Lifting the curtain on the 20th century: the metamorphoses of Richard Strauss An entertainment in four acts (original) (raw)
Opera Journal 47, no. 3 (September 2014)
, asks: "Which is greater, poetry or music?" During the opera's climactic Scene IX, five principal characters philosophically muse on this question. Here, something curious occurs: Strauss quotes himself, inserting a theme into the opera that was previously heard in his song cycle Krämerspiegel, Op. 66 (1918). In Scene XIII, Strauss again implements a variation of the Krämerspiegel theme, thus recalling the opera's central question. This article explores the use of the Krämerspiegel theme and its variation in Capriccio. After brief introductions to both the opera and the song cycle, the use of theme is analyzed within the context of both works. Related on both structural and dramatic levels, Capriccio and Krämerspiegel complement each other, and a study of Krämerspiegel deepens one's understanding of Strauss's aesthetic ambitions behind Capriccio.
Journal of Musicological Research, vol. 31, no. 1, 2012
Strauss's Don Quixote, fantastische Variationen über ein Thema ritterlichen Charakters, op. 35, remains one of his most misunderstood tone poems. Insights into this enigmatic work can, however, be gained by situating it both within Strauss's modernist aesthetic and his compositional path as evidenced by his tone poems as a whole. This interpretation of Don Quixote considers it not as a sympathetic portrayal of Cervantes's hero, but rather as an indictment of the German Romantic tradition and a manifesto for Strauss's compositional future, in which he abandons the teleological compositional philosophy of other musical modernists in favor of his own stylistically eclectic brand of antimetaphysical musical modernism.
Richard Strauss dietro la maschera. Gli ultimi anni (Torino, EDT 2015)
A vivid portrayal of Richard Strauss, covering philosophy, literature, art and history, which emerges from the analysis of Strauss’s stage productions in his last years. This volume offers an extensive re-reading of Strauss’s life and of his latest, more difficult works, harshly criticized for both his style – which during the tragic context of World War II became progressively more and more rarefied and abstract – as well as for Strauss’s more or less direct involvement with the Nazi regime. Usually considered as detached from historical events, and viewed as an example of personal reticence (or even indifference), Strauss’s latest works actually reveal a thorough portrait of Richard Strauss and of his complex and sometimes obscure vision of the world. The present work focuses on the function of myth, cardinal for Strauss’ s worldview, and tracks its connections to the works of many different authors, from Hugo von Hofmannsthal to Joseph Gregor. The volume is the result of over a decade of research carried out on original, unpublished documents, mostly in the Strauss Archive in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where the composer lived the last years of his life.
A Musical Overview of Strauss's Krämerspiegel, op. 66
Journal of Singing 71, no. 3 (January/February 2015)
This article is the second of a three-part series devoted to Strauss's Krämer spiegel, Op. 66 in honor of the 150th birthday of Richard Strausss (1864-1949).] Song I: "Es war einmal ein Bock" 1 Es war einmal ein Bock, ein Bock, der frass an einem Blumenstock, der Bock. Musik, du lichte Blumenzier, wie schmazt der Bock voll Schmausegier! Er möchte gar vermessen die Blüten alle, alle fressen. Du liebe Blüte wehre dich, Du Bock und Gierschlung schere dich! There once was a ram, a buck, which fed upon a flowering potted plant, the buck. Music, you light-flower adornment, How smacks the lips of the buck, full of gluttony! He would even like to survey the blossoms all, all to devour. Dear blossom defend yourself, you buck and greedy gulper shear yourself!
A hero's work of peace: Richard Strauss's Friedenstag
2015
Richard Strauss's one-act opera Friedenstag (Day of Peace) has received staunch criticism regarding its overt militaristic content and compositional merits. The opera is one of several works that Strauss composed between 1933 and 1945, when the National Socialists were in power in Germany. Owing to Strauss's formal involvement with the Third Reich, his artistic and political activities during this period have invited much scrutiny. The context of the opera's premiere in 1938, just as Germany's aggressive stance in Europe intensified, has encouraged a range of assessments regarding its preoccupation with war and peace. The opera's defenders read its dramatic and musical components via lenses of pacifism and resistance to Nazi ideology. Others simply dismiss the opera as platitudinous. Eschewing a strict political stance as an interpretive guide, this thesis instead explores the means by which Strauss pursued more ambiguous and multidimensional levels of meaning in the opera. Specifically, I highlight the ways he infused the dramaturgical and musical landscapes of Friedenstag with burlesque elements. These malleable instances of irony open the opera up to a variety of fresh and fascinating interpretations, illustrating how Friedenstag remains a lynchpin for judiciously appraising Strauss's artistic and political legacy. In this thesis, attention is paid to the troubled period of the opera's genesis, from Strauss's initial collaboration with author Stefan Zweig to its eventual completion with Joseph Gregor in 1936. Close study of the score reveals how Strauss, despite his struggles with the libretto, carefully integrated music and politics into a complex artwork that eludes the epithets of "Nazi" and "pacifist" in favor of a more nuanced understanding. A century and a half after Strauss's birth, Friedenstag continues to shed light on the precarious world that he and other German artists navigated on the eve of World War II. iii For Robert Prendergast, grandfather and tenor, and Andrew Patner, critic, boss and friend Kinderman, my second reader, whose "Music and Politics" seminar first set this investigation in motion. Their advocacy and friendship during my time at the University of Illinois has been both an honor and a joy. I offer my gratitude as well to my fellow graduate students in musicology who graciously listened and offered invaluable suggestions for my presentation at the American Musicological Society Midwest Chapter meeting in Fall 2014, from which this present thesis is developed. Thanks are also due to Karen Quisenberry and Terri Ciofalo, who first admitted me to the University of Illinois as a MFA candidate in stage management and graciously supported my transfer to the School of Music. I am also beholden to my theatre professors at Ball State University, especially Jennifer Blackmer, Tyler Smith, Karen Kessler, Michael Daehn, Christy Weikel and the late Jennifer Landreth, whose standards, examples and guidance remain invaluable lodestars. My thanks and love to my parents Michael and Kathleen who have unerringly aided and supported my musical and theatrical pursuits, and my deepest love and gratitude to my partner Robert Ramirez, without whom none of these words would have been possible. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface: The Legacy of a "Non-Hero" …..……………………………………… Chapter One: The Birth of an Opera …………………………………………….
The Structural and Dramatic Role of the Piano in Strauss's Krämerspiegel, op. 66
Journal of Singing 71, no. 4 (March/April 2015)
This article is the third of a three-part series devoted to Strauss's Krämerspiegel, Op. 66 in honor of the 150th birthday of Richard Strauss (1864-1949).] *All final measures were counted as whole measures. Only interludes of one measure or more were counted. The numbers in parentheses denote "overlapping": the prelude, interlude, or postlude has started while a voice is still fading out.