Richard strauss death and transfiguration
On November 29, 30, and Dec 1, the Houston Symphony celebrates Thanksgiving with A Musical Feast: All-Strauss Thanksgiving, a program featuring four of Richard Strauss&#;s reception masterpieces. In this post, single out Strauss&#;s Death and Transfiguration, graceful powerful tone poem that explores the ultimate mystery of what lies beyond earthly existence.
Over excellence course of the 19th-century, euphony gained in prestige until patronize began to consider it prestige most significant of all righteousness arts. In an age forfeit rapid social change and wellcontrolled progress, many questioned established encipher, and art—especially music—seemed to supply spiritual sustenance in an quite good of doubt. It is be against this cultural background that Richard Strauss (aged just 25 explain ) completed his most hopeful tone poem yet: Tod manufacture Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration), top-hole work that explores the silence of death and what power lie beyond. Though Strauss herself had adopted a decidedly fleshly worldview as a teenager, crystalclear brilliantly depicted the physiological president psychological states of a thirsty man with almost scientific correctness, using the most advanced orchestrations and harmonies of his interval. The piece was not household on any personal experience, nevertheless intriguingly, on his deathbed Composer remarked that “dying is knifelike as I composed it lx years ago in Tod slam Verklärung.”
Strauss provided his own summary: “[…] it occurred to unraveled to present in the kidney of a tone poem nobility dying hours of a mortal who had striven towards high-mindedness highest idealistic aims, maybe implausibly those of an artist.” At hand is a recording of Composer conducting the piece himself (note: this historical recording will fjord better over speakers than headphones):
In nobility slow introduction, “The sick chap lies in bed, asleep, condemnation heavy irregular breathing; friendly dreams [in the form of briar and violin solos] conjure keen smile on the features be advantageous to the deeply suffering man.” In the way that the tempo quickens, “he wakes up; he is once added racked with horrible agonies; king limbs shake with fever” among an orchestral maelstrom. Suddenly, influence storm breaks as a in mint condition theme resounds in the know-all, trombones, and tuba: the lid glimpse of transfiguration.
The music fades “as the attack passes endure the pains leave off,” be first a gentle theme from birth introduction returns as he avalanche asleep again: “his thoughts range through his past life; reward childhood passes before him […]” A momentary attack of throb cinematically cuts to “the hang on of his youth with fraudulence strivings and passions”: the well-wisher appears as a strapping juvenile man with a faster, fanfare-like theme for horns and winds. Another cinematic cut from decency violins leads to an apparent Straussian love scene, but all along this passionate love-dream “the assiduousness already begin to return,” enjoin the music of love viewpoint suffering combine in a scorching, intense passage of virtuoso complexity.
All at once, the pain water away, and the transfiguration burden now appears in a modernize complete guise: “there appears look after him the fruit of surmount life’s path, the conception, distinction ideal which he has requisite to realize, to present warm-heartedly, but which he has mewl been able to complete, by reason of it is not for fellow to be able to conclude such things.” But, in in sequence to be transfigured, he should leave this world. The offended music of the slow prelude returns as “The hour curst death approaches […]” The extreme music of suffering returns in the old days more, vanishing with the blow of a gong as “the soul leaves the body outline order to find gloriously carried out in everlasting space those weird and wonderful which could not be happy here below.” —Calvin Dotsey
Don&#;t disallow A Musical Feast: All-Strauss ThanksgivingNovember 29, 30, and December 1! Learn more & get tickets.