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Richard Strauss

Richard Georg Strauss (German: [ˈʁɪçaʁt ˈʃtʁaʊs]; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his tone poems and operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt. Along with Gustav Mahler, he represents the late flowering of German Romanticism, in which pioneering subtleties of orchestration are combined with an advanced harmonic style.

Strauss's compositional output began in 1870 when he was just six years old and lasted until his death nearly eighty years later. His first tone poem to achieve wide acclaim was Don Juan, and this was followed by other lauded works of this kind, including Death and Transfiguration, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Also sprach Zarathustra, Don Quixote, Ein Heldenleben, Symphonia Domestica, and An Alpine Symphony. His first opera to achieve international fame was Salome which used a libretto by Hedwig Lachmann that was a German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. This was followed by several critically acclaimed operas with librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal: Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Die ägyptische Helena, and Arabella. His last operas, Daphne, Friedenstag, Die Liebe der Danae and Capriccio used libretti written by Joseph Gregor, the Viennese theatre historian. Other well-known works by Strauss include two symphonies, lieder (especially the Four Last Songs), the Violin Concerto in D minor, the Horn Concerto No. 1, Horn Concerto No. 2, his Oboe Concerto and other instrumental works such as Metamorphosen.

A prominent conductor in Western Europe and the Americas, Strauss enjoyed quasi-celebrity status as his compositions became standards of orchestral and operatic repertoire. He was chiefly admired for his interpretations of the works of Liszt, Mozart, and Wagner in addition to his own works. A conducting disciple of Hans von Bülow, Strauss began his conducting career as Bülow's assistant with the Meiningen Court Orchestra in 1883. After Bülow resigned in 1885, Strauss served as that orchestra's primary conductor for five months before being appointed to the conducting staff of the Bavarian State Opera where he worked as third conductor from 1886 to 1889. He then 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, conducting Wagner's Tannhäuser with his wife, soprano Pauline de Ahna, singing Elisabeth. He then returned to the Bavarian State Opera, this time as principal conductor, from 1894 to 1898, after which he was principal conductor of the Berlin State Opera from 1898 to 1913. From 1919 to 1924 he was principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera, and in 1920 he co-founded the Salzburg Festival. In addition to these posts, Strauss was a frequent guest conductor in opera houses and with orchestras internationally.

In 1933 Strauss was appointed to two important positions in the musical life of Nazi Germany: head of the Reichsmusikkammer and principal conductor of the Bayreuth Festival. The latter role he accepted after conductor Arturo Toscanini had resigned from the position in protest against the Nazi Party. These positions have led some to criticize Strauss for his seeming collaboration with the Nazis. However, Strauss's daughter-in-law, Alice Grab Strauss [née von Hermannswörth], was Jewish and much of his apparent acquiescence to the Nazi Party was done to save her life and the lives of her children (his Jewish grandchildren). He was also apolitical, and took the Reichsmusikkammer post to advance copyright protections for composers, attempting as well to preserve performances of works by banned composers such as Mahler and Felix Mendelssohn. Further, Strauss insisted on using a Jewish librettist, Stefan Zweig, for his opera Die schweigsame Frau which ultimately led to his firing from the Reichsmusikkammer and Bayreuth. His opera Friedenstag, which premiered just before the outbreak of World War II, was a thinly veiled criticism of the Nazi Party that attempted to persuade Germans to abandon violence for peace. Thanks to his influence, his daughter-in-law was placed under protected house arrest during the war, but despite extensive efforts he was unable to save dozens of his in-laws from being killed in Nazi concentration camps. In 1948, a year before his death, he was cleared of any wrongdoing by a denazification tribunal in Munich.

Birth and Death Data: Born June 11, 1864 (Munich), Died September 8, 1949 (Garmisch-Partenkirchen)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1904 - 1953

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, conductor, lyricist

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 1-25 of 299 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor B-1950 10-in. 11/15/1904 Ständchen Marcella Sembrich Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor B-4849 10-in. 10/1/1907 Zweignung Gwilym Miles Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor B-5017 10-in. 1/14/1908 Ständchen Johanna Gadski Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor B-7029 10-in. 4/30/1909 Jochanaan, ich bin verliebt Johanna Gadski Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor B-12169 10-in. 7/9/1912 Allerseelen Reinald Werrenrath Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor C-12866 12-in. 2/4/1913 Es blinkt der Tau Mrs. Frederick Seeman Female vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor B-13049 10-in. 4/1/1913 Ständchen Marcella Sembrich Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor B-13085 10-in. 4/7/1913 Morgen Frances Alda Soprano vocal solo, with cello obbligato and piano composer  
Victor B-14745 10-in. 4/22/1914 Mit deinen blauen Augen Margarethe Arndt-Ober Contralto vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor B-14927 10-in. 6/2/1914 Die Nacht Mrs. H. H. Rogers Female vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor B-17670 10-in. 5/12/1916 Allerseelen Margarethe Arndt-Ober Contralto vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor C-25788 12-in. 12/5/1921 Salome's dance Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor C-25789 12-in. 12/5/1921 Salome's dance Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor BVE-27731 10-in. 1/11/1927 Serenade Geraldine Farrar Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor B-27731 10-in. 4/2/1923 Ständchen Geraldine Farrar Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor B-28636 10-in. 10/5/1923 Traum durch die Dämmerung Ernestine Schumann-Heink Contralto vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor B-31928 10-in. 2/9/1925 Allerseelen Maria Jeritza Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor BVE-35443 10-in. 5/3/1926 Ruhe meine Seele Hulda Lashanska Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor BVE-38250 10-in. 4/8/1927 Ständchen Guiomar Novaës Piano solo composer  
Victor CVE-47925 12-in. 12/11/1928 Ein Heldenleben Willem Mengelberg ; New York Philharmonic Orchestra composer  
Victor CVE-47926 12-in. 12/11/1928 Ein Heldenleben Willem Mengelberg ; New York Philharmonic Orchestra, with violin solo composer  
Victor CVE-47927 12-in. 12/11/1928 Ein Heldenleben Willem Mengelberg ; New York Philharmonic Orchestra, with violin solo composer  
Victor CVE-47928 12-in. 12/12/1928 Ein Heldenleben Willem Mengelberg ; New York Philharmonic Orchestra, with violin solo composer  
Victor CVE-47929 12-in. 12/12/1928 Ein Heldenleben Willem Mengelberg ; New York Philharmonic Orchestra, with violin solo composer  
Victor CVE-47930 12-in. 12/12/1928 Ein Heldenleben Willem Mengelberg ; New York Philharmonic Orchestra, with violin solo composer  
(Results 1-25 of 299 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Strauss, Richard," accessed November 21, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/102331.

Strauss, Richard. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/102331.

"Strauss, Richard." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 21 November 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/102331

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