Richard Strauss

Strauss, Richard 

Born June 11, 1864, in Munich; died Sept. 8, 1949, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. German composer and conductor.

The son of a horn player, Strauss studied piano and violin as a child. He studied music theory and orchestration under F. W. Meyer. Strauss achieved an international reputation as a conductor, above all for performances of his own works. He regularly toured various countries, traveling to Russia for the first time in 1896. He was the principal conductor of the Royal Opera in Berlin from 1898 to 1918 and of the Vienna State Opera from 1919 to 1924. After the fascists came to power, Strauss was appointed president of the Reichsmusikkammer (State Music Council), but he was removed from the post in 1935.

Strauss’ most important compositions are his program symphonies, symphonic poems, and operas. His symphonic poems, which continue the traditions of the program symphony established by H. Berlioz and F. Liszt and of the orchestral style of R. Wagner, often take their plots and subject matter from classical literature, as in Macbeth (1886), Don Juan (1888), Till Eulen-Spiegel’s Merry Pranks (1895), and Don Quixote (1897), and from ancient legends. Several of Strauss’ works were influenced by F. Nietzsche’s philosophy, notably the tone poems Death and Transfiguration (1889) and Thus Spake Zarathustra (1896).

In his first works for the stage, the operas Guntram (1894; years here and below refer to production) and Feuersnot (1901), Strauss was influenced by Wagner; he subsequently developed his own style, which reflected elements of expressionism and neo-classicism. In his operas he drew on a variety of traditions: Salome (1905), Elektra (1908), and Ariadne aufNaxos (1912) are in the tradition of the mythologically oriented opera seria; Der Rosenkavalier (1911) recalls the old comic opera; and Die ägyptische Helena (1928) and Die Lieb der Danae (1952) are based on subject matter from ancient history and mythology.

At their finest, Strauss’ scores are characterized by deep psychological insight, a heightened expressiveness, dramatic tension, and the subtle transmission of states of mind ranging from a profound sense of tragedy and philosophic concentration to joyful humor. Strauss’ music is noted for its elegance, its beautiful melodies, its bold and rich harmonies, and its magnificent and colorful orchestration; at the same time, elements of naturalism appear in such works as Sinfonía domestica (1903), and certain works exhibit an exaggerated expressiveness and an attempt to create musical “pictures.”

In his final period Strauss turned away from large orchestras and strove for a transparent orchestration, a more subtle and simple musical idiom, and a laconic means of expression in such works as the opera Capriccio (1941); Metamorphosen (1946), for 23 solo strings; and Three Songs for Voice and Orchestra (1948).

Strauss, who greatly influenced 20th-century European music, contributed to the development of program music and of the opera and enriched the expressive possibilities of the orchestra. His finest works are marked by a humanist spirit, a love of life, and an affirmation of the ideals of beauty. Strauss was awarded honorary doctorates by the universities of Heidelberg and Munich in 1902 and was elected a member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin in 1909.

REFERENCES

Sollertinskii, I. Simfonicheskiepoemy Rikharda Shtrausa. Leningrad, 1934.
Rolland, R. “Rikhard Shtrauss.” Sobr. soch., vol. 16. Leningrad, 1935. (Translated from French.)
Krause, E. Rikhard Shtraus: Obraz i tvorchestvo. Moscow, 1961. (Translated from German.)
Ordzhonikidze, G. “R. Shtraus.” In Muzyka XX veka, part 1 (1890–1917), book 2. Moscow, 1977.
Trenner, F. Richard Strauss: Dokumente seines Lebens und Schaffens. Munich, 1954.

M. M. IAKOVLEV