Last night I was watching a documentary on VH1 about the history of heavy metal . There was mention of a classical musician named Vokkner . I dont think this is the correct spelling of the name but thats what it sounded like . I have been looking for this name on the internet most of this evening . I didn't see anything close . Does anyone know who this might be ?

Wagner?

Alan

[quote="alantig"]Wagner?

I honestly don't know but it sounded like Vokkner , so I looked up every possible spelling of it . Vochner , Vockna etc . I will look into Wagner and see what that sounds like . The narrator was talking about some very heavy intense bands and said the must have grown up listening to Vokkner (?).
thanks

In German, Wagner would be pronounced "Vogner." It's pretty close. And some Wagner compositions might well have had an influence on heavy metal.

Nothing is more thrilling or heavy that Wagner's "The Ride Of The Valkyries"

And of course:

I agree, likely Wagner.

Wagner would fit perfectly with the heavy metal mindset, heavy, thick slabs of sound. Lots of Gemanic imagery. Norse heroes, gods, etc.

BTW, I just spent 5-1/2 hours on Saturday in a movie theater watching the MET's production of Wagner's Siegfried. The only thing more obsessive than Wagner fanatics are Deadheads. And on most days it's nearly a tie.

In fact, standard German would pronounce a 'g' in this context with much less voicing than English. In other words, it's noticeably closer to a 'k' than the English 'g'. So it seems highly likely that the reference was indeed to Wagner. And, like Jimbo, I think that stylistically Wagner is a likely reference for a Heavy Metal band.