I can't find any unsung Richard Strauss orchestral music as good as his well-known works. Is there any?
The same can be said about most well known composers.
The cream always rises to the surface!
Quote from: mikehopf on Thursday 20 December 2018, 02:26
The same can be said about most well known composers.
The cream always rises to the surface!
Not a reliable rule.
Beethoven Symphonies 2 & 4? Much less often played than 1,3,5. Less good? Not to my ears.
Haydn: What rises to the surface are the pieces with a memorable nickname. They are good but so are the unlucky other ones.
Mendelssohn 3 quartets op 44. Why is the e-minor by far the most popular of them? They are all about equally excellent. Similar with Schumann quartets: No. 3 is the most often played, no. 1 appears occasionally, no. 2 rarely. I can see no sound reason for this (no. 2 is my personal favorite).
...in a word: probably not. If you're into opera, though, Guntram's a good bet. I assume you know Macbeth...
Quote from: Paul Barasi on Thursday 20 December 2018, 00:58
I can't find any unsung Richard Strauss orchestral music as good as his well-known works. Is there any?
This sounds like a classic case of affirmation bias:
"This one thing I've only heard once or twice is not as good as that other thing that everyone thinks is great and that I've heard many times"
If a work is universally lauded, it is very difficult to be critical of it for a number of reasons. Most of all because we are social animals, we want to be recognized as authoritative by our peers, so we tend to often go along with universal "truths". Conversely, in music reviews, notice how performances of well-known works always tend to be exclusively about the performance, and performances of unsung works primarily deal with the quality of the composition itself. In other words: the existential question gets asked incessantly, leading to the impression that the piece's right to exist ought to be called into question.
Historically, you can't really say that the "cream always rises to the top". Serendipity plays a large role before the advent of recorded media: a crucial negative or positive review, a second perfomance that didn't happen or did, etc. Then there are more systemic problems: a Norwegian composer always had a much smaller chance of recognition than a German one, let alone one from Vienna, and a the German likely wrote in an idiom that was more likely to get qualitatively acknowledged. And tastes change. Heinrich Hofmann's
Fritjof Symphony was one of the most often played works of the late 19th century, but if rarely heard today. Was the entire 19th century
wrong? Probably not.
Especially for lovers of unsung works, I think it is important to be aware of such factors.
Well, perhaps his operas "Friedenstag" and "Feuersnot" and the ballets "Schlagobers", "Tanzsuite", "Divertimento" and "Verklungene Feste". His Romanze for Cello and Orchestra could be considered as even more unsung. There is also the incidental music to "Romeo und Julia", besides the more known "Bürger als Edelmann".
The ballet "Josephslegende" has, gladly enough, become a sung piece in the last years; it's his best ballet.
There is also a "Sonatine für Orchester" arranged from "Rosenkavalier"
As far as some orchestral works are concerend (I don't really miss those): "Hochlands Treue" (Overture), "Festmarsch", "Konzertouvertüre", 2 Serenades and 3 more "Concert Overtures", "Lied ohne Worte" (for Orchestra), Suite for Winds - and a lot more occasional pieces (including Fanfares) for Military Band. He composed an "Olympische Hymne" for the Nazis. The "Japanische Festmusik" was written for the Emperor of Japan.
Several of his songs and choral works are also neglected, some of them in orchestrated versions.
The now defunct label KOCH Schwann had a series 'the unknown Richard Strauss', isn't it? I don''t know if these are easy available, for example http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=20472&album_group=14
You can hear the Concert Overture here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ut2gH2V5N4
...and then there are the two early symphonies, which are uncharacteristic but hugely enjoyable.
His teenage Violin Concerto is a lovely work, well worth the occasional airing.
If you like over the top stuff, there's the Festival Prelude, Op. 61.
Yes, this "Festliches Präludium" (in C; which I actually do not consider an unsung piece anymore) is included in the RCA Strauss Box by David Zinman and in the DGG box by Böhm (he was in the leadership to the anti-Semitic "Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur" and published articles to propage its ideas - although Hitler considered him a second-rang conductor).
