What makes a piece of music legendary? To quote Richard Wagner, it’s a “universal life essence.” It contains a spirit that saturates the air waves. Great music is a democratic lightning bolt…it reaches into the heart of all men, regardless of their race.
Note: A man can only write a heroic symphony is if he is a hero himself. You cannot separate the GREAT MAN from a GREAT WORK!
By way of example…
Beethoven is beloved in Europe, Asia and Africa. His time and place is irrelevant…for the music is created inside the mind of a genius: a man that worked in a majestic spirit world. In the modern era, we see a similar quality in the music of Elvis Presley or James Brown. The energy is bursting forth in a wave, and people from all walks of life can understand the essence.
To illustrate, I leave you with the “Tristan and Isolde” from Richard Wagner. Note how at 1:35, Wagner describes the relationship between the knight and his maiden. The passionate heights of love are perfectly expressed: we hear two lovers, crashing into the arms of one another. And they are lost in the unfolding waves of bliss…
See Related Article: Song Review: “On the Turning Away” by Pink Floyd
Major Styles 