【 Orchestra - Full Score 】 Joachim Raff - Orchestral Prelude to Shakespeare's Macbeth, WoO.50

Описание: Rather than quoting Macbeth directly, Raff evokes its characters and emotional world through purely orchestral means. At the opening, he summons the memory of the witches: strange, untamed dances—especially in the woodwinds—create an atmosphere of the supernatural. A musical dialogue unfolds between Macbeth, represented by certain wind and horn sonorities, and the witches, embodied in their own swirling dance figures.

Raff introduces a theme that may be associated with Lady Macbeth, further developing the psychological dimension of the drama. Through rhythmic and harmonic gestures, some passages suggest a distinctly Scottish character.

As the work approaches its conclusion, “battle music” emerges, followed by a sense of triumph—sometimes linked in commentary to Macduff—hinting at Macbeth’s downfall and the victory over him.

According to modern critics, Raff departs here from traditional classical forms such as sonata structure. Instead, he shapes the piece as an integrated whole, allowing recurring blocks of musical material to represent characters or dramatic ideas. The resulting effect has been described as unsettling and dissonant, even “anti-Romantic” in places: emotion is tightly controlled rather than extravagantly displayed.