Sawallisch also recorded it (on EMI). There are also recorded performance by Neeme Järvi (HNK Orchestra) and Gergely Madaras (Hungarian Radio). This bombastic piece was composed for the 1913 opening of the Wiener Konzerthaus, it is scored for 150 players (including organ). It was also played (by Knappertsbusch) in 1943, on Hitler's birthday, together with Beethoven's Ninth; that's why, since then, the "Präludium" is often considered a Nazi piece (I agree too; I am sure, Hitler liked it). Some reviewers called it "Viel Lärm um nichts" (The German translation of Shakespeare's "Much ado about nothing"). When Kempe was asked to record it, he refused. Horst Stein recorded it on Eurodisc in 1987.
Audiences seem generally to like this piece. Of course, one is free to associate a piece with particular historical occasions or political purposes; I am not always as generous as that, particularly knowing Strauss's own backgound.
After - and even before - Christian Thielemann performed the "Präludium" in 2011 with the Berlin PO, the press reacted violently, but with Thielemann's own doubtful political sympathies, one must not wonder. Some of the Jewish players did not join to play (other non-Jewish also refused out of sympathy) and there were both applause and "boohs" at the end. The Maestro felt highly offended at these reactions. Karajan had performed the piece at the ICC opening in 1979. Ormany (of Jewish origins) recorded it in 1961 and performed it in Philadelphia in 1964. - if I am not wrong. I think the last time it was played was in Graz, in 2014.
A similar case is that of Respighi, whose "Roman" tone poems were, apparently, liked by Mussolini. Some musicologists still call Respighi a Fascist - but these tone poems (1916, 1924 and 1928; Mussolini's power started in 1922), were not composed by appointment and not dedicated to thre Duce. Respighi had nightmares about the political situation at his time, since he was an opponent of royalty and of dictature, he was totally Republican free spirit. He joined the Party in order not to be chased or thrown out of the country, and to hold together with his fellow musicians. He never dedicated a work to the Duce as, for example Pizzetti and others did. He even accepted to be nominated "Academico d'Italia", but under pressure, and he had to waer an uniform on special occasions - a thing which he abhorred. I remember having read in Respighi's correspondence that already seeing Mussolini's face, he got scared...
Here's a nice Strauss biography from Classic fM. Chapter 11 is about the Nazi question:
https://www.classicfm.com/composers/strauss/guides/facts-gallery/
and this other one by the BBC
bbc.com/culture/story/20140610-richard-strauss-a-reluctant-nazi
and the two following are the best:
https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/06/arts/music-richard-strauss-and-hitler-s-reich-jupiter-in-hell.html
http://holocaustmusic.ort.org/politics-and-propaganda/third-reich/reichskulturkammer/strauss-richard/
and this, as a curious piece of dessert:
theguardian.com/music/2014/may/23/richard-strauss-composer-classical-music-nazi-war-criminal
Let's try and stick to the music, please.
What about the four Interludes from Intermezzo or the Introduction (Sextet) to Capriccio?
The "Parergon on the "Sinfonia Domestica"" for piano (left hand) and orchestra is a good piece.
The interlude from "Intermezzo" and the sextet from "Capriccio" are performed sometimes - as also Strauss' pieces for Piano and Orchestra.
Strauss' "Panathenäenzug" (like "Parergon") for the left hand and orchestra was promoted by Kurt Leimer, particularly after Strauss had given him a 3-years exclusive right to perform it. After a 1947 Salzburg performance, to which Strauss had composed an extra cadenza for Leimer, the soloist got also the work's dedication. There is a CD re-issue of a 1972 Colosseum LP of Leimer's interpretation with the Nürnberger Symphoniker.
(About Leimer as a composer, there are some wild stories: Last year I've met with a person whose friend was a musician who affirmed to be the actual composer of Leimer's 3 piano concerti. That they had been "corrected", or "orchestrated" was already a murmur since a long time...).
In Zurich we have a Kurt Leimer Foundation, allowing 10 particularly gifted conservatory finalist to participate to 3 public masterclasses.
