June 10, 2019.Richard Strauss.Last week we wrote about George Szell, the famous German conductor.This week we celebrate the birthday of his friend and mentor, the German composer Richard Strauss.Strauss was born on June 11th of 1864 in Munich. Strauss lived a long live and was productive for an extraordinary long time, more than 70 years: his earliest “serious” compositions date from 1877 (just to put it into perspective, Brahms’s Fourth Symphony was premiered in 1884); his Four Last Songs were composed in 1948, when Strauss was 84; by then, Stravinsky and Schoenberg were part of the musical mainstream.Strauss’s father was a virtuoso horn player, the principal horn at the Munich Hofoper; his mother, née Pschorr was from the family of famous Bavarian brewers (Hacker-Pschorr, which belongs for the Pschorr family, is known worldwide for its Oktoberfest beer). Strauss’s father, conservative in his musical tastes, didn’t like either Wagner or Brahms and didn’t want his son, who was completely taken by Lohengrin and Tannhäuser after hearing them at the very opera house where his father was working, to study Wagner scores.That didn’t prevent Wagner’s music from becoming a major influence in Strauss’s life.
Another influence was the famous pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow (Bülow, a student of Liszt, was a major proponent of the music of Wagner and Brahms; he married Liszt’s daughter Cosima, who later left him for Wagner).Bülow met Strauss, then 19, in 1883 in Berlin; Bülow was then the conductor of the Meiningen Court Orchestra, which under his direction became one of the best orchestras in Europe.Eventually Bülow brought Strauss to Meiningen as his assistant; he also premiered some of the young composer’s music.During that period Strauss wrote several “tone poems,” which became very popular, especially Don Juan, composed in 1888, and Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration), written a year later.Here’s Death and Transfiguration, performed by the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra under the direction of David Zinman.
In 1894 Strauss was appointed Kapellmeister in Munich, a very significant position. Soon after, feeling more confident in his future, he proposed to the soprano the Pauline de Ahna; they married later that year.His popularity growing, Strauss was receiving invitations from major musical venues: from Bayreuth to conduct Tannhäuser, the opera which affected him so much in his youth to; Berlin to conduct the Philharmonic orchestra; and from many European countries.In 1898 he was offered a conducting position at the Berlin Hofoper (now, The Berlin State Opera), the most important opera house in Germany, and he left for Berlin.In his first season there he conducted 25 operas, including the complete Ring cycle.In Berlin his activities extended well beyond conducting and composing: Strauss helped establish the society protecting the copyrights of German composers; he was elected President of Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein, the German music association; he also took over the orchestra of the Tonkünstlerverband, another German professional music organization and toured with it in Europe.Very much like Mahler, he was too busy to compose during the musical seasons and did it mostly during the summers.Mahler found refuge in several spots in Austria: from 1893 to 1896 in Steinbach on the Atter See in Upper Austria, then, briefly in Bad Aussee, from 1901 to 1907 in Maiernigg on the Worther See in Carinthia, and for the last three summers of his life – in Toblach in Tyrol. Strauss’s life was more organized: from 1890 to 1908 he spent every summer in a mountain villa of Pauline's parents in Marquartstein, Bavaria.This is where he turned to opera, opening another chapter of his creative life.
Richard Strauss, 2019
June 10, 2019. Richard Strauss. Last week we wrote about George Szell, the famous German conductor. This week we celebrate the birthday of his friend and mentor, the German composer
Richard Strauss. Strauss was born on June 11th of 1864 in Munich. Strauss lived a long live and was productive for an extraordinary long time, more than 70 years: his earliest “serious” compositions date from 1877 (just to put it into perspective, Brahms’s Fourth Symphony was premiered in 1884); his Four Last Songs were composed in 1948, when Strauss was 84; by then, Stravinsky and Schoenberg were part of the musical mainstream. Strauss’s father was a virtuoso horn player, the principal horn at the Munich Hofoper; his mother, née Pschorr was from the family of famous Bavarian brewers (Hacker-Pschorr, which belongs for the Pschorr family, is known worldwide for its Oktoberfest beer). Strauss’s father, conservative in his musical tastes, didn’t like either Wagner or Brahms and didn’t want his son, who was completely taken by Lohengrin and Tannhäuser after hearing them at the very opera house where his father was working, to study Wagner scores. That didn’t prevent Wagner’s music from becoming a major influence in Strauss’s life.
Another influence was the famous pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow (Bülow, a student of Liszt, was a major proponent of the music of Wagner and Brahms; he married Liszt’s daughter Cosima, who later left him for Wagner). Bülow met Strauss, then 19, in 1883 in Berlin; Bülow was then the conductor of the Meiningen Court Orchestra, which under his direction became one of the best orchestras in Europe. Eventually Bülow brought Strauss to Meiningen as his assistant; he also premiered some of the young composer’s music. During that period Strauss wrote several “tone poems,” which became very popular, especially Don Juan, composed in 1888, and Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration), written a year later. Here’s Death and Transfiguration, performed by the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra under the direction of David Zinman.
In 1894 Strauss was appointed Kapellmeister in Munich, a very significant position. Soon after, feeling more confident in his future, he proposed to the soprano the Pauline de Ahna; they married later that year. His popularity growing, Strauss was receiving invitations from major musical venues: from Bayreuth to conduct Tannhäuser, the opera which affected him so much in his youth to; Berlin to conduct the Philharmonic orchestra; and from many European countries. In 1898 he was offered a conducting position at the Berlin Hofoper (now, The Berlin State Opera), the most important opera house in Germany, and he left for Berlin. In his first season there he conducted 25 operas, including the complete Ring cycle. In Berlin his activities extended well beyond conducting and composing: Strauss helped establish the society protecting the copyrights of German composers; he was elected President of Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein, the German music association; he also took over the orchestra of the Tonkünstlerverband, another German professional music organization and toured with it in Europe. Very much like Mahler, he was too busy to compose during the musical seasons and did it mostly during the summers. Mahler found refuge in several spots in Austria: from 1893 to 1896 in Steinbach on the Atter See in Upper Austria, then, briefly in Bad Aussee, from 1901 to 1907 in Maiernigg on the Worther See in Carinthia, and for the last three summers of his life – in Toblach in Tyrol. Strauss’s life was more organized: from 1890 to 1908 he spent every summer in a mountain villa of Pauline's parents in Marquartstein, Bavaria. This is where he turned to opera, opening another chapter of his creative life.