Richard Strauss (1864-1949); DEU/AUT

Strauss, Richard (Georg) (b Munich, 1864; d Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 1949). Ger.-born composer, conductor, and pianist (Austrian cit. 1947). Son of Franz Strauss, hn.-player in Munich court orch. Had pf. lessons at 4 and began composing at 6. Vn. lessons at 8. Studied theory with F. Meyer 1875, but went to no mus. acad., having normal education, ending at Munich Univ. At 16 wrote first sym. and str. qt., both being perf. in Munich, 1881. In 1882 Serenade for wind perf. in Dresden, leading to commission from Bülow for Meiningen Orch. 2nd Sym. perf. NY 1884. Ass. cond. to Bülow at Meiningen 1885, succeeding him after a month. Left Meiningen 1886, visited It., and became 3rd cond. at Munich Opera. His Aus Italien perf. Munich 1887. Mus. ass. to Levi at Bayreuth 1889. 3rd cond. Weimar Opera 1889. Success of symphonic poem Don Juan est. him as most important young composer in Ger. and natural successor to Wagner, whose widow took great interest in his career. Bayreuth Fest. début as cond. 1894 (Tannhäuser). Married sop. Pauline de Ahna 1894 and wrote many songs for her, appearing as her accompanist. First opera Guntram failure at Weimar 1894. Ass. cond., Munich Opera 1894, chief cond. 1896-8. Cond. Berlin PO 1894-5. Series of tone-poems—Till Eulenspiegel, Also sprach Zarathustra, Don Quixote, and Ein Heldenleben—between 1895 and 1899 confirmed his stature as master of the orch. 2nd opera Feuersnot success in Dresden and Vienna, 1901 and 1902. Visited Eng. 1903, USA 1904. F.p. of Symphonia Domestica in NY. Operas Salome (1905) and Elektra (1909) caused sensations through their supposedly ‘obscene’ treatment of biblical and classical subjects. In latter Strauss first collab. with Austrian poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal, who was to be librettist of 5 more of his operas, beginning in 1911 with the 18th-cent. comedy Der Rosenkavalier. This work was a triumph at its Dresden première, went straight into the repertory of world's leading opera houses, and has stayed there. Since 1898 Strauss had been cond. of Berlin Royal Opera, living in the capital, but after 1908 lived in villa at Garmisch and was in constant demand as cond. of his own works. Completed his last full-scale orch. work, Eine Alpensinfonie, in 1915. Resigned Berlin post 1918 and became joint dir., Vienna Opera, 1919-24. With Max Reinhardt, Hofmannsthal and others, founded Salzburg Fest. 1920 and cond. Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte there 1922. His opera Die Frau ohne Schatten and ballet Schlagobers were prod. in Vienna 1919 and 1924. Opera Intermezzo, to his own lib. representing incident in his own marriage, prod. Dresden 1924. During comp. of Arabella, Hofmannsthal died, 1929. In 1933 new Nazi régime in Ger. appointed Strauss pres. of Reichsmusikkammer, but removed him in 1935 because of disapproval of his collab. with Jewish librettist Stefan Zweig on opera Die schweigsame Frau, which was banned after 4 perfs. Thereafter Strauss was tolerated by régime but kept under surveillance because of Jewish daughter-in-law. Visited London 1936, receiving Gold Medal of Royal Phil. Soc. and conducting at CG. 1-act operas Friedenstag and Daphne prod. 1938. During World War II lived mostly in Vienna and comp. operas Die Liebe der Danae and Capriccio. In 1943 reverted to instr. comps., writing 2nd hn. conc., wind sonatinas, ob. conc., and ‘study for 23 strings’ Metamorphosen, partly inspired by destruction of Ger. opera houses in bombing raids. Moved to Switzerland 1945-9, where in 1947-8 he wrote his last masterpiece, the Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs) for sop. and orch. Officially cleared in 1948 of complicity in Nazi régime. Visited London 1947, conducting own works and attending perfs. cond. by Beecham. His last work, completed 23 Nov. 1948, was a song Malven (Knobel), ded. to Maria Jeritza. After operation in Lausanne in Dec. 1948, returned to Garmisch May 1949, dying there on 8 Sept.

