The Ring of the Nibelung

I have been getting a classical music play list together this week and to that end decided to expand on my collection by raiding the CD's at our local library. I have always liked Wagner but been quite ignorant of his work. I am of course aware of The Ring Cycle but knew little about the actual story, until today! I was pleasantly pleased to learn that it is steeped in Norse Mythology which is a subject I have a particular interest in. 

I managed to get parts 3 and 4, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, from the library and read the synopsis while listening to them but then I also found this little gem. Serious fans please don't take offence, it is a 3 minute animation with narration that tries to explain the whole story and I include it here as an educational tool only so anyone who like me had no idea what the tetralogy was about can get a grasp of it before possibly finding out more. 

There are numerous versions available on DVD which I intend to follow up with shortly and I note that the library also has parts 1 and 2, Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, on CD which I have reserved for my next visit. 

I listen to many genres of music, most commonly folk, rock and pop, but classical music is amazing, beautiful and baffles me. How can a human brain perceive such beauty and complexity!