Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

Composer of the Week

Donald Macleod explores key figures in Richard Strauss’s life

This week, Donald Macleod explores key figures in the life of Richard Strauss, including his librettist, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, his “domineering and difficult, yet devoted” wife, the soprano Pauline de Ahna, his “frenemy” Gustav Mahler as well as Strauss’s uncomfortably close relationship with the High Command of the Third Reich. Donald also examines the larger-than-life characters that populated the world of the composer’s imagination.

Music Featured:

Der Rosenkavalier, Op 59 (Act 1, Introduction) Le bourgeois gentilhomme, suite for orchestra, Op 60 (1. Overture) Elektra, Op 58 (Scene 6, ‘Was willst du, fremder Mensch?’) Arabella, Op 79 (Act 2, love duet “Sie sehn nicht aus wie jemand, den das alles da interessiert.”) Der Rosenkavalier, Op 59 (Act 3, Finale) Guntram, Op 25 (Act 2, Overture) Morgen (Tomorrow), Op 27 No 4 Ein Heldenleben, Op 40 (No 3, Das Helden Gefährtin) Intermezzo, Op 72 (Act I, Sc 1 “Anna, Anna! Wo bleibt denn nur die dumme Gans?”) Symphonia Domestica, Op 53 (2b, Wiegenlied; 3, Adagio) Four Last Songs, Op posth (No 4, Im Abendrot) Salome, Op 54 (“Wie schön ist die Prinzessin Salome heute nacht!”) Symphony No 2 in F minor, Op 12 (2nd mvt, Scherzo) Also sprach Zarathustra, Op 30 (8, The Dance Song; 9. Song of the Night Wanderer) An Alpine Symphony, Op 64 (13, On the Summit; 14, Vision; 15, Mists Rise) Salome, Op 54 (Sc 4, “Ah! Du wolltest mich deinen Mund nicht küssen lassen, Jochanaan!”) Das Bächlein (The Little Brook), Op 88 No 1 Die schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman), Op 80 (Act 1, “Ha!” “Was ist?” “Mir fällt etwas ein!”) Friedenstag (Peace Day), Op 81 (extract) Metamorphosen, study for 23 solo strings, TrV 290 Le bourgeois gentilhomme, Op 60 (3. The Fencing Master) Ariadne auf Naxos, Op 60 – Prologue (conclusion) Don Juan, Op 20 Daphne, Op 82 (Transformation scene, ‘Ich komme, ich komme’) Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op 28

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Chris Barstow for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Richard Strauss (1864-1949) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0020hsy

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z