Signed in as:

You are browsing courtesy of:

Sign in to an additional subscriber account

Login

This account has no valid subscription for this site.

Print
Export Citations
Cite
Email this content

Share Link

Copy this link, or click below to email it to a friend
Email this content
or copy the link directly:

https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199757824/obo-9780199757824-0109.xml
The link was not copied. Your current browser may not support copying via this button.

Link copied successfully

9780199757824-0109

Introduction

The legacy of Richard Strauss (b. 1864–d. 1949) as a composer includes symphonic poems, operas, Lieder, and other works. Yet, he was also an influential conductor who interpreted his own scores and also championed the new music of his contemporaries as well as revived the music of earlier generations, including Mozart. With regard to his compositions, Strauss’s early tone poems proved controversial for their daring harmonies, bold scoring, and hermeneutic challenges as program music. As popular as those works were, Strauss soon turned to opera as a mode of expression, and his efforts resulted in similarly provocative scores of Salome, Elektra, and other works for the stage. Yet, Strauss’s depiction of the 18th century in Der Rosenkavalier allowed him to arrive at an idiom that remains aurally representative of his style. His later collaborations with the librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal resulted in equally memorable operas, with pastiche in Ariadne auf Naxos and fantasy in Die Frau ohne Schatten. After Hofmannsthal’s death in 1929, Strauss collaborated with Stefan Zweig on several operas, and Friedenstag, a pacifist work, constituted their final effort. Strauss worked with other librettists, and his final opera, Capriccio, a piece about the conflicting priorities between words and music in opera composition, serves as a valedictory for the genre. With Lieder, Strauss was equally strong in a genre that occupied his attention throughout his career. The songs exist in versions with piano accompaniment along with some for voice and orchestra, and Strauss took the orchestral Lied from the nineteenth to the twentieth century with his distinctive scorings. The final four songs for voice and orchestra, the Vier letzte Lieder, crown his contributions to the genre and are among his most popular works. His other accomplishments include the revision of Berlioz’s Treatise on Orchestration, in which Strauss took that venerable text into the 20th century with his revisions and annotations. For these and other reasons, Strauss remains a Janus-faced figure whose efforts both build on the Austro-German tradition and represent several aspects that anticipate the new music of the 20th century.

General Overviews

Overviews include Gilliam and Youmans 2010 and Werbeck 1997, essential articles that contain concise information on the composer’s life and works. Such perspectives are amplified in Walter 2000 and Kennedy 1996. Botstein 1992 discusses the sometimes conflicting directions that emerge in the latter part of Strauss’s career as a modernist composer with, and also through, his connections with the Nazi government. Aspects of the latter receive balanced treatment in Brosche 2008, and Del Mar 1986 offers a comprehensive introduction to the composer’s music. For online information, Richard Strauss Online is useful.

Botstein, Leon. “The Enigmas of Richard Strauss: A Revisionist View.” In Richard Strauss and His World. Edited by Bryan Gilliam, 3–32. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Botstein discusses the appeal of Strauss’s music in the context of 20th-century modernism, with a consideration of the connections to verbal elements, such as narrative style, extramusical ideas, and the use of myth. Also treats Strauss’s relationship with the Third Reich.
Find this resource:
Brosche, Günter. Richard Strauss: Werk und Leben. Vienna: Edition Steinbauer, 2008.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Well-considered presentation of Strauss’s legacy, with useful perspectives on his life. Makes use of recent scholarship, including Brosche’s own archival research.
Find this resource:
Del Mar, Norman. Richard Strauss: A Critical Commentary on His Life and Works. 3 vols. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1986.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Multivolume study organized chronologically: Volume 1 contains early works through Der Rosenkavalier. Volume 2 covers Ariadne auf Naxos through Arabella. Volume 3 includes Die schweigsame Frau through the final works. Third volume also contains a self-contained study of the songs. Each volume is thoroughly indexed with comprehensive work lists in Volume 3.
Find this resource:
Gilliam, Bryan, and Charles Youmans. “Strauss, Richard (Georg).” In Grove Music Online. Edited by Deane Root. 2010.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Includes a biography, followed by an overview of style and works, by genre, along with a work list organized by catalogue numbers (both Trenner and Asow) and opus number (when used). Bibliography (by Charles Youmans) is useful in its organization by logical categories and chronological arrangement (oldest to newest). Updated in February 2010.
Find this resource:
Kennedy, Michael. Richard Strauss. New York: Schirmer, 1996.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Similar to other volumes in the Master Musician series, the format includes a short biography followed by the discussion of the music by genre and with a work list at the end. Kennedy’s overview focuses on Strauss’s music, with the emphasis on the major works.
Find this resource:
Richard Strauss Online.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Website that is useful for quick searches about the composer and his works; site available in German or English. See also the website of the Richard Strauss Institut online, which provides information on Strauss and his works; available in German.
Find this resource:
Walter, Michael. Richard Strauss. Grosse Komponisten und ihre Zeit. Laaber, Germany: Laaber Verlag, 2000.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Comprehensive overview of Strauss in the artistic and political environments in which he worked. Coverage of modernism with Strauss, and the composer’s role as an exponent of new directions in music. Includes work list, bibliography, and personalia [C/E the section is directory of people named in the study, properly personalia, not material on his private life’ material on his personal life.
Find this resource:
Werbeck, Walter. “Strauss, Richard [Georg].” In Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzyklopaedie der Musik. Vol. 24. Edited by Ludwig Finscher. Kassel, Germany: Bärenreiter, 1997.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Includes biography, overview of compositions, work list, and bibliography. The work list includes catalogue numbers, along with opus numbers, when known, plus text source (when applicable), scoring, composition dates, and dedications. Emphasis on German-language references.
Find this resource:

Biographies

Trenner 2003 offers detailed information about Strauss’s life, which forms the basis for more conventional biographies, including that of Boyden 1999, which deals with the composer’s activities without extensive reference to the music. Kennedy 1999 focuses on the enigmatic sides of Strauss, which include perspectives on Strauss’s relationship to the Nazi government, a perspective that Kater 2000 addresses directly. Beyond the details of Strauss’s life, Tenschert 1945 contains stories that reveal aspects of the composer’s personality, with Holden 2011 focusing on Strauss’s conducting activities. Over all, the concise biography by Gilliam 1999 offers a balanced image of Strauss.

