Strauss, Richard

The early years

Richard Strauss was born on June 11, 1864 in Munich (at that time the Kingdom of Bavaria , now one of the lands of Germany ), his father is Franz Strauss, the first French horn player at the Munich Court Opera . In his youth, he received from his father and his closest colleagues a broad, albeit conservative, musical education; wrote his first piece of music at the age of 6; from then until his death, which followed almost 80 years later, he composed music almost continuously.

In 1868, he began to practice piano under the guidance of harpist and teacher August Tombo . From 1872 he studied music under the guidance of his cousin uncle, violinist Benno Walter , to whom he later dedicated a youthful violin concert. In 1874, Strauss first heard Richard Wagner's operas Lohengrin , Tannhäuser and Siegfried ; the influence of Wagner’s music on Strauss’s style could be decisive, but at first his father forbade him to study Wagner: in the Strauss house Wagner’s music was considered low-grade music, and only at the age of 16 could Strauss get the score of “ Tristan and Isolda ”. Later in his life, Richard Strauss wrote and said that he deeply regrets it. In his teenage years he attended orchestral rehearsals in the opera, in 1875-1880. took lessons in the theory of music and orchestration from the second conductor Friedrich Wilhelm Mayer ; among his mentors was also the pianist Joseph Girl .

In 1882, Strauss entered the University of Munich , where he studied philosophy and history - but not music - but a year later he left the university to go to Berlin . During his studies, he met Max Schillings and convinced the latter to devote his life to music ^[6] .

In the capital of Germany, he studied for a short time, and then received the post of assistant conductor under Hans von Bülow , replacing him in Munich when he retired in 1885 . His compositions of this period were very conservative, in the style of Robert Schumann or Felix Mendelssohn , faithful to the style of his father's teaching. His Concerto for French Horn No. 1 ( 1882 - 1883 ) is typical of this period, and yet he is still regularly played. Strauss's style begins to change markedly when he meets Alexander Ritter , the famous composer and violinist and husband of one of Richard Wagner's nieces. It was Ritter who convinced Strauss to abandon his conservative youthful style and begin to compose symphonic poems ; he also introduced Strauss to an essay by Richard Wagner and the works of Schopenhauer . Strauss was about to conduct one of Ritter’s operas , and later Ritter wrote a poem based on Richard Strauss' symphonic poem , Death and Enlightenment (Tod und Verklärung).

Richard Strauss married soprano singer Pauline Maria de Ana on September 10, 1894 . She was known for her domineering and hot-tempered character, eccentricity and directness, but the marriage was happy - the wife became a great source of inspiration for him. Throughout his life, from the earliest songs to the last, written in 1948, “The Last Four Songs,” he always preferred soprano to any other voices.

Symphonic Poems

Thanks to his enthusiasm for symphonic poems, the first of them appeared, showing mature skill, - Don Juan . During the premiere in 1889, half of the audience applauded, while the other half booed. Strauss knew that he had found his own musical voice, stating:

“Now I console myself with the knowledge that I am on a consciously chosen road, fully realizing that there is no artist that thousands of his contemporaries would not consider insane”

Don Juan was followed by:

• “ From Italy ” (Aus Italien, 1886)
• The Macbeth (Macbeth, 1888/1890)
• “ Death and Enlightenment ” (Tod und Verklärung, 1888–89)
• “The Tricks of Olenspiegel 's Merry Tricks ” (Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, 1895)
• “ So said Zarathustra ” (Also sprach Zarathustra, 1896)
• Don Quixote (1898)
• The Life of a Hero (Ein Heldenleben, 1899)
• The Home Symphony (Symphonia Domestica, 1904)
• The Alpine Symphony (Eine Alpensinfonie, 1915)

Among Strauss’s other orchestral works are the suite “The Tradesman in the Nobility” (Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, 1917) and “Metamorphoses” for 23 strings (Metamorphosen, 1945).

Opera

At the end of the 19th century, Strauss turned to opera. His first experiments in this genre of Guntram in 1894 and the Extinguished Lights (Feuersnot) in 1901 failed. In 1905, he creates Salome (based on the play by Oscar Wilde ), which was met with the same ardor and ambiguity as Don Juan at one time. At the premiere of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, public protests were so loud that the opera was shot after its first performance. No doubt, these protests were largely determined by the choice of topic, but partly the negative method was associated with Strauss's use of dissonances , which were rarely heard in the opera of that time. In other opera houses, this opera was a success, which allowed Richard Strauss to build his house in Garmisch-Partenkirchen solely from the income from the performances of this opera.