Strauss, like his friend and contemporary Mahler, had immense dual reputation as composer and cond. He was a master of several mus. forms. No sym. orch. can reasonably exist without having in its repertory his series of magnificent tone-poems, in which brilliance of scoring and vividness of representational detail are matched by satisfying mus. construction. Of his 15 operas at least half are regularly in the repertories of the major opera houses. They provide superb singing roles, particularly for women's vv., of which, through his marriage to a sop., he had a profound understanding. In Der Rosenkavalier alone, he wrote parts for 3 sop. in which many a 20th-cent. reputation has been made and which have contributed to making it the most popular opera written in the 20th cent., with the probable exception of Madama Butterfly. In Elektra he approached the atonal and neuro-psychological world of Schoenberg and Berg, but turned aside to what Stravinsky called the ‘time-travelling’ of Der Rosenkavalier and Ariadne auf Naxos, the latter being one of several operas in which Strauss treated subjects from classical mythology, investing them with 20th-cent. traits e.g. Die ägyptische Helena, Daphne, and Die Liebe der Danae. His last opera, a ‘conversation piece’, Capriccio, has become more frequently perf. in recent years. Strauss's mus. is in the Ger. 19th-cent. tradition deriving from Mendelssohn, Liszt, and especially Wagner. However, his love for Mozart, of whose mus. he was a fine cond., is also reflected in many works, leading to a curious but satisfying blend of 18th-cent. elegance and Wagnerian richness as in Rosenkavalier, Ariadne, and Capriccio, and particularly in the superb instr. works of his last years. His natural gift for counterpoint leads to complex and interweaving textures in all his works, which has led his critics to complain of ‘note-spinning’ for its own sake (a charge that has some justification), but the former tendency to ‘write off’ Strauss operas comp. between 1919 and 1940 is gradually being reversed as their virtues become apparent. Though he wrote some concs., his big display pieces are for full orch. and for vv. His unacc. choral works are in a class of their own, and he wrote many first-rate Lieder, some with orch. A song such as Morgen!, for example, is a perfect blend of melody and expression of the text, while its style epitomizes the highly-developed melodic conversational-recit. which was Strauss's lifelong preoccupation in his operas and which even forms part of the subject-matter of Capriccio. The Vier letzte Lieder is a remarkable and moving summing-up of his life's work as well as a testament to all that the late-romantic style had meant to the art of mus. Prin. works:

OPERAS (with dates of comp., f.p., and cond.): Guntram, Op.25, comp. 1887-93, rev. 1934-9 (Weimar 1894, Strauss; rev. vers. Weimar 1940, Heger); Feuersnot, Op.50, comp. 1900-1 (Dresden 1901, Schuch); Salome, Op.54, comp. 1903-5 (Dresden 1905, Schuch); Elektra, Op.58, comp. 1906-8 (Dresden 1909, Schuch); Der Rosenkavalier, Op.59, comp. 1909-10 (Dresden 1911, Schuch); Ariadne auf Naxos, Op.60, comp. 1911-12 (Stuttgart 1912, Strauss), rev. version, Prologue comp 1916 (Vienna 1916, Schalk); Die Frau ohne Schatten, Op.65, comp. 1914-17 (Vienna 1919, Schalk); Intermezzo, Op.72, comp. 1917-23 (Dresden 1924, Busch); Die ägyptische Helena, Op.75, comp. 1923-7 (Dresden 1928, Busch), rev. vers. 1933 (Salzburg, Krauss); Arabella, Op.79, comp. 1930-2 (Dresden 1933, Krauss); Die schweigsame Frau, Op.80, comp. 1933-4 (Dresden 1935, Böhm); Friedenstag, Op.81, comp. 1935-6 (Munich 1938, Krauss); Daphne, Op.82, comp. 1936-7 (Dresden 1938, Böhm); Die Liebe der Danae, Op.83, comp. 1938-40 (dress rehearsal only, Salzburg 1944, Krauss; Salzburg 1952, Krauss); Capriccio, Op.85, comp. 1940-1 (Munich 1942, Krauss).

BALLETS & OTHER STAGE WORKS: Josephslegende, Op.63 (1913-14); Der Bürger als Edelmann (Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme), incidental mus. for Molière-Hofmannsthal play, Op.60 (1912-17); Schlagobers, Op.70 (1921-2); Des Esels Schatten, children's mus. play (1947-8, completed from sketches by K. Haussner), Ettal 1964, London 1970.