Boyden, Matthew. Richard Strauss. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1999.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Popular chronicle of Strauss’s life organized by date, with the chapter headings indicating the topics covered. Annotated and supported by judicious extracts from Strauss’s letters and diaries. Focus on biographical details, without discussions of the music.
Find this resource:
Gilliam, Bryan. The Life of Richard Strauss. Musical Lives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Concise biography that focuses on primary issues in Strauss’s life, starting with his youthful modernism as expressed in program music. Focused discussion of Strauss’s collaborations after Hofmannsthal’s death. Last chapter devoted to Strauss’s responses to World War II and afterward. Includes a select bibliography.
Find this resource:
Holden, Raymond. Richard Strauss: A Musical Life. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2011.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Biography with emphasis on Strauss’s conducting career and its influence on his compositions; detailed discussions of early years; discussion of Strauss’s tours and also his performances of Mozart’s music, including Strauss’s revivals of Idomeneo; also discusses Strauss’s relationship to the Third Reich; includes notes and select bibliography.
Find this resource:
Kater, Michael. “Richard Strauss: Jupiter Compromised.” In Composers of the Nazi Era: Eight Portraits. By Michael Kater, 211–263. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195099249.003.0008 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Focus on Strauss’s activities between 1933 and his death; deals directly with the issue of Strauss’s involvement with the Nazi government; sympathetic treatment of the choices the composer faced; annotations include references to primary sources. See also Kater’s account of music in Nazi Germany, The Twisted Muse (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997).
Find this resource:
Kennedy, Michael. Richard Strauss: Man, Musician, Enigma. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Differs from Kennedy’s early Master Musicians volume through its focus on biography without extensive discussions of the music; four sections include Munich years, Berlin years, “Out of Fashion,” and “The Dark Years.” Discusses Strauss’s conducting career and also his relationship with the Third Reich; includes index and bibliography.
Find this resource:
Tenschert, Roland. Anekdoten um Richard Strauss. Vienna: W. Frick, 1945.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Compilation of firsthand accounts of Strauss interacting with colleagues; published late in Strauss’s life; offers impressions not found in conventional biographies to give a sense of the composer’s personality.
Find this resource:
Trenner, Franz. Richard Strauss: Chronik zu Leben und Werk. Edited by Florian Trenner. Vienna: Verlag Dr. Richard Strauss, 2003.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Detailed chronicle of Strauss’s life relating to his personal life, compositions, and conducting activities. Useful in the context of other biographies and studies. This Chronik covers Strauss’s entire life, not just the early years as found in Willi Schuh’s Richard Strauss: A Chronicle of the Early Years, 1864–1889 (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1982).
Find this resource:

Catalogues and Bibliographies

Of the two main catalogues of Strauss’s music, Trenner 1999 (the source of the Tr numbers) is based on the multivolume Asow 1959–1974, which remains useful for important bibliographic references, including details on Strauss’s articles and other writing. While Asow 1959–1974 includes secondary literature, Ortner and Grasberger 1964 reflects literature published through 1944, which Brosche 1973 followed to bring the bibliography to the composer’s centenary. Brosche and Dachs 1979 is a manuscript catalogue that lists important sources. Schaefer 1999, a catalogue of the Munich exhibit, makes available important iconography. For iconography associated with Strauss, Wachten 1940 remains useful.

Asow, Erich H. Mueller von. Richard Strauss: Thematisches Verzeichnis. 3 vols. Vienna: L. Doblinger, 1959–1974.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Catalogue of three volumes: Volume 1, Op. 1–59; Volume 2, Op. 60–86; and Volume 3, Werke ohne Opuszahl, the last completed by Alfons Ott and Franz Trenner. Source for A-numbers in some work lists. Includes annotations on each work and selected secondary literature. Includes a chronological listing of all the works (Volume 3).
Find this resource:
Brosche, Günter, ed. Richard-Strauss Bibliographie, 2: 1944–1964. Vienna: Georg Prachner, 1973.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A continuation of Ortner and Grasberger 1964, with materials from the last five years of Strauss’s life; covers Strauss’s death in 1949 and includes posthumous tributes to the commemorations of the centenary of Strauss’s birth in 1964 and various assessments of his accomplishments.
Find this resource:
Brosche, Günter, and Karl Dachs, eds. Richard Strauss: Autographen in München u. Wien; Verzeichnis. Tutzing, West Germany: Hans Schneider, 1979.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Comprehensive catalogue of Strauss’s manuscript in various collections in Munich and Vienna; represents autographs of the composer’s significant works. Includes listings for letters, current through the late 1970s.
Find this resource:
Ortner, Oswald, and Franz Grasberger, eds. Richard-Strauss Bibliographie. Vol. 1, 1882–1944. Vienna: Georg Prachner, 1964.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Collected criticism, reviews, articles, and literature from Strauss’s youth through the premiere of Capriccio. Divided into sections to distinguish overview (Gesamtbild), composer, and conductor. Emphasis on German-language materials that reflect perspectives on the then-living composer.
Find this resource:
Schaefer, Hartmut, ed. Richard Strauss: Autographen, Porträts, Bühnenbilder. Munich: Bayerischer Staatsbibliothek, 1999.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Catalogue of the exhibit to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Strauss’s death; includes essays on Strauss as composer and conductor combined with extensive images; iconography includes photos, stills from productions, and scenic designs, all annotated; selection bibliography, discography, and index.
Find this resource:
Trenner, Franz. Richard Strauss: Werkverzeichnis (TrV). 2d ed. Vienna: Verlag Dr. Richard Strauss, 1999.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Standard catalogue of Strauss’s works, with details related to the composition, performance, publication, revision, and contents; entries correspond to the MGG and New Grove siglum TR to identify all the composer’s music, not only the ones with opus numbers. Stage work listings include cast lists. Supersedes first edition.
Find this resource:
Wachten, Edmund. Richard Strauss, geboren 1864: Sein Leben in Bildern. Leipzig: Bibliographisches Institut, 1940.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A “biography in images”; a collection of representative images of Strauss and performances of his works through 1940, that is, approximately a decade before his death. Does not include the images from Strauss’s last years.
Find this resource:

Editions

With a critical edition yet to be published, Strauss’s works are available in two main editions, the songs in the four-volume edition by Franz Trenner (Trenner 1972), with the stage works and orchestral music published in thirty volumes (Strauss 1996–1999). Reprints of selected historic editions of Strauss’s music are available through Dover Publications.

Strauss, Richard. Richard Strauss Edition. Vienna: Verlag Dr. Richard Strauss, 1996–1999.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Edition of Strauss’s music: Sämtliche Bühnenwerke (Volumes 1–18), Orchesterwerke (Volumes 19–29), Werke für Chor und Orchester (Volume 30). Includes a facsimile of the fair copy of Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche.
Find this resource:
Trenner, Franz, ed. Richard Strauss Lieder: Gesamtausgabe. 4 vols. London: Fürstner, Boosey & Hawkes, 1972.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Contents: Volume 1, Lieder für eine Singstimme und Klavier, Op. 10–41; Volume 2, Lieder für eine Singstimme und Klavier, Op. 43–68; Volume 3, Lieder für eine Singstimme und Klavier, Op. 69–88, Lieder ohne Opuszahl, Jugendlieder; Volume 4, Lieder für eine Singstimme und Orchester (selected pieces only).
Find this resource:

Letters

Strauss’s letters document various activities in his life, and they also reveal aspects of his work as a composer, a conductor, and a musician. The collections of letters offer glimpses into his work, especially the single, edited volume Grasberger 1967. A series of volumes edited by Gabriele Strauss (Strauss 1996, Strauss 2004, Strauss and Reger 1998) are focused on Strauss’s correspondence with contemporary composer and conductors, which may be seen to supersede some of the earlier publications of letters to specific individuals.

Grasberger, Franz, ed. Der Strom der Töne trug mich fort: Die Welt um Richard Strauss in Briefen. Tutzing, West Germany: Hans Schneider, 1967.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Comprehensive collection of Strauss’s letters, organized by periods in the composer’s life, with annotations to some letters at the end of the volume. Includes a chronology of Strauss’s life along with a list of works and selected bibliography. Index by name. Includes some facsimiles.
Find this resource:
Strauss, Gabriele, ed. Richard Strauss im Briefwechsel mit zeitgenössischen Komponisten und Dirigenten. Vol. 1, Lieber Collega! Berlin: Henschel, 1996.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A collection of letters of Strauss to composers and conductors he knew; first of several collections supported by the Richard-Strauss Gesellschaft; uniform edition of letters otherwise found in various individual volumes.
Find this resource:
Strauss, Gabriele, ed. Richard Strauss im Briefwechsel mit zeitgenössischen Komponisten und Dirigenten. Vol. 3, Mit herzlichen Grüssen von Haus zu Haus. Berlin: Henschel, 2004.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A collection of letters of Strauss to composers and conductors he knew in his lifetime; third of a set of three collections supported by the Richard-Strauss Gesellschaft; focuses on activities in Munich, including work with the conductors Bruno Walter and Clemens Kraus.
Find this resource:
Strauss, Gabriele, and Monika Reger, eds. Richard Strauss im Briefwechsel mit zeitgenössischen Komponisten und Dirigenten. Vol. 2, Ihr aufrichtig Ergebener. Berlin: Henschel, 1998.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A collection of letters of Strauss to composers and conductors he knew; second of three collections supported by the Richard-Strauss Gesellschaft; focuses on correspondence with composers from 1900 to the 1940s, including Schönberg, Pfitzner, Reger, Grieg, von Reznicek, and others.
Find this resource:

Individual Correspondents

Strauss’s correspondence with particular individuals appears in discrete volumes. They include letters to various musicians, including Gustav Mahler, Karl Böhm (Steiger 1999), and Karl Kraus (Brosche 1997). The Mahler correspondence in Blaukopf 1984 corrects misunderstandings about their friendship. As to the librettists, the correspondence with Hofmannsthal in Strauss and Strauss 1980 is as notable as their collaborations; and, the Zweig correspondence in Knight 1977 shows Strauss during the Third Reich. The Rolland letters in Myers 1968 contain insights on cross-cultural matters; while the letters to the composer Max von Schillings in Schlötterer 1987 reflect Strauss’s support of new music. Strauss’s private side emerges in the correspondence with Ludwig Thuille in Trenner 1980 and also the letters to his parents in Schuh 1954.