Strauss' next opera was Electra , in which Strauss uses dissonances even more intensively. This opera begins the collaboration of Strauss with the poet Hugo von Hoffmannsthal . Their joint work on other works was long and fruitful. However, in his subsequent operas, Strauss is more cautious in using a harmonic language, therefore such compositions as the Cavalier of the Rose ( 1910 ) receive great success with the public. Until 1940, Strauss continued to compose operas with enviable regularity. Ariadne on Naxos ( 1912 ), Woman without a Shadow ( 1918 ), Intermezzo ( 1923 ), Elena of Egypt ( 1927 ) and Arabella ( 1932 ) all appeared in collaboration with Hugo von Hoffmannsthal from his pen; Silent Woman ( 1934 ), libretto by Stefan Zweig ; Peace Day ( 1936 ) and Daphne ( 1937 ) (libretto by Joseph Gregor and Zweig); Love Danai ( 1940 ) (in collaboration with Gregor) and Capriccio ( Clement Kraus libretto) ( 1941 ).

Ballets

Known as the author of 2 ballets: “ The Legend of Joseph ” (op. 63, 1912) directed by M. M. Fokin on the libretto by G. von Hoffmannsthal for the Russian Ballet Diaghilev ( 1914 ); “ Whipped cream "(Op. 70, 1922). In addition, the symphonic poem The Funful Tricks of Til Uhlenpiegel (op. 28, 1895 ) was repeatedly used by choreographers for productions of the musical theater: Til Uhlenpiegel by V. F. Nizhinsky ( 1916 ), Til Eilenspiegel by L. V. Jacobson ( 1933 ) , in the ballets of J. Babille ( 1949 ) and The Fun Fun of Til Uhlenpiegel, choreographed by J. Balanchine ( 1951 ) ^[7] .

Chamber music and solo works

Strauss' solo works and chamber ensembles include early compositions for piano, written in a conservative harmonic style, many of them lost; rarely performed String Quartet (Op. 2); the famous Violin Sonata in E Flat , which he wrote in 1887 ; a small number of plays of the late period. After 1900, he creates only six works for chamber ensembles; four are suites from his operas . His last chamber work, “ Allegretto in E Minor for Violin and Piano, ” dates from 1940 .

Compositions for solo instrument and orchestra

Strauss wrote much more music for a solo instrument (or instruments) with an orchestra. The most famous are two concerts for horn and orchestra ( No. 1 in E Flat Major, Op. 11 and No. 2 in E Flat Major ), which are still included in the repertoire of most concert horn players, a concert for violin , and a symphonic poem by Don Quixote for cello, viola and the orchestra, as well as a concert written in later years for oboe and orchestra (which was composed at the request of an American soldier, whom he met after the war) and a concert duet for bassoon and clarinet , which became one of his last works (1947). Strauss admitted that the concert duet is based on an “extra-musical” plot, in which the clarinet represents the princess and the bassoon the bear; during their dance, the bear turns into a prince.

Strauss and National Socialism

There is a significant difference of opinion regarding the role that Strauss played in Germany after the Nazi party came to power. Some sources indicate its continued apoliticality and the absence of any cooperation with the Nazis. Others indicate that he was an official in the public service during the Third Reich .

In November 1933, without any consultation with Strauss, Goebbels appointed him to the post of president of the Imperial Chamber of Music (Reichsmusikkammer) . Strauss decides to retain this post, but at the same time remain apolitical. Strauss is criticized for the naivety of this decision, but perhaps this decision was the most prudent in all circumstances. While in this position, he wrote and conducted the Olympic anthem for the 1936 Olympics. He also maintained relationships with some high-ranking Nazi officials. Obviously, his intention was to protect his daughter-in-law Alice, who was Jewish, from persecution. In 1935, Strauss was forced to resign from his post as president of the House after his refusal to remove Silent Woman from the posters of the opera. The name of a Jewish librettist Stefan Zweig , who was his friend. He wrote a letter to Zweig with words of support, criticizing the Nazis. This letter was intercepted by the Gestapo .

