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The eminent German composer-conductor Richard
Strauss, b. Munich, June 11, 1864, d. Sept. 8, 1949, is best
known for his operas and tone poems. His father was Franz
Strauss, Germany's leading horn player. Young Strauss was
playing the piano by the age of 4, composing by age 6, and
studying theory and composition by age 11. He made his conducting
debut without rehearsal in Munich in 1884, which led to his
first appointment as Hans von Bulow's assistant with the Meiningen
Court Orchestra. After a month, Bulow left him in charge.
In 1886, Strauss became third conductor at the Munich Opera
and a musical assistant for the 1889 and 1891 Bayreuth Festivals.
A second conductorship at Weimar enabled him to astonish the
world with the performance of his tone poem Don Juan (1888).
His first (thoroughly Wagnerian) opera, Guntram, was performed
at Weimar in 1894 when, after a tantrum by the leading soprano,
Pauline de Ahna, Strauss announced their engagement to marry.
That autumn he became court conductor of the Munich Opera.
His wife encouraged his work at composing, and he wrote the
tone poems Till Eulenspiegel (1895), Thus Spake Zarathustra
(1896), Don Quixote (1897), and A Hero's Life (1898).
From 1900, Strauss concentrated on operas. The cynical Feuersnot
of 1901 was followed by the more advanced Salome (1905) and
the powerful Elektra (1909). The crowning glory, Der Rosenkavalier
(1911), brought fortunes to both Strauss and his librettist,
the Austrian poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Ariadne auf Naxos
(1912) followed, then a cumbersome ballet for Serge Diaghilev,
Josephlegende (The Legend of Joseph, 1914), performed in Paris
and London on the eve of World War I.
Intending to devote the rest of his life to composition, Strauss,
at the age of 50, was entirely thwarted by the loss of his
fortune, invested in London. Then began a decline with the
superficial Alpine Symphony (1915) and the complex, though
beautiful, Frau ohne Schatten (Woman without a Shadow, 1919).
He was a founder of the Salzburg Festivals in 1917 with Hofmannsthal
and Max Reinhardt. He then became codirector of the Vienna
Opera.
Strauss sought a change from Hofmannsthal by writing his own
libretto for Intermezzo (1924), an opera based on personal
experience. The partnership with Hofmannsthal resumed with
Die aegyptische Helena (The Egyptian Helen, 1928) and Arabella,
just completed by Hofmannsthal before he suddenly died, in
1929. Strauss then set Die schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman)
to a libretto by Stefan Zweig, banned (1935) by the Nazis
after two performances because Zweig was Jewish. Strauss became
unwontedly involved in political conflict and was expelled
as head of the Reichsmusikkammer; his music was banned for
a year. Because his daughter-in-law and grandsons were of
Jewish ancestry, Strauss was forced to make a deal with the
Nazis for their protection but was denied visits to Switzerland
for his own health. After the war, Strauss was politically
rehabilitated in London with a festival organized by Sir Thomas
Beecham. His later compositions mark a return to inspiration
and sweetness: the opera Capriccio (1942), the threnody for
strings Metamorphosen (1945), the Oboe Concerto (1945), and
Four Last Songs (1948).
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