Richard Strauss is a composer whose operas and musical poems conquered with emotional revelation. Expressionism (expression) of his works is an acute reaction to the society of that time.
Richard Strauss. Composer Biography
The homeland of Richard no longer exists. In 1864, Munich was a city of the independent Kingdom of Bavaria, then merged into Germanic lands. On June 11, a son was born in the family of court musician Frans Strauss. My father served in the opera as a horn player (a wind instrument vaguely reminiscent of a spiral pipe). It was he who was the first music teacher of Richard. Classes brought genuine joy to both, this led to the fact that at 6 years old the boy owned musical notation and instrument. In addition, he independently composed the first opera and did not stop writing until his death.
The science of his father seemed too conservative to the young man; he was looking for another expression in music. In 1874, Richard Strauss first became acquainted with Wagner's work, he was endlessly captivated by the style and mood of operas. But the father sincerely considers these works as inferior music and forbids his son to even listen to them. Only reaching adulthood, Richard begins a deep study of the score of "Tristan and Isolde." Meanwhile, he attends rehearsals of the Court Orchestra and receives lessons in orchestration and theory.
Composer style
Strauss's music is a search for his famous style, which took Richard a few years. In 1882 he entered the Institute of Philosophy and History in Munich, but left after a year of study. But it was there that he met Max Schillings. Two young people become such close friends that Strauss easily convinces a friend to take his favorite profession seriously. Thanks to this, Germany receives a brilliant conductor and composer of theatrical productions, as well as a teacher and author of the opera Mona Lisa.
Richard Strauss himself goes to Berlin. There he receives the post of conductor and continues to write compositions in the conservative style of his father. A good example is his “Concert for French Horn No. 1”. After 1883, the young Strauss met with Alexander Ritter. Wagner’s distant relative convinces the young man that his true music cannot be someone else’s repetition, that symphonic poems are the right way for the composer to work. From this moment, there is a steady formation of the light and bright style of Strauss.
Personal life
Great influence on the fate and work of Richard Strauss had his happy marriage to Pauline Maria de Ane. They met in 1887 in Munich. Paulina was just beginning her solo career as an opera singer and took lessons from the composer. As a protege followed him to Weimar. She made a brilliant debut in 1890, in 1894 she played the role in the opera of her teacher “Guntram”. The wedding of the young took place on September 10 in the city of Marquartstein.
Richter endured the willful character of his young wife steadily, justifying him with the property of a talented personality. According to some of his statements, which have survived to this day, after a fierce quarrel with Paulina he is visited by a particularly active Muse of inspiration. Indeed, it was during the marriage that Richard Strauss created his best works. For his wife, he wrote several songs, after the performance of which the singer's popularity increased.
The happy life of a couple in love ended because of a ridiculous mistake. Once a wife was given a note for her husband when he toured Germany from an unknown woman. The next day, Paulina filed for divorce. Returning home, Richard tried to explain to the emotional actress that he was not guilty of anything, but she did not want to listen to him. Until the end of his days, the composer had romantic feelings for his ex-wife, wrote music for her more than once, and never met anyone else.
Creativity Strauss
Composer Richard Strauss tried not to succumb to the “political storms” in the country, but as a true creator he absorbed the mood of his people. He lived for more than 80 years and found three different government regimes. The uniqueness of the composer is in its amazing performance. He could write music always and everywhere, without experiencing creative “stagnation” or crises. His first work “Guntram”, created in 1893, is a musical drama, built classically for the first test for the viewer.
Further work of the composer has such a variety of genres that gives the impression of the work of various authors. “From Italy” (1886, Richard Strauss) is a symphonic poem written on the impressions of a journey. At the age of 21, the young composer visits a romantic country for a month and is so full of exciting emotions that he spills them out on musical paper. The viewer has a mixed attitude towards the symphony, but they begin to talk about the composer and remember his name.
Don Giovanni (1889)
At age 25, Strauss attains mature mastery and conquers the musical world with this strong, vibrant poem. Here you can feel the influence of the Italian sun and falling in love with your student de Anu. Dedicated to the poem by Ludwig Thuille, with whom he studied in Munich. The premiere took place on November 11, passed flawlessly and was a tremendous success.
Don Giovanni is a musical story about a rampant lover. The theme of swift violins, hungry for pleasure, precedes in an enchanting intro, like a firework. Bells and harp tell about the magic of love and tenderness for a woman. The low sounds of the warton and clarinet speak in a gentle whisper with the delicate sound of violins. The bells in conjunction with the trumpet fill the soul with endless fun. The culmination of the play is the tremolo of violins, and the lover is again devastated and lonely.
Macbeth (1888–1890)
After Don Juan, Richard Strauss writes the opera Macbeth. This symphony did not create much furore and is considered by critics to be oversaturated. The composer's father gives this work a sharp assessment and asks in his letters to finalize the material. According to him, the idea is not bad, but it is worth throwing out all the instrumental excesses. It is busting that prevents the viewer from understanding the author and hearing what he wanted to say.