ORCH.: Serenade in Eb, for 13 wind instr., Op.7 (1881-2); Suite in Bb, for 13 wind instr., Op.4 (1883-4); syms.: No.1 in D minor (1880, unpubd.), No.2 in F minor, Op.12 (1883-4), Symphonia Domestica, Op.53 (1902-3), Eine Alpensinfonie, Op.64 (1911-15); Aus Italien, symphonic fantasy, Op.16 (1886); sym.-poems: Macbeth, Op.23 (1887-8, rev. 1889-90), Don Juan, Op.20 (1888), Tod und Verklärung, Op.24 (1888-9), Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op.28, (1894-5), Also sprach Zarathustra, Op.30 (1895-6), Don Quixote, Op.35 (1896-7), Ein Heldenleben, Op.40 (1897-8); Festliches Präludium, orch., org., Op.61 (1913); Suite, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Op.60, (1918); Dance Suite (after Couperin) (1922); Waltz, München, 1st vers. (1930), 2nd vers. (1945); Sonatina No.1 in F, 16 wind instr. (1943), No.2 in Eb, 16 wind instr. (1944-5); Metamorphosen, 23 solo str. (1944-5).

CONCERTOS etc: hn. conc. No.1 in Eb, Op.11 (1882-3), No.2 in Eb (1942); vn. conc. in D minor, Op.8 (1881-2); Burleske in D minor, pf., orch. (1885-6, rev. 1890); Parergon zur Symphonia Domestica, pf. (left hand), orch., Op.73 (1925); Panathenäenzug, pf. (left hand), orch., Op.74 (1927); oboe conc. (1945-6); Duett-Concertino, cl., bn., str., hp. (1947).

CHORAL: Wandrers Sturmlied, Op.14, ch., orch. (1884); Der Abend and Hymne, Op.34, unacc. ch. (1897); Taillefer, Op.52, sop., ten., bar., ch., orch. (1903); Deutsche Motette, Op.62, sop., cont., ten., bass, unacc. ch. (1913, rev. 1943); Die Tageszeiten, Op.76, 4 songs, male ch., orch. (1928); Die Göttin im Putzzimmer, unacc. ch. (1935); An den Baum Daphne, unacc. ch. (1943).

PIANO: Sonata in B minor, Op.5 (1881); 5 Stimmungsbilder, Op.9 (1883-4).

SONG-CYCLES: Krämerspiegel, Op.66, v., pf. (1918); Vier letzte Lieder (4 Last Songs), high v., orch. (1948).

SONGS (with pf. and/or orch.): Strauss wrote over 200 songs, publishing them in groups. Listed below alphabetically is a selective group of the best-known, with opus numbers where applicable. The sign † means that an orch. acc. (not necessarily by Strauss) exists: Allerseelen, Op.10 No.9 (1885), All’ mein Gedanken, Op.21 No.1 (1888), †Das Bächlein (1933), †Befreit, Op.39 No.4 (1898), †Cäcilie, Op.27 No.2 (1894), Du meines Herzens Krönelein, Op.21 No.2 (1888), Einerlei, Op.69 No.3 (1918), Einkehr, Op.47 No.4 (1900), †Freundliche Vision, Op.48 No.1 (1900), Gefunden, Op.56 No.1 (1903-6), Hat gesagt, Op.36 No.3 (1897), †Die Heiligen drei Königen, Op.56 No.6 (1906), †Heimkehr, Op.15 No.5 (1886), †Heimliche Aufforderung, Op.27 No.3 (1894), †Ich wollt’ ein Sträusslein binden, Op.68 No.2 (1918), †Liebeshymnus, Op.32 No.3 (1896), †Mein Auge, Op.37 No.4 (1897), †Meinem Kinde, Op.37 No.3 (1897), †Morgen!, Op.27 No.4 (1894), †Muttertanderlei, Op.43 No.2 (1899), Die Nacht, Op.10 No.3 (1885), Nachtgang, Op.29 No.3 (1895), Nichts, Op.10 No.2 (1885), †Das Rosenband, Op.36 No.1 (1897), †Ruhe, meine Seele, Op.27 No.1 (1894), †Säusle, Liebe Myrthe, Op.68 No.3 (1918), Schlechtes Wetter, Op.69 No.5 (1918), †Ständchen, Op.17 No.2 (1887), Der Stern, Op.69 No.1 (1918), †Traum durch die Dämmerung, Op.29 No.1 (1895), †Waldseligkeit, Op.49 No.1 (1901), †Wiegenlied, Op.41 No.1 (1899), Wozu noch, Mädchen, Op.19 No.1 (1887-8), †Zueignung, Op.10 No.1 (1885).

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