Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
1. Life and Creation
Richard Strauss is The last great composer of the late German Romantic period, he was also the largest composer in the field of symphonic poetry and title music. He was born in Munich in 1864. His father was a horn player in the court orchestra. He initially studied strictly Classical music by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, but later appreciated the new music of Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner, thus turning completely to title music. As can be seen from his catalog, in addition to the symphonies he wrote in his youth In addition to untitled music such as and chamber music, most of them are symphonic poems, opera works and other vocal music as titled music.
A large number of symphonic poems were created before 1900. In terms of content, his symphonic poems can be divided into two categories: philosophical symphonic poems and narrative symphonic poems. The former is characterized by "Death and Purification" (Tod und Verkl?rung) and "Zarathustra" based on Nietzsche's works. "Also sprach Zarathustra" is the most famous, and the latter is most famous for "Don Juan" and "Don Quixote".
After 1900, he focused his main creative energy on opera. The first two operas, "Guntram" and "Feuersnot", have obvious influences of Wagner and have not yet formed their own style. The third opera "Salome" caused controversy due to its appalling storyline, but it still achieved great success. When the German emperor met with Strauss, he said to him: Creating such an opera is very important. He had no benefit, Strauss replied: at least he bought a country house with the proceeds from writing the opera. The fourth opera, Elektra, was musically appalling and again caused controversy. The music of the fifth opera "Der Rosenkavalier" is beautiful and moving, but it caused a lot of controversy in the field of music criticism. Some critics said that Strauss got rid of his prank style and returned to normal music; Critics accused Strauss of having exhausted his talents and could only rely on beautiful melodies to attract audiences, completely losing his previous innovative spirit. In subsequent opera creations, Strauss continued the successful experience of "Der Rosenkavalier". Later, Richard Strauss created several operas that used ancient Greek mythological themes to express the emotions of modern people in the 20th century, including "Ariadne auf Naxos" (Ariadne auf Naxos) and "Helen of Egypt" (Die ?gyptische Helena), "Daphne" (Daphne), "Die Liebe der Danae" (Die Liebe der Danae) and the last opera, "Capriccio" (1942).
Transformation was composed for 23 solo string instruments from 1944 to 1945. According to Richard Strauss after the war, he was inspired by the war damage to opera houses across Germany. Especially after learning that Goethe's former residence in Weimar and the Dresden State Opera were destroyed by the war (the latter was destroyed by the bombing of Dresden), I became mentally disturbed for a while, and I was inspired to write by recalling that period afterwards. From 1947 to 1948, he wrote his final masterpiece, "The Last Four Songs" for soprano and orchestra.
2. Conductor
While going down in history as a composer, Richard Strauss also enjoys a huge reputation as a conductor. He has served as conductor at the Royal Opera House in Berlin and in Vienna. Conductor and musical director of the Opera House. In 1920, he founded the Salzburg Music Festival together with Max Reinhardt, Hofmannsthal and others.
3.Main works
Symphonic poems:
Macbeth (1888/90)
Don Juan (1889)
Death and Purification Tod und Verkl?rung (1891)
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (1895)
Thus Spoke Zarathustra Also sprach Zarathustra (1896)
Don Quixote (1898)
The Hero's Life Ein Heldenleben (1899)
Symphonia domestica ( 1904)
Eine Alpensinfonie (1915)
Other orchestral works:
Burlesque in D minor, piano and orchestra (1890)
Two Piano Concertos
Japanese Festival Music
Two French Horn Concertos
Concerto for oboe and small orchestra in D major (1945)
Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon
Festival music, military music, suites
Film score of "Der Rosenkavalier" (1925)
< p>Opera:Guntram (1894)
Feuersnot (1901)
Salome (1905)
Elektra (1909)
Der Rosenkavalier (1911)
Ariadne auf Naxos (1912/16) < /p>
The Woman Without a Shadow Die Frau ohne Schatten (1919)
Intermezzo (1924)
The Helen of Egypt Die ?gyptische Helena (1933)
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Arabella (1933)
The Silent Woman Die schweigsame Frau (1935)
Day of Peace Friedenstag (1938)
Daphne Daphne (1938)
Die Liebe der Danae (1940)
Premiere Uraufführung (1952)
Capriccio (1942)
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