But still, many find in her a close mood to their state of mind. Shakespeare's reflection, tragedy, and the seal of crime are achievable concepts of willpower. This work is about careerism and thirst for profit by people who will not stop even before the crime.
“Death and Enlightenment” (1888–1889)
This opera by Richard Strauss is a subtle perception of the laws of the world and human weakness. It was written at the turn of the government system and reflects the fear of modern society before changes and the uncertainty of the future. The idea of poverty and death in Richard's poem is striking in its intelligence.
Compared to other works of the author, this symphony loses in strength, illustrativeness and pressure. But as a separate work is a highly artistic interesting opera. The whole point is the absence of spiritual comfort before an inevitable and terrible end for a person who highly values his existence.
"Funny tricks" (1895)
"Til Uhlenshpiegel's Fun Tricks," Strauss dedicated to his friend Arthur Seidl. They studied at a university in Munich and agreed on a love of Wagner's work. Seidl was once considered a specialist in the work and biography of the composer, whom Richard had imitated all his life. Subsequently, Arthur worked as an editor of central German newspapers and with V. Klatte wrote a book about his friend. “Characteristic Essay” is the first biography and analysis of the musical activity of R. Strauss.
The poem debuted in Cologne, it was performed by the Herzenich Orchestra, conducted by F. Wültern. The duration of the work is only 15 minutes, but critics consider this the pinnacle of the author’s talent. In his review, M. Kennedy calls her "witty." The play consists of 27 episodes that lay out the work on the plot of the adventures of the legendary hero Ulenspiegel from birth to death.
“So said Zarathustra” (1896)
The composer's friend Arthur Seidl again took part in the creation of this poem. By the nature of his activity, he was an employee of the Nietzsche Archive from 1898 to 1999. It was he who gave Richard the book of the famous thinker "So said Zarathustra." Impressed by Strauss, he writes a magnificent symphonic poem. 9 fragments have names from chapters of the book. The author himself conducts his first performance in Frankfurt.
Critics are delighted with a vivid example of German romanticism, in which a certain “boring” collaborates with frantic despotism. Music is often used in the modern world and cinematography. For example, in the “What? Where? When?" and in the movie Space Odyssey. Director S. Kubrick took fragments of the symphony “So said Zarathustra” (Strauss) to represent the unearthly development of the universe.
Salome (1905)
The drama of Richard is based on the work of Oscar Wilde, which the writer wrote for Sarah Bernhardt. The premiere was marked by such a scandal in Berlin that it can be mistaken for the unprecedented success of the play. Erotica and sensitivity, emotional East, the immoral image of Salome in contrast to the purity of the Baptist - these are inspiring illustrativeness for such a composer as Richard Strauss. "Salome" was written a year and a half. In the process, the character of the main character corresponded. Instead of a flat and straight monster gripped by animal desire, a fragile girl appeared, who was embraced by tragic passion.
In puritanical Germany, opera sparked controversy from critics. Even the singers refused to play roles in the play, calling it immoral. The first actress, who was offered the role of Salome, angrily answered Richard: "I am a decent woman!" But still, it was this singer M. Wittich who took the liberty of the first performance.
Alpine (1915)
The last symphonic poem by a German composer. Even in his early youth, Richard was worried about the idea of creating music that sounds like climbing mountains. Three times he began the work, but each time the music sheets went to melt the fireplace. Only in 1914, after the opera Woman Without a Shadow, the author again took up the development of this idea.
The premiere took place on February 18 in Berlin, conducted by the author. The Alpine Symphony is one of the most popular things of our time. This is program music, broken by sense into 22 parts. The last significant concert of Richard is considered to be precisely this poem performed by the Bavarian State Orchestra in 1941.
Composer's songs
Over the course of his life, the author has written many soprano songs that his beloved woman sang. In 1948 the Four Last Songs was created. At concerts, this piece is sung at the end. Richard Strauss, whose songs were always filled with a thirst for life and positive, wrote in his last essay about the tiredness and foreboding of death. Waiting for the end sounds calm, with the confidence of a person who has actively lived his life.
“In the evening light” - the first song speaks of peace of mind, written on the poems of I. Eichendorf. Next are Spring and Falling Asleep. The final "September" - a stunning penetration of the autumn mood and light rain. These works are poems by G. Hesse. All compositions are a unique combination of music and text. The atmosphere and style are so strong that critics, recognizing the songs as somewhat outdated even for 48 years old, and now perceive them as the author’s strongest creation.
Author and conductor
In addition to the above-mentioned symphonic operas, Richard wrote The Home Symphony and Don Quixote, The Life of a Hero and the suite The Tradesman in the Nobility, as well as several other successful and not-so-great works. In addition to composition, Strauss is the conductor of his music and the work of other composers. His repertoire includes operas and symphonies of authors of the 18-20 centuries.
Richard Strauss - the last romantic of his time - characterized his work with humor and simplicity:
“Maybe I'm not a top-notch composer, but I'm a first-class second-class composer!”