On 29th September, Franz Welser-Möst performed in Cleveland a (to my ears a bit boring) "Symphonic Fantasy from Die Frau ohne Schatten" which I had never heard before:
https://bachtrack.com/de_DE/review-lang-lang-welser-most-cleveland-september-2018
(in the same concert, Lang Lang played Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 24)
Gerard Schwarz and also JoAnn Falleta have recorded this "Fantasy" for Naxos
Yes, the Intermezzo (sextet) from Capriccio is beautiful music, and yet rarely gets an outing!
I've always had a soft spot for Schlagobers.... more so than the Joseph ballet. The former seems to flow with a bit more easeful decadence than the latter...
Yes, kolaboy. Anyway, there is a lot of decadence in nearly all of Strauss's music anyway 8)
An interesting point; I instinctively feel I know what hadrianus means, but what exactly is "decadence" in music? For some strange reason much of Strauss conjures up images of scantily clad women drinking nectar from the skulls of dead warriors. Or is that just me?
First of all - I am not an expert - and: Decadence is not pejorative meaning!
Decadence in the arts can be defined as a movement taking social decadence as a subject - considering the European social turmoil before World War I - an epoch which produced so many masterworks of such different musical styles! Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" and Debussy's "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune" and Puccini's operas were produced in those years!
But Deacdence is not (only) in the subjects, but also a question of style - and, in music, instrumentation! Schreker's earlier operas are a perfect example.
In France, the Decadent movement was very strong - and productive in all kind of arts (Some of Massenet's and Reyer's operas belonging to this genre). Sometimes I also consider some impressionistic works belonging to the Decadent movement: Debussy's "Le Martyre de Saint-Sébastien" (one of my desert-island pieces, together with Delius's "Mass of Life").
In Russia we had Skrjabin (who was also suspected of living a "decadent" private life - but one must never believe what the Russian say).
Exoticism is a very important element of artistic Deacadence.
Austrian Jugendstil movement had also a huge influence.
Strauss was from Munich, but listening to many of his works one could think he was an Austrian. Ignorant music-lovers do still mistake him for an Austrian.
There is also the Viennese psycho-analytical aspect (Sigmund Freud) which inspired to morbid and sexual subjects (Schreker! Alban Berg!) and also dealed with dream importance . Berg once told that, without Schreker's "Der Ferne Klang", he would never had been able to write his "Lulu".
In England there was a strong literary and painter's decadent movement (Wilde, Dawson, Johnson, Beardsley, Rossetti, Burne-Jones, Alma-Tadema (on of my favourite British painters :-)
In my opinion, some of Frederick Delius's work could also be defined as "decadent".
The actual German decadent movement was of a more modernistic, avant-gardistic kind (Kurt Weill etc.) and often Jazz-oriented. But decadent subjects were used. There was also more expressionism in Germany - but many expressionistic artists produced really decadent works...
This proves that one should be more flexible in using drawer system in categorizing the arts and its epochs.
Hope this text does not appear too confused or wild...
I'd have to disagree somewhat, in that when applied to an individual or the arts "decadent" is generally construed in a pejorative or disapproving way as you'd expect from its literal meaning "in decay" - a bad stench given off by dying bodies or rotten matter? I wonder who first used the term in the context of music? I'm not aware of it as the name of a movement, but rather an atmosphere particularly associated with late romanticism. Would we call the music of Strauss et al "decadent" if romanticism hadn't "died" or been largely superseded during his lifetime? Music is full of such metaphors that don't actually make sense in terms of the music per se but relate to contemporary historico-social parallels. To get even more cod-philosophical, I even wonder why some notes are termed "high" and others "low", as if they float in the air or sink to the ground!
This is just what I meant with my posting, matesic. It's just a definition to make a difference with other (equally discussbale) defintions. The term "in decay" is by no means right.
Merriam-Webster has this explanatory text:
Decadent - literature : of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a group of late 19th century French and English writers tending toward artificial and unconventional subjects and subtilized style : of, relating to, or having the characteristics of the decadents.
This is perfectly applicable to other forms of art.
But, again: I hate classifications; I just wanted to show what happened in those times.
Google reminds me that the Latin root means "falling down" which isn't exactly a good thing, nor are any of the definitions. Oscar Wilde might have relished the label but I don't think Strauss would have! But I understand you perfectly when you say there is a lot of "decadence" in his music.