His decision to write Peace Day in 1938 , a one-act opera in which the action takes place in a besieged fortress during the Thirty Years War - in fact, a hymn to the world and a barely veiled criticism of the Third Reich - at a time when the whole nation was preparing for war, was an extremely bold act . With the inherent contrast between freedom and slavery, war and peace, light and darkness, this composition was considered to be more connected with Fidelio than with any of Strauss's last opera works. The production was interrupted in 1939 at the beginning of the war.

When his daughter-in-law Alice was placed in Garmisch in 1938 under house arrest, Strauss used his connections in Berlin, for example, he turned to Berlin Quartermaster Titien Heinz to ensure her safety; in addition, there are also indications that he tried to use his official position to protect his friends and fellow Jews. Strauss did not leave any diaries or comments that could reveal his attitude to the anti-Semitism planted by the Nazis, so we can only speculate about the motivation for his actions of that period. Although most of his actions in the 1930s were halfway between obvious conformism and dissidentism, one can speak with confidence about only one of his dissident acts in music - the pacifist drama Peace Day.

In 1942, Strauss moved his family back to Vienna, where Alice and her children could be protected by Gauleiter Vienna Baldur von Schirach . Even he was unable to fully protect Strauss' Jewish relatives; In early 1944, when Strauss was away, Alice and the composer's son were abducted by the Gestapo and spent two days in prison. Only Strauss's timely personal intervention helped save them; he was able to take both to Garmisch, where they remained under house arrest until the end of the war.

He was later brought to trial on charges of liaison and collaboration with the Nazis. The verdict was acquittal.

Recent years

In 1948, Strauss wrote his last composition, “The Four Last Songs ” for soprano and orchestra. Although Strauss wrote songs throughout his life, these are the most famous. Compared to the works of younger composers, Strauss's harmonious and melodic language looked somewhat outdated by that time. Nevertheless, these songs are invariably popular among listeners and performers. Strauss himself declared in 1947 : “Maybe I am not a first-class composer, but I am a first-class second-class composer!”

At the 86th year of life, Strauss’s mighty health began to pass, attacks of weakness and heart attacks appeared. At times, loss of consciousness occurred. Richard Strauss died on September 8, 1949 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany at the age of 85.

Conductor

Richard Strauss is an outstanding conductor. His conducting repertoire included not only his own compositions, but also numerous opera and symphonic musical scores from the 18th - early 20th centuries .

Among the surviving recordings are his own symphonic compositions (Home Symphony, Don Giovanni, Til Uhlenshpigel, Don Quixote, Death and Enlightenment, Hero's Life, Japanese Festive Music, suite from The Philistine in nobility ”and others), the Fifth and Seventh symphonies of L. van Beethoven , the last three symphonies of V. A. Mozart . At the same time, not a single complete opera recording was conducted under the direction of Richard Strauss.

There are also recordings of several Strauss songs with the author as an accompanist.

• In honor of the heroine of the opera Richard Strauss "Ariadne on Naxos" Zerbinetta named an asteroid (693) Zorbinetta .
• In honor of the heroine of the opera Richard Strauss "Arabella" named asteroid (841) Arabella .

Richard Strauss is depicted on an Austrian 1989 postage stamp.

• Solovyov N.F. , -. Strauss, Richard // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Dubal, David. "The Essential Canon of Classical Music," North Point Press, 2003. ISBN 0-86547-664-0
• Del Mar, Norman (1962). Richard Strauss. London: Barrie & Jenkins . ISBN 0-214-15735-0 .
• Gilliam, Bryan (1999). The Life of Richard Strauss. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press . ISBN 0-521-57895-7 .
• Gilliam, Bryan. "Richard Strauss," Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed August 19, 2005), (subscription access) (This article is very different from the 1980 edition of the Grove Dictionary; in particular, a more detailed analysis of Strauss's behavior during the Nazi period.)
• Kennedy, Michael. Richard Strauss, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , ed. Stanley Sadie 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
• Kennedy, Michael (1999). Richard Strauss: Man, Musician, Enigma. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-58173-7 .
• Osborne, Charles (1991). The Complete Operas of Richard Strauss. New York City: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80459-X .
• Wilhelm, Kurt (1989). Richard Strauss: An Intimate Portrait. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-01459-0 .

• Biography of Richard Strauss on the site Classical music.ru
• Strauss. Complete libretto of operas in Russian