Richard Strauss

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Lore & Background

Strauss was born on 11 June 1864 in Munich, the son of Josephine and Franz Strauss, who was the principal horn player at the Court Opera in Munich. A child prodigy, he began his musical studies at age four, studying piano with August Tombo. He wrote his first composition at six. In 1872 he started violin instruction from Benno Walter, and at 11 began five years of compositional study with Friedrich Wilhelm Meyer. In 1882 he graduated from the Ludwigsgymnasium and attended only one year at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in 1882–1883. His father profoundly influenced his early style, teaching him the music of Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, and Schubert, and forbidding study of Wagner until age 16. In 1882 he went to the Bayreuth Festival to hear his father perform in the world premiere of Wagner's Parsifal. In early 1882, in Vienna, Strauss gave the first performance of his Violin Concerto in D minor, playing a piano reduction himself, with Benno Walter as soloist. He secured a post with the Meiningen Court Orchestra as assistant conductor to Hans von Bülow in 1883. After Bülow resigned in 1885, Strauss led the Meiningen orchestra as interim principal conductor for five months through April 1886. He helped prepare the orchestra for the world premiere of Brahms's Symphony No. 4. In 1885 he met composer Alexander Ritter, who convinced Strauss to abandon his conservative style and embrace the 'music of the future' modeled on Wagner and Liszt. In 1886 he assumed a post as third conductor at the Bavarian State Opera. His first tone poem was Aus Italien (1886). He served as principal conductor of the Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar from 1889 to 1894. In 1894 he made his conducting debut at the Bayreuth Festival. He co-founded the Salzburg Festival in 1920. In 1933 Strauss was appointed head of the Reichsmusikkammer and principal conductor of the Bayreuth Festival in Nazi Germany. His daughter-in-law was Jewish, and much of his apparent acquiescence was to save her life and the lives of her children. He was apolitical and took the Reichsmusikkammer post to advance copyright protections and preserve performances of banned composers. He insisted on using Jewish librettist Stefan Zweig for his opera Die schweigsame Frau, leading to his firing from both posts in 1935. His opera Friedenstag was a thinly veiled criticism of the Nazi Party. Thanks to his influence, his daughter-in-law was placed under protected house arrest during the war, but he was unable to save dozens of his in-laws from being killed in Nazi concentration camps. In 1948 he was cleared of any wrongdoing by a denazification tribunal in Munich.

Reader's Guide

Richard Strauss's significance lies in his synthesis of late Romantic orchestral virtuosity with early Modern harmonic and dramatic innovation. His tone poems expanded the narrative and expressive possibilities of orchestral music, while his operas, particularly Salome and Der Rosenkavalier, redefined the genre for the 20th century. As a conductor, he was chiefly admired for interpretations of Liszt, Mozart, and Wagner in addition to his own works. His influence extended through his discipleship under Hans von Bülow, whom he considered his greatest conducting mentor, often crediting him as teaching him 'the art of interpretation'. His first widely acclaimed tone poem was Don Juan, followed by Death and Transfiguration, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Also sprach Zarathustra, Don Quixote, Ein Heldenleben, Symphonia Domestica, and An Alpine Symphony. His first internationally successful opera was Salome, followed by Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Die ägyptische Helena, Arabella, Daphne, Friedenstag, Die Liebe der Danae and Capriccio. Other well-known works include two symphonies, lieder (especially the Four Last Songs), the Violin Concerto in D minor, the Horn Concertos Nos. 1 and 2, his Oboe Concerto, and Metamorphosen. His legacy is complicated by his roles in Nazi Germany, though his actions to protect Jewish family members and his use of a Jewish librettist indicate a nuanced position. His works remain staples of the repertoire.

Did You Know?

• Strauss wrote his first composition at the age of six.
• He was a conducting disciple of Hans von Bülow, who taught him 'the art of interpretation'.
• His father forbade him to study Wagner's music until he was 16.
• In 1882 he went to the Bayreuth Festival to hear his father perform in the world premiere of Wagner's Parsifal.
• He co-founded the Salzburg Festival in 1920.