Blaukopf, Herta, ed. Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss: Correspondence, 1888–1911. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Contains the extant correspondence of Mahler and Strauss, which is revealing about the collegial tone the two composer-conductors shared; Blaukopf’s extensive essay is useful in explicating some of the details and also in establishing contexts for the exchanges between Strauss and Mahler.
Find this resource:
Brosche, Günther, ed. Richard Strauss–Clemens Kraus: Briefwechsel. Tutzing, Germany: Hans Schneider, 1997.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Extensive correspondence from 1922 to 1949 documents relationship interactions with Kraus; also covers the creation of Strauss’s late operas, including the composition and premiere of Capriccio; annotated with index.
Find this resource:
Strauss, Franz, and Alice Strauss, eds. A Working Friendship: The Correspondence between Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Translated by Hanns Hammelmann and Ewald Osers. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1980.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Translation of the collected letters between Strauss and Hofmannsthal from 1900 to 1929; it is important for documenting their working relationship as they collaborated on operas and other works. Chronological arrangement and full index.
Find this resource:
Knight, Max, trans. A Confidential Matter: The Letters of Richard Strauss and Stefan Zweig, 1931–1935. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
English translation of the correspondence between Strauss and Zweig regarding not only their collaboration on operas, but also Zweig’s emigration from Nazi Europe. Firsthand documents important to understanding their working relationship.
Find this resource:
Myers, Rollo, ed. Richard Strauss & Romain Rolland: Correspondence. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Correspondence primarily between 1886 and 1926; includes Rolland comments about the declamation in Strauss’s French-language version of Salome; includes essays by Rolland on “Richard Strauss” and “French Music and German Music” (the latter containing a comparison between Strauss and Mahler); comprehensive index.
Find this resource:
Schlötterer, Roswitha, ed. Richard Strauss, Max von Schillings: Ein Briefwechsel. Pfaffenhofen, West Germany: W. Ludwig, 1987.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A collection of correspondence between 1894 and 1933; includes discussion of festivals of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein (Munich) from 1901 to 1909, Schilling’s production of Ariadne auf Naxos, and various aspects of the new copyright law; indexed.
Find this resource:
Schuh, Willi, ed. Richard Strauss: Briefe an die Eltern, 1882–1906. Zurich, Switzerland: Atlantis Verlag, 1954.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Documents Strauss’s formative years; includes comments on performances, concerts, new music, and compositions through the turn of the 20th century; includes some letters to Strauss; arranged by years and locations; annotations; index of names and Strauss’s works.
Find this resource:
Steiger, Martina, ed. Richard Strauss/Karl Böhm: Briefwechsel, 1921–1949. Mainz, Germany: Schott, 1999.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Comprehensive collection of letters between Strauss and Böhm; offers perspectives on the relationship between the two as conductors and also on performances of Strauss’s music by Böhm; contains insights on the early part of Böhm’s career when he was actively involved with new music. Annotated with index.
Find this resource:
Trenner, Franz, ed. Richard Strauss, Ludwig Thuille: Ein Briefwechsel. Tutzing, Germany: Schneider, 1980.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A collection of letters between the two composers, who were born several years apart; useful for references to their works and also for comments on Wagner and other influences; includes facsimiles and music examples.
Find this resource:

Strauss’s Writings

Richard Strauss wrote extensively, not only on his own music, but also on other topics, as found in the complete list of Strauss’s writings in “Strauss, Richard (Georg)” (by Gilliam and Youmans in Grove Music Online). Youmans identifies the items that were published in Schuh 1989, a collection of these materials. Of his writings, Strauss’s most important contribution is his revision of Berlioz’s Treatise on Instrumentation (Berlioz and Strauss 1991), a thorough revision of that important 19th-century text. In revising that work, Strauss offers insights into some of his own scoring choices, and he also draws on literature in the Austro-German tradition, especially Wagner’s music, to reflect late-19th-century practice.

Berlioz, Hector, and Richard Strauss. Treatise on Instrumentation. Translated by Theodore Front. New York: Dover, 1991.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Originally published in 1904, this translation and revision of Berlioz’s Orchestration Treatise (translated and edited by Hugh McDonald, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002) was influential in its time, with Strauss’s comments helpful for understanding his approach to scoring. Strauss updated Berlioz with examples from Wagner’s operas and other later works.
Find this resource:
Gilliam, Bryan, and Charles Youmans. “Strauss, Richard (Georg).” In Grove Music Online. Edited by Deane Root. 2010.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Published after the list of Strauss’s compositions and before the bibliography, Youmans provides a complete listing of all Strauss’s articles and publications about music; arranged chronologically with annotations that indicate pieces collected in Schuh 1989 and coordinated with bibliographic listings in Asow 1959–1974 (cited under Catalogues and Bibliographies).
Find this resource:
Schuh, Willi, ed. Richard Strauss: Betrachtungen und Erinnerungen. Munich: Piper, 1989.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Compilation of articles by Strauss from 1903 through 1942; includes statements about his own works, reminiscences of Bülow and Strauss’s father, as well as the composer’s comments on the premieres of several of his operas. Reprint of the second edition (Zurich, Switzerland: Atlantis-Verlag, 1957).
Find this resource:

Strauss the Conductor

The summary of his professional career, as offered in Holden 2010, reflects the posts Strauss held in Germany and Austria throughout his career, and this is complemented by Warfield’s comments on Strauss’s professional pursuits. Grasberger 1969, an account of the Vienna years, depicts the way Strauss interacted with musicians there. Strauss’s accomplishments include his efforts to revive some of Mozart’s operas that had fallen into neglect, as Lodato 2008 explores in her article about Idomeneo. Warfield 2010 puts the conducting career into sharp focus. Strauss’s relationship to the Third Reich is discussed in Walter 2010.

