 3, “The Age of Gold”—LP 7″ Shostakovich—Symphony No. 9—LP Shostakovich—Valse from “Les Monts D’Or”—LP Villa-Lobos—Uirapuru—LP Wieniawski—Concerto No. 2 in D minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 22 (with Isaac Stern, violin)—LP
Under the Direction of Charles Münch
D’Indy—Symphony on a French Mountain Air for Orchestra and Piano—LP Milhaud—Suite Française—LP Mozart—Concerto No. 21 for Piano and Orchestra in C major—LP Saint-Saens—Symphony In C minor, No. 3 for Orchestra, Organ and Piano, Op. 78—LP
Under the Direction of Artur Rodzinski
Bizet—Carmen—Entr’acte (Prelude to Act III) Bizet—Symphony in C major—LP Brahms—Symphony No. 1 in C minor—LP Brahms—Symphony No. 2 in D major—LP Copland—A Lincoln Portrait (with Kenneth Spencer, Narrator)—LP Enesco—Roumanian Rhapsody—A major, No. 1—LP Gershwin—An American in Paris—LP Gould—“Spirituals” for Orchestra—LP Ibert—“Escales” (Port of Call)—LP Liszt—Mephisto Waltz—LP Moussorgsky—Gopack—(The Fair at Sorotchinski)—LP Moussorgsky-Ravel—Pictures at an Exhibition—LP Prokofieff—Symphony No. 5—LP Rachmaninoff—Concerto No. 2 in C minor for Piano and Orchestra (with Gygory Sandor, piano) Rachmaninoff—Symphony No. 2 in E minor Saint-Saens—Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 4 in C minor (with Robert Casadesus)—LP Sibelius—Symphony No. 4 in A minor Tschaikowsky—Nutcracker Suite—LP Tschaikowsky—Suite “Mozartiana”—LP Tschaikowsky—Symphony No. 6 in B minor (“Pathétique”)—LP Wagner—Lohengrin—Bridal Chamber Scene (Act III—Scene 2)—(with Helen Traubel, soprano, and Kurt Baum, tenor)—LP Wagner—Lohengrin—Elsa’s Dream (Act I, Scene 2) (with Helen Traubel, soprano) Wagner—Siegfried Idyll—LP Wagner—Tristan und Isolde—Excerpts (with Helen Traubel, soprano) Wagner—Die Walküre—Act III (Complete) (with Helen Traubel, soprano and Herbert Janssen, baritone)—LP Wagner—Die Walküre—Duct (Act I, Scene 3) (with Helen Traubel, soprano and Emery Darcy, tenor)—LP Wolf-Ferrari—“Secret of Suzanne,” Overture
Under the Direction of Igor Stravinsky
Stravinsky—Firebird Suite—LP Stravinsky—Fireworks (Feu d’Artifice)—LP Stravinsky—Four Norwegian Moods Stravinsky—Le Sacre du Printemps (The Consecration of the Spring)—LP Stravinsky—Scènes de Ballet—LP Stravinsky—Suite from “Petrouchka”—LP Stravinsky—Symphony in Three Movements—LP
Under the Direction of Sir Thomas Beecham
Mendelssohn—Symphony No. 4, in A major (“Italian”) Sibelius—Melisande (from “Pelleas and Melisande”) Sibelius—Symphony No. 7 in C major—LP Tschaikowsky—Capriccio Italien
Under the Direction of John Barbirolli
Bach-Barbirolli—Sheep May Safely Graze (from the “Birthday Cantata”)—LP Berlioz—Roman Carnival Overture Brahms—Symphony No. 2, in D major Brahms—Academic Festival Overture—LP Bruch—Concerto No. 1, in G minor (with Nathan Milstein, violin)—LP Debussy—First Rhapsody for Clarinet (with Benny Goodman, clarinet) Debussy—Petite Suite: Ballet Mozart—Concerto in B-flat major (with Robert Casadesus, piano) Mozart—Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183 Ravel—La Valse Rimsky-Korsakov—Capriccio Espagnol Sibelius—Symphony No. 1, in E minor Sibelius—Symphony No. 2, in D major Smetana—The Bartered Bride—Overture Tschaikowsky—Theme and Variations (from Suite No. 3 in G)—LP
Under the Direction of Andre Kostelanetz
Gershwin—Concerto in F (with Oscar Levant)—LP
Under the Direction of Dimitri Mitropoulos
Khachaturian—Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (with Oscar Levant, piano)—LP
VICTOR RECORDS
Under the Direction of Arturo Toscanini
Beethoven—Symphony No. 7 in A major Brahms—Variations on a Theme by Haydn Dukas—The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Gluck—Orfeo ed Euridice—Dance of the Spirits Haydn—Symphony No. 4 in D major (The Clock) Mendelssohn—Midsummer Night’s Dream—Scherzo Mozart—Symphony in D major (K. 385) Rossini—Barber of Seville—Overture Rossini—Semiramide—Overture Rossini—Italians in Algiers—Overture Verdi—Traviata—Preludes to Acts I and II Wagner—Excerpts—Lohengrin—Die Götterdämmerung—Siegfried Idyll
Under the Direction of John Barbirolli
Debussy—Iberia (Images, Set 3, No. 2) Purcell—Suite for Strings with four Horns, two Flutes, English Horn Respighi—Fountains of Rome Respighi—Old Dances and Airs (Special recording for members of the Philharmonic-Symphony League of New York) Schubert—Symphony No. 4 in C minor (Tragic) Schumann—Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D minor (with Yehudi Menuhin, violin) Tschaikowsky—Francesca da Rimini—Fantasia
Under the Direction of Willem Mengelberg
J. C. Bach—Arr. Stein—Sinfonia in B-flat major J. S. Bach—Arr. Mahler—Air for G String (from Suite for Orchestra) Beethoven—Egmont Overture Handel—Alcina Suite Mendelssohn—War March of the Priests (from Athalia) Meyerbeer—Prophète—Coronation March Saint-Saens—Rouet d’Omphale (Omphale’s Spinning Wheel) Schelling—Victory Ball Wagner—Flying Dutchman—Overture Wagner—Siegfried—Forest Murmurs (Waldweben)