I certainly do not consider "decadent" to be a pejorative when applied to the arts. I DO think that post-war Strauss had about 94% of the decadence wrung out of him - which is quite understandable (Metamorphosen, Oboe Concerto...).
I'm sure the term was initially used pejoritatively to describe an art form or style considered to be "in decline". Of course, history has shown that there was plenty of life in the old romantic dog yet. I think the proof that there's nothing literally or even metaphorically "decadent" in Strauss's music is that during the Nazi era it was the modernists who were labelled "degenerate" ("entartete") which according to google is synonymous. But as is so often the case, any disagreement we have boils down to the meaning and usage of the words we choose
Exactly, so matesic. So let's still use the term "decadent" as a well-established (positive) term in connection with some art currents of that time.
Moving on...
Richard Strauss's most unsung stage work is surely the Singspiel "Des Esels Schatten" ("The Donkey's Shadow", 1949) - it's actually his last composition. It was premiered in 1964 by a student's ensemble.
It is based on Christoph Martin Wieland's version of an old Greek story by Plutarch about the trial of a dentist from Athens who had hired a donkey. The man just needed a rest, so he sat down in the donkey's shadow. The owner complained that he had hired only the donkey - and not its shadow. The trial could only be closed after the donkey's death by hunger: the poor animal had been completely forgotten during these long discussions.
Criticism of absurd bureaucratic trial procedures also inspired Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt to a brilliant sarcastic play on the same story - after all, such absurd trial procedures are still taking place today. Dürrenmatt also inspired musicians: Gottfried von Einem's great opera "Der Besuch der alten Dame" is based on Dürrenmatt's play of the same title. The title part was premiered at the Vienna Staatsoper by Christa Ludwig and a great supporting cast (there is an Amadeo CD); Astrid Varnay and Regina Resnik also sung it.
(Gilbert & Sullivan's "Trial by Jury" is another musical critcism of legal practices).
Karl Anton Rickenbacher recorded Strauss's "Donkey" Singspiel (with Peter Ustinov as a narrator) on the Koch label in 1998, in a volume of the series "Richard Strauss, the unknown"
"I've always had a soft spot for Schlagobers.... more so than the Joseph ballet."
Schlagobers is one of the very rare Strauss works I've not been able to put my hands on. I only have the short concert suite on the Kempe set, but it seems that the complete version once recorded by Denon is out of print, or outrageously expensive on the net.
I think some of the most underrated music by Strauss is his choral music. Try Die Tageszeiten, for orchestra and men's chorus, it's a true masterpiece. Of course, his Deutsche Mottete, and other stuff for a cappella chorus, are just glorious and awfully difficult to perform.
I believe I picked up that Denon recording of Schlagobers from Records International back in '89. It's truly a wonderful piece.
I've not heard Deutsche Mottete or Die Tageszeiten, but I will check them out.
I also have the Denon disc, probably bought it I dunno seven years ago I'd guess. Was probably under $15. Sucks that it's so expensive now. I do prefer Josephselegend though.
Kolaboy, lucky you, you're in for a marvelous discovery...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MczFfIZq0sw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSVbiPqXqtc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJv3wdGflNw
https://youtu.be/tj-RTRfUV-k
Thank you, Ebubu. a Christmas treat :)
Just listening to his Horn Concertos and there are absolutely marvellous. The recording is the EMI one with Dennis Brain (french horn),
Philharmonia Orchestra
Wolfgang Sawallisch
You might also want to consider "Burleske" d minor for Piano and Orchestra, a very enjoyable thing and highly virtuosic!
Thought that's not so "unsung" any more. Buchbinder has championed the piece, there is an introduction here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQkozAdVMJQ
actually, his Burleske is fairly often recorded and performed nowadays? (at least one new recording each of the last four years or so?...)
I don't really think it's unsung these days - unlike the two early symphonies, for example.
Quote from: Alan Howe on Tuesday 31 March 2020, 22:26
I don't really think it's unsung these days - unlike the two early symphonies, for example.
exactly, as I pointed out above...
Quite so.