Grasberger, Franz. Richard Strauss und die Wiener Oper. Tutzing, West Germany: H. Schneider, 1969.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Study of Strauss’s relationship to the Vienna Court Opera (Wiener Hofoper) as conductor and composer; focus on codirection (with Franz Schalk), 1919–1924; includes plans of performances, premieres, and accounts of conducting outside the opera house.
Find this resource:
Holden, Raymond. “Kapellmeister Strauss.” In The Cambridge Companion to Richard Strauss. Edited by Charles Youmans, 257–269. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
DOI: 10.1017/CCOL9780521899307 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Concise and detailed review of Strauss’s conducting career, including information about his long-term appointments and guest conducting; includes a brief account of his time in Vienna and also covers his recordings; includes a brief statement on Strauss’s posthumous reputation as a conductor.
Find this resource:
Lodato, Suzanne M. “Strauss, Idomeneo and Postmodernism.” In Essays on Word/Music Adaptation and on Surveying the Field. Edited by David Francis Urrows, 177–196. Amsterdam: Rodopi B. V., 2008.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Discusses Strauss’s revision of Mozart’s Idomeneo for modern audiences and its implications for postmodern criticism. Useful assessment of Strauss’s accomplishment in this part of his performances of Mozart’s music and its significance for 19th-century revivals.
Find this resource:
Walter, Michael. “Strauss in the Third Reich.” In The Cambridge Companion to Richard Strauss. Edited by Charles Youmans, 226–241. Translated by Jürgen Thym. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
DOI: 10.1017/CCOL9780521899307 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Concise overview of Strauss’s involvement with the Nazi regime and its treatment of him, along with the composer’s international reputation and his personal motivation for political affiliation; takes into consideration recent scholarship on this topic.
Find this resource:
Warfield, Scott. “Richard Strauss and the Business of Music.” In The Cambridge Companion to Richard Strauss. Edited by Charles Youmans, 242–256. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
DOI: 10.1017/CCOL9780521899307 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Overview of Strauss’s career choices for his publications and conducting engagements. Includes a discussion of Strauss’s efforts as a champion of composers’ rights.
Find this resource:

Style

While Strauss was one of the foremost modernists early in his career, critics regard him as relatively conservative in his later works. The groundbreaking study, Specht 1921 remains relevant for its discussion of Strauss’s modernism, which Kristiansen 2002 explores through the lens of Stilkunst. Yet, individual elements of Strauss’s oeuvre merit attention, as Agawu 1992 and Puffett 1992 address in explorations of tonality, while Brosche 2010 explores quotation and allusion. An important aspect of Strauss’s music is his response to Nietzche, as Youmans 2005 discusses. Also, Adorno 1978 offers a critical framework for discussing sometimes conflicting elements of Strauss’s style.

Adorno, Theodor W. “Richard Strauss.” In Gesammelte Schriften 16: Musikalische Schriften, I–III. By Theodor W. Adorno, 565–606. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1978.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
First published in 1964 on the centenary of Strauss’s birth, the overview offers perspectives on Strauss and new music, neoromanticism, and popular elements in the composer’s works. Offers a framework for understanding the antimonies in Strauss’s legacy that allow technical proficiency to support aesthetic expression.
Find this resource:
Agawu, Kofi. “Extended Tonality in Mahler and Strauss.” In Richard Strauss: New Perspectives on the Composer and His Work. Edited by Bryan Gilliam, 55–78. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1992.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Succinct investigation of the ways in which both Mahler and Strauss used extended tonality, which also shows how the two composers arrived at distinctive approaches. Exemplary model for other comparative analyses of their music. Focus is on selected passages from Strauss’s large-scale works.
Find this resource:
Brosche, Günter. “Musical Quotations and Allusions in the Works of Richard Strauss.” In The Cambridge Companion to Richard Strauss. Edited by Charles Youmans, 213–225. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
DOI: 10.1017/CCOL9780521899307 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Useful introduction for exploring quotations and allusions in Strauss’s music; includes a discussion of self-quotation; references connect quotations to Strauss’s correspondence; includes discussions of both instrumental and vocal music.
Find this resource:
Kristiansen, Morten. “Richard Strauss, die Moderne, and the Concept of Stilkunst.” Musical Quarterly 86.4 (Winter 2002): 689–749.
DOI: 10.1093/musqtl/gdg022 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Investigation of Strauss’s stylistic pluralism as an expression of his modernism, which is rooted in his tone poems and found explicitly in Feuersnot. Kristiansen surveys the critical reception of Strauss’s music for the ways his music was perceived as modern. Includes extensive music examples.
Find this resource:
Puffett, Derrick. “‘Lass Er die Musi, wo sie ist’: Pitch Specificity in Strauss.” In Richard Strauss and His World. Edited by Bryan Gilliam, 128–163. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Discusses pitch specificity and leitmotifs, including the use of the Tristan chord and other harmonic references, and key relationships in various works of Strauss. Offers perspectives on an important dimension of Strauss’s style.
Find this resource:
Specht, Richard. Richard Strauss und sein Werk. 2 vols. Vienna: E. P. Tal, 1921.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Volumes include Volume 1, Der Künstler und sein Weg der Instrumentalkomponist, and Volume 2, Der Vokalkomponist, der Dramatiker. Dating from Strauss’s lifetime, the study covers instrumental work in Volume 1, including chamber music, the tone poems, and other major symphonic works. The second volume concerns vocal music, including songs, melodramas, and operas (through 1920). Music examples for each volume are published as supplements. Second volume has biographical sketch.
Find this resource:
Youmans, Charles. “The Role of Nietzsche in Richard Strauss’s Artistic Development.” Journal of Musicology 21.3 (2005): 209–242.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Assessment of the effect Nietzsche’s philosophy had on the reception of Strauss’s music, including its connections with popular images of the composer; suggests a reevaluation of Strauss’s shift in aesthetic perspective based on his thoughtful reading of Nietzsche.
Find this resource:

