Let’s dive in with a moment of powerful orchestral energy: at timecode 1:10:45, Wotan, the King of Gods, descends to Nibelheim to claim the gold stolen from the Rhine. In this masterfully-crafted transition, Wotan’s passage to this “Underworld” is represented by an agitated melody in the strings, while a menacing fortissimo outburst from the brass and an obsessive violent hammering—carried out by 18 real anvils!—depict the laboring Nibelungs enslaved by an evil dwarf.
This musical moment returns at 1:15:22, 1:37:33, and 1:43:39, but with slight differences… Can you hear them?
