San Antonio College Library

Richard Strauss had an important part in the development of German Lieder, not only as the composer of such masterpieces as Ständchen, Morgen, and Die heiligen drei Könige aus Morgenland but also because of his affinity with the orchestra as accompanying instrument. To purists who contend that he was not strictly a Lieder composer because true Lieder are always written only for voice and piano, Alan Jefferson replies that it was precisely in the...

The contributions to this handbook bring together a full-length study of Elektra in English. The volume examines the many facets of one of Richard Strauss's most complex operas. First, P.E. Easterling surveys the mythological background, while Karen Forsyth discusses Hofmannsthal's adaptation of his sources. The second part brings the music to the fore. Derrick Puffett offers an introductory essay and synopsis; Arnold Whittall considers the tonal...

Operas discussed: Ariadne auf Naxos, die Frau ohne Schatten, Intermezzo, Arabella, Der Rosenkavalier.

Kennedy deals fully with Strauss's life as leading composer and national figure in the Third Reich, during which he was both feted and cold-shouldered by the authorities. In putting this period into perspective he draws heavily on hitherto ignored material, including Strauss's own letters and diaries. In addition he reveals much about Strauss's long, happy but tempestuous marriage to the soprano Pauline de Ahna as well as tracing the important relationships...

The Alpine Symphony is one of Strauss' largest non-operatic conceptions, and the composer considered it his best work in terms of its orchestration. Despite its title, it is not a symphony in the generally accepted sense of the word. It is a 'tone poem', a musical form which Strauss specialized in for 20 years of his life. German author and Strauss specialist Habakuk Traber explains the work's concept as an allegory for human life with its joy, fear...

Strongly influencing European musical life from the 1880s through the First World War and remaining highly productive into the 1940s, Richard Strauss enjoyed a remarkable career in a constantly changing artistic and political climate. This volume presents six original essays on Strauss's musical works--including tone poems, lieder, and operas--and brings together letters, memoirs, and criticism from various periods of the composer's life. Many of...

"George Marek's is the first full-scale biography of Richard Strauss--composer of Der Rosenkavalier, Salome, Till Eulenspiegel, Death and Transfiguration and other operatic and symphonic masterpieces--to examine with courage and candor the man behind the music. Strauss composed a self-portrait in Ein Heldenleben ('A hero's life'), but Mr. Marek finds the life anything but heroic. Strauss composed a Domestic Symphony full of sentiment, but Frau Strauss...