Orchestral Works

Strauss was first recognized for his orchestral works, with his tone poems establishing his reputation as an important force for new music. Gilliam 1997 provides a concise overview of these works, which is amplified by the perspectives that Hefling 1992 offers on the ways that Strauss, as well as Mahler, found to express extramusical ideas in their orchestral music. Youmans 2005 explores the topic in detail in this study of the philosophical background of Strauss’s works for orchestra and the ways in which the ideas support his musical structure.

Gilliam, Bryan. “Richard Strauss.” In The Nineteenth-Century Symphony. Edited by D. Kern Holoman, 345–369. New York: Schirmer, 1997.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Concise overview of the principal tone poems and other music, including the early four-movement Aus Italien; comments include references to various operas. Gilliam’s comments are informed by familiarity with sketches and other source material.
Find this resource:
Hefling, Stephen. E. “Miners Digging from Opposite Sides: Mahler, Strauss, and the Problem of Program Music.” In Richard Strauss: New Perspectives on the Composer and His Work. Edited by Bryan Gilliam, 41–53. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1992.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Comparative study of the approaches to extramusical content taken by Strauss and Mahler; discusses their methods for conveying extramusical ideas in symphonic music along with the ways they arrived at similar results.
Find this resource:
Youmans, Charles. Richard Strauss’s Orchestral Music and the German Intellectual Tradition: The Philosophical Roots of Musical Modernism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Youmans explores the aesthetics of modernism with Strauss, as found in the symphonic works that predate his operas, and also the composer’s return to orchestral composition at the end of his career. Includes a consideration of the philosophical influence of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche and the relationship between Wagner’s music and Strauss’s style.
Find this resource:

Tone Poems

Concise introductions to the tone poems may be found in Gilliam 1997 (cited under Orchestral Works), and also Hansen 2003, which constitutes a focused investigation; Werbeck 1996 offers a thorough discussion of the tone poems, which benefits from a close reading with Hepokoski 1998. Schmid 1997 involves a detailed consideration of the early criticism In addition to the detailed investigations of the tone poems as a group found in Werbeck 1996, Williamson 1993, a study of Also sprach Zarathustra, is a model for its concision and insights, along with Harrison 1991 and Hepokoski 2006, essays on individual tone poems.

Hansen, Matthias. Richard Strauss: Die Sinfonischen Dichtungen. Kassel, Germany: Bärenreiter, 2003.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Detailed study of Strauss’s tone poems from Macbeth through the Sinfonia domestica. Covers narrative programs behind the works and also the formal dimensions of the piece. Considers reception of the works and relationship to Strauss’s reputation as a composer.
Find this resource:
Harrison, Daniel. “Imagining Tod und Verklärung.” Richard Strauss Blätter 29 (June 1991): 22–52.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Interpretive study of Strauss’s tone poem, with emphasis on analytic aspects of the work and their relationship to its program.
Find this resource:
Hepokoski, James. “Review of Werbeck: Die Tondichtungen von Richard Strauss.” Journal of the American Musicological Society 51.3 (1998): 603–625.
DOI: 10.2307/832040 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Extensive review of Werbeck’s important study; discusses important issues Werbeck raised and explores their implications for program music in general, as well as matters related to orchestral music at the end of the 19th century. Includes an important discussion of perspectives on the reception of Strauss in modern musicology.
Find this resource:
Hepokoski, James. “Framing Till Eulenspiegel.” 19th Century Music 30.1 (2006): 4–43.
DOI: 10.1525/ncm.2006.30.1.004 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Analytic and interpretive study of the well-known tone poem; insights into the program and its intersection with the musical structure.
Find this resource:
Schmid, Mark-Daniel. “The Tone Poems of Richard Strauss and Their Reception History from 1887–1908.” PhD diss., Northwestern University, 1997.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Thorough examination of nine tone poems (Aus Italien, Don Juan, Macbeth, Tod und Verklarung, Till Eulenspiegel, Also sprach Zarathustra, Don Quixote, Ein Heldenleben, and Sinfonia domestica) as reflected in the criticism at their premieres and early performances; includes extracts from reviews and contemporary articles.
Find this resource:
Werbeck, Walter. Die Tondichtungen von Richard Strauss. Dokumente und Studien zu Richard Strauss 2. Tutzing, Germany: Hans Schneider, 1996.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Study of Strauss’s eight tone poems, from Macbeth (1888) to Sinfonia domestica (1903), and also the later Alpensinfonie (1915); discusses the background of these works, including sketches and other manuscripts; programs, structure, interpretation, and reception; nuanced discussion of programs and the significance of extramusical content; extensive bibliography.
Find this resource:
Williamson, John. Also sprach Zarathustra. Cambridge Music Handbooks. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Model study of a single tone poem, Also sprach Zarathustra, with discussion of its dramatic aspects, in addition to the consideration of Nietzsche’s influence. Detailed analysis in “Narratives” continues in the section on the “Rhetoric” of the piece, along with consideration of the reception. Includes select bibliography.
Find this resource:
Youmans, Charles. “The Private Intellectual Context of Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra.” 19th Century Music 22.2 (1998): 101–126.
DOI: 10.2307/746853 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Study of Strauss’s philosophical ideas and their influence on the composition of Also sprach Zarathustra. Perspectives on contemporary critical thought and ways in which Strauss fit into it; convincing analysis of the music and the ways it reflects Nietzche’s philosophy along with Strauss’s own thoughts.
Find this resource:

