Richard Strauss - Symphonic Poems

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 Symphonic Poems

1.

"Don Juan", Op. 20 is a tone poem for large orchestra by the German composer Richard Strauss, written in 1888. The composer conducted its premiere on 11 November 1889 with the orchestra of the Weimar Opera, where he served as Court Kapellmeister.
Strauss wrote and conducted the piece when he was only twenty-four years old and it became an international success shortly after its debut. It marks the discovery of the composer's formal style and tonal language. The work is based on the poem "Don Juan" by Nikolaus Lenau, from which much of the musical work's passion is drawn.

2.

"Macbeth" is a symphonic poem written by Richard Strauss between 1886 and 1888. The work was his first tone poem, which Strauss described as "a completely new path" for him compositionally. Written in some semblance of sonata form, the piece was revised more thoroughly than any of Strauss's other works; these revisions, focused primarily on the development and recapitulation sections, show how much the composer was struggling at this point in his career to balance narrative content with musical form. Bryan Gilliam writes in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians that, "New path or not, "Macbeth" failed to find a firm place in the concert repertory, because it lacked the thematic cogency and convincing pacing of musical events so evident in the two antecedent works "Don Juan" and "Tod und Verklärung" (Death and Transfiguration)]. And despite revisions to the orchestration, in an attempt to restrain inner voices and highlight principal themes, Macbeth still falls short of Don Juan and Tod und Verklärung in sonic clarity."
The piece is scored for 3 flutes, (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, bass trumpet, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, tam tam and strings.

Conductor: David Zinman & Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra.

"Tod und Verklärung" (Death and Transfiguration), Op. 24, is a tone poem for large orchestra by Richard Strauss. Strauss began composition in the late summer of 1888 and completed the work on November 18, 1889. The work is dedicated to the composer's friend Friedrich Rosch.
Unusual for a composer of 25 years of age, the music depicts the death of an artist. At Strauss's request, this was described in a poem by the composer's friend Alexander Ritter as an interpretation of Death and Transfiguration, after it was composed. As the man lies dying, thoughts of his life pass through his head: his childhood innocence, the struggles of his manhood, the attainment of his worldly goals; and at the end, he receives the longed-for transfiguration "from the infinite reaches of heaven".
There are four parts (with Ritter's poetic thoughts condensed):
1. Largo (The sick man, near death)
2. Allegro molto agitato (The battle between life and death offers no respite to the man)
3. Meno mosso (The dying man's life passes before him)
4. Moderato (The sought-after transfiguration)

Conductor: David Zinman & Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra
Painting: "Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer" by Caspar Friedrich

4.

"Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche" (Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks), Op. 28, is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, chronicling the misadventures and pranks of the German peasant folk hero, Till Eulenspiegel. The two themes representing Till are played respectively by the horn and the D clarinet. The horn theme is a lilting melody that reaches a peak, falls downward, and ends in three long, loud notes, each progressively lower. The clarinet theme is crafty and wheedling, suggesting a trickster doing what he does best.
The work opens with a 'once upon a time' theme, with solo horn bursting in with two repetitions of the first Till theme. The theme is taken by the rest of the orchestra in a rondo form (which Strauss spelled in its original form, rondeau), and this beginning section concludes with the tutti orchestra repeating two notes. The clarinet theme is heard next, suggesting Till's laughter as he plots his next prank. The music follows Till throughout the countryside, as he rides a horse through a market, upsetting the goods and wares, pokes fun at the strict Teutonic clergy (represented by the violas), flirts and chases girls (the love theme is given to soli first violin), and mocks the serious academics (represented by the bassoons).
The music suggesting a horse ride returns again, with the first theme restated all over the orchestra, when the climax abruptly changes to a funeral march. Till has been captured by the authorities, and is sentenced to beheading for blasphemy. The funeral march of the headsman begins a dialogue with the desperate Till, who tries to wheedle and joke his way out of this predicament. Unfortunately, he has no effect on the stony executioner*, who hangs him. The progress of Till being hauled up the gallows is graphicaly painted by the D Clarinet with the death rattle being audible on the flutes after he has reached the top. The D clarinet wails in a distortion of the first theme, signifying his death scream, and a pizzicato by the strings represents the actual execution. After a moment of silence, the 'once upon a time' theme heard at the beginning returns, suggesting that someone like Till can never be destroyed, and the work ends with one last quotation of the musical joke.

Conductor: David Zinman & Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra

5.

Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 (Thus Spoke Zarathustra or Thus Spake Zarathustra) is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, composed during 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical treatise of the same name.
The piece is divided into nine sections played with only three definite pauses. Strauss named the sections after selected chapters of the Nietzsche's book:

1. "Einleitung" (Introduction): according to the interpretations, it should represent the Creation or the coming of the new age of the Overman and so, because of its evocative and declaimed aspect, it is led back to the Overman's motto.
2. "Von den Hinterweltlern" (Of the Hereaftergo'ers): here the brass quote the gregorian cento "Credo in unum Deum" or "I believe in one God" to represent faith at the top synthesis.
3. "Von der großen Sehnsucht" (Of the Great Longing): maybe it represents the age of "Sturm und Drang"; here there's a liturgical quotation from "Magnificat".
4. "Von den Freuden und Leidenschaften" (Of the Joys and Passions): the word to the strings, at the top tension; the trombones expose the theme of "Taedium Vitae".
5. "Das Grablied" (The Grave-Song): part where the strings prevail.
6. "Von der Wissenschaft" (Of Science): it is a fugue whose subject all only the twelve notes to represent scientism, positivism and maybe, to ridicule the rising dodecaphony.
7. "Der Genesende" (The Convalescent): it completes the tension of the previous movement, then, after a rough pause determined by a rip of the strings in the bass register, it starts again from the mystery to go to the atmosphere of the following movement.
8. "Das Tanzlied" (The Dance Song): the theme of "Taedium Vitae" is taken again trasfigured in a waltz.
9. "Nachtwandlerlied" (Song of the Night Wanderer): coda where the finale is suspended avoiding the cadence on the tonic.

Paintings by J.M.W. Turner and Caspar Friedrich.
Conductor: Georg Solti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

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7.

"Ein Heldenleben" Op. 40 (A Hero's Life) is a tone poem by Richard Strauss. The work was completed in 1898, and heralds the composer's more mature period in this genre.
"Ein Heldenleben" is a through-composed, circa fifty-minute work, performed without pauses, except for a dramatic general pause at the end of the first movement. The movements are titled as follows (later editions of the score may not show these titles, owing to the composer's request that they be removed):
1. Der Held (The Hero)
2. Des Helden Widersacher (The Hero's Adversaries)
3. Des Helden Gefährtin (The Hero's Companion)
4. Des Helden Walstatt (The Hero at Battle)
5. Des Helden Friedenswerke (The Hero's Works of Peace)
6. Des Helden Weltflucht und Vollendung (The Hero's Retirement from this World and Consummation).
Throughout "Ein Heldenleben" Strauss employs the technique of leitmotif that Richard Wagner used so liberally, but almost always as elements of its enlarged sonata-rondo symphonic structure.

Valery Gergiev & London Symphony Orchestra.

9.

"Symphonia Domestica", Op. 53 (Domestic Symphony) is a tone poem for large orchestra by Richard Strauss. The work is a musical reflection of the secure domestic life so valued by the composer himself and, as such, harmoniously conveys daily events and family life.
In 1898, Strauss became the chief conductor of the Royal Court Opera in Berlin. It was at this point in his life that the composer took a keen interest in his own circumstances and turned his attention to his status and personal history. When he began composing the Symphonia Domestica, he intended it to be the sequel to Ein Heldenleben, the next instalment of the autobiography of the now-successful artist. Of it, Strauss said "My next tone poem will represent a day in my family life. It will be partly lyrical, partly humorous - a triple fugue will bring together Papa, Mama and Baby."
The program of the work reflects the simplicity of the subject-matter. After the whole extended family (including the aunts and uncles) has been introduced, the parents are heard alone with their child. The next section is a three-part adagio. which begins with the husband's activities. The clock striking 7am launches the finale.

Paintings by Monet, Renoir, Manet and Berthè Morisot.

10.

"Eine Alpensinfonie" (An Alpine Symphony), Op. 64, is a tone poem written by German composer Richard Strauss in 1915. Though labelled as a symphony by the composer, this piece forgoes the conventions of the traditional multi-movement symphony and consists of twenty-two continuous sections of music. The story of An Alpine Symphony depicts the experiences of eleven hours (from twilight just before dawn to the following nightfall) spent climbing an Alpine mountain.
One point of influence comes from Strauss's love of nature. As a boy, Strauss experienced an Alpine adventure similar to the one described in his "An Alpine Symphony": he and a group of climbers lost their way heading up a mountain and were caught in a storm and soaked on the way down. Strauss loved the mountains so much that in 1908 he built a home in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria that boasted stunning views of the Alps. This interest in nature can also point to Strauss's followings of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.
Sections:
1. Nacht (Night)
2. Sonnenaufgang (Sunrise)
3. Der Anstieg (The Ascent)
4. Eintritt in den Wald (Entry into the Wood)
5. Wanderung neben dem Bache (Wandering by the Brook)
6. Am Wasserfall (At the Waterfall)
7. Erscheinung (Apparition)
8. Auf blumigen Wiesen (On Flowering Meadows)
9. Auf der Alm (On the Alpine Pasture)
10. Durch Dickicht und Gestrüpp auf Irrwegen (Wrong Path Through the Thicket and Undergrowth)
11. Auf dem Gletscher (On the Glacier)
12. Gefahrvolle Augenblicke (Dangerous Moments)
13. Auf dem Gipfel (On the Summit)
14. Vision (Vision)
15. Nebel steigen auf (Mists Rise)
16. Die Sonne verdüstert sich allmählich (The Sun Gradually Becomes Obscured)
17. Elegie (Elegy)
18. Stille vor dem Sturm (Calm Before the Storm)
19. Gewitter und Sturm, Abstieg (Thunder and Tempest, Descent)
20. Sonnenuntergang (Sunset)
21. Ausklang (Waning Tones/Dying Away of Sound)
22. Nacht (Night)

Conductor: Andrè Previn & Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

12.

Aus Italien, Op. 16 (From Italy) is a tone poem for full orchestra composed by Richard Strauss in 1886. It was inspired by the composer's visit to Italy in the summer of the same year, where he travelled to Rome, Bologna, Naples, Sorrento, Salerno, and Capri. He began to sketch the work while still on the journey.
The full score of the work, Strauss's first tone poem, was completed in Munich on September 12, 1886. The work is named by the composer as "Symphonic Fantasy", and is dedicated to his mentor Hans von Bülow. It is the only work by Richard Strauss for which he himself wrote a specific program.
The first performance of the work took place in Munich on March 2, 1887, by the Court Orchestra, which was conducted by the composer himself. As Richard Strauss's sister Johanna later recalled, the first three movements were received with applause, but the last movement was not well-approved and derisory whistles came from various quarters. Norman Del Mar's biography of the composer tells a different story: the first three movements were not well received, and the final was accorded booing and applause. Strauss himself found the work itself as new and revolutionary, and he was satisfied despite the critical responses for the première.
The works comprises four sections:
1. Auf dem Land
2. Ruinen von Rom
3. Am Strande von Sorrent
4. Neapolitanisches Volksleben