Act III of Die Walküre begins with the image of a rocky mountaintop flanked by storm-driven clouds. All of Brünnhilde’s Valkyrie sisters wait there in full armor, ready to perform their noble duty—the transportation of fallen heroes to Valhalla on their winged steeds. What follows for the next several minutes is perhaps the most popular music Wagner ever wrote and is certainly still among the most beloved orchestral opera excerpts ever written by anyone. The Ride of the Valkyries is most often heard today in its shorter instrumental iteration, but the operatic version includes the passionate war whoops of the sisters as they scan the mortal battlefields below. It makes for an incredibly exciting listening experience in a live performance and, in the hands of a great director, the dramatic visual possibilities are nearly endless. Though he received many requests, Wagner originally objected to (expressly forbade, in fact) the idea of The Ride taken out of its operatic context and presented as a stand-alone concert work. This arrangement is written for 4 trombones and 2 tubas and was commissioned by the National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain in 2021.