Other Orchestral Works

In addition to the tone poems, Strauss composed a number of works in various genres throughout his career. Warfield 2003 explores these works and puts these compositions into context. Specific works also merit individual attention, as is found in Bayreuther 1997, a study of the Alpensinfonie, Brosche 1992, a work on the late Oboe Concerto, and Weiss, an exploration of two works for piano and orchestra. Heisler 2009, a study of the ballets, is useful for the light it sheds on other, related works.

Bayreuther, Rainer. Richard Strauss’ “Alpensinfonie”: Enstehung, Analyse und Interpretation. Hildesheim, Germany: Georg Olms, 1997.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Thorough study of the compositional history of Strauss’s Alpensinfonie, along with an analysis of the work and perspectives on its interpretation.
Find this resource:
Brosche, Günter. “The Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra (1945): Remarks on the Origin of the Work Based on a Newly Discovered Source.” In Richard Strauss: New Perspectives on the Composer and His Work. Edited by Bryan Gilliam, 177–192. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1992.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Revisits the composition of this late work, based on information from a previously unknown source; reconsiders the value of this piece; model application of manuscript study for reassessing critical assumptions.
Find this resource:
Heisler, Wayne, Jr. The Ballet Collaborations of Richard Strauss. Eastman Studies in Music. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2009.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Unique study of Strauss’s ballets, including the unfinished Die Insel Kythere and its relationship to the composer’s other works in this genre, including Josephslegende and Schlagobers. Considerations of the stylistic choices that place Strauss’s ballets into the larger tradition of ballet in German culture.
Find this resource:
Warfield, Scott. “From ‘Too Many Works’ to ‘Wrist Exercises’: The Abstract Instrumental Compositions of Richard Strauss.” In The Richard Strauss Companion. Edited by Mark-Daniel Schmid, 191–231. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Discusses Strauss’s instrumental works from his youth through the “Indian Summer” of composing at the end of his career. Distinguishes between formal adherence and structural innovation; offers a context for the symphonies, concertos, and other pieces that Strauss pursued throughout his career.
Find this resource:
Weiss, Stefan. “Einstimmige Ablehnung ist Ehrensache: Programm und Künstlertrotz in Richard Strauss’ Klavierkonzerten der 1920er Jahren.” In Richard Strauss: Essays zu Leben und Werk. Edited by Michael Heinemann, Matthias Herrmann, and Stefan Weiss, 199–215. Laaber, Germany: Laaber Verlag, 2002.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Exploration of the Parergon, Op. 73, and Panathenäenzug, Op. 73, in the context of Strauss’s efforts at the time; investigates structural dimensions of the work, including the use of form and tonality, as well as affinities with other works Strauss pursued during the 1920s.
Find this resource:

Operas

The overview of Strauss’s operas in Osborne 1995 provides a solid introduction to those works, which may be supplemented by Mann 1966 for its musical discussion. Details about staging and design available in Hartmann 1982, with Lesnig 2008, which contains details for premieres and new productions through the 20th century. Yet, the perspectives in Banoun 2000 offer insights into the dramatic elements, just as Tambling 1996 provides a study of sociocultural insights. Grasberger 1969, a study (cited under Strauss the Conductor) of Strauss’s Vienna years, is important for the insights into the role of the composer-conductor at the apex of his career. Hottmann 2003 treats the late operas in detail.

Banoun, Bernard. L’opéra selon Richard Strauss: Un théâtre et son temps. Paris: Fayard, 2000.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Study of Strauss’s operas in the context of the dramatic conventions of the time and the composer’s response to them in his dramaturgy and scores. Useful perspectives for perceiving the dramatic qualities of the stage works.
Find this resource:
Hartmann, Rudolf. Richard Strauss: The Staging of His Operas and Ballets. Oxford: Phaidon, 1982.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Covers each work individually and arranged chronologically; includes set designs, photos from productions through 1980, playbills, and other facsimiles; useful for visualizing scores; includes a table of premieres and index. Translation of Richard Strauss: Die Bühnenwerke von der Uraufführung bis heute (Munich: R. Piper, 1980).
Find this resource:
Hottmann, Katharina. Historismus und Gattungsbewusstsein bei Richard Strauss: Untersuchungen zum späteren Opernschaffen. Tutzing, Germany: Hans Schneider, 2003.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Investigation of Strauss’s operas by historic character and dramatic style, with Intermezzo as “Spieloper,” operetta elements in Arabella, Ägyptische Helena expressive of mythology, Friedenstag as historic opera. Categories could be used to discuss other operas of Strauss, including earlier scores.
Find this resource:
Lesnig, Günther. Die Aufführungen der Opera von Richard Strauss im 20. Jahrhundert: Daten, Inszenierungen, Besetzungen. 2 vols. Tutzing, Germany: Hans Schneider, 2008.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
For reception history and performance practice, this two-volume reference contains details for the production of each of Strauss’s operas in the 20th century, including location, house, conductor, scenic designer, and principals. Includes excerpts from reviews of the premieres. Includes a comprehensive index.
Find this resource:
Mann, William. Richard Strauss: A Critical Study of the Operas. New York: Oxford University Press, 1966.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Study of each of Strauss’s operas, including dramatis personae, compositional background, plot summary, and a discussion of motives and themes; includes some comments about staging and reception; select bibliography
Find this resource:
Osborne, Charles. The Complete Operas of Strauss: A Critical Guide. London: Grange, 1995.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Overview in chronological order; each listing has cast and voice types, librettist and textual source, place and date of the premiere (with principals), and comments about the origins of the work followed by a plot summary. Osborne indicates in the plot summaries important numbers, along with music examples of important themes.
Find this resource:
Tambling, Jeremy. Opera and the Culture of Fascism. Oxford: Clarendon, 1996.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Focus on fascism as an expression of modernity; includes two chapters on Strauss: “Daughters of Kundry: Salome and Elektra” (pp. 161–185) and “Conducting from the Right: Strauss, Kitsch, and Nihilism” (pp. 186–208). Includes discussions of popular and decadent elements in Strauss’s operas.
Find this resource:

Through the Hofmannsthal Collaborations

As Kristiansen 2010 shows, Strauss’s early operas set the stage for his later efforts in the genre. Salome remains controversial for its text, as discussed in Schmidgall 1977 and as explored comprehensively in Puffett 1989b, who published a similar study of Elektra (Puffett 1989a). Jefferson 1985 demonstrates the enduring qualities of Der Rosenkavalier, which include the harmonic idiom discussed in Fassone 1989. Of the later operas, Forsyth 1982 offers a detailed study of Ariadne, a work that Gilliam 2003 (cited under After the Hofmannsthal Collaboration) views in the context of later efforts. Birkin 1989 offers insights into the late collaboration on Arabella. An overview of the collaboration between Strauss and Hofmannsthal exists in Bottenberg 1996, which explores specific aspects of the intensive Hofmannsthal collaboration.

Birkin, Kenneth. Richard Strauss: Arabella. Cambridge Opera Guides. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1989.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Includes a synopsis of Arabella and a discussion of its literary source and Hofmannsthal’s libretto, along with the latter’s collaboration with Strauss. Sections also cover the structure of the opera, the musical idiom, the sketchbook for Act 3, and the critical response to the work.
Find this resource:
Bottenberg, Joanna. Shared Creation: Words and Music in the Hofmannsthal-Strauss Operas. Frankfurt: P. Lang, 1996.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Detailed investigation of the ways in which the literary and musical structures of the collaborations with Strauss intersect and affect the other; helpful for specific discussions of the operas, in lieu of the generalizations about their collaborations. Includes discussions of Ariadne auf Naxos, Frau ohne Schatten, Ägyptische Helena, and Arabella.
Find this resource:
Fassone, Alberto. Il linguaggio armonico del “Rosenkavalier” di Richard Strauss. Florence: Passigli, 1989.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Focused discussion of the harmonic idiom in Der Rosenkavalier; references to evocation of 17th-century style and also resemblances to music in Feuersnot and Elektra; detailed analyses of selected passages; music examples; select bibliography.
Find this resource:
Forsyth, Karen. Ariadne auf Naxos by Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Richard Strauss: Its Genesis and Meaning. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Study of the origins of Ariadne auf Naxos and the interactions between Strauss and Hofmannsthal that led to its completion and ultimately its revision in the form in which it is best known. Considers interpretations of the work toward establishing its meaning.
Find this resource:
Jefferson, Alan. Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier. Cambridge Opera Guides. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Synopsis and analysis of Der Rosenkavalier, with discussions of sources of the opera, the use of language, stagings, interpretations, and textual variants. Also covers the film version of the work with which the composer was involved. Analysis by Norman Del Mar.
Find this resource:
Kristiansen, Morten. “Strauss’s Road to Operatic Success: Guntram, Feuersnot, and Salome.” In The Cambridge Companion to Richard Strauss. Edited by Charles Youmans, 105–114. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
DOI: 10.1017/CCOL9780521899307 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Contextualizes Strauss’s development as an opera composer in his first three works in the genre. Combines critical perspectives with philosophical perspectives; includes comments on the influence of Wagner on the early operas.
Find this resource:
Puffett, Derrick. Richard Strauss: Elektra. Cambridge Opera Guides. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1989a.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Overview of Elektra, with a discussion of the evolution of the libretto (by Karen Forsyth), the dramatic structure (by Arnold Whittall), the “musical language” (by Tethys Carpenter), and the semiotic dimensions (by Carolyn Abbate). Includes a discussion of the orchestration (by Robin Holloway).
Find this resource:
Puffett, Derrick. Richard Strauss: Salome. Cambridge Opera Guides. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1989b.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Synopsis of Salome, along with sections on the literary tradition in which Salome belongs and the relationship between the libretto and Wilde’s place, the tonal and dramatic structure (by Tethys Carpenter), and the critical reception (by John Williamson). Includes Strauss’s scenario for the “Dance of Seven Veils.”
Find this resource:
Schmidgall, Gary. “Salome.” In Literature as Opera. By Gary Schmidgall, 249–286. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Chapter in a book-length study of the literary dimensions of opera; Schmidgal emphasizes the concept of decadence as found in Wilde’s play and expressed in Strauss’s opera. Involves a discussion of the revisions of Wilde’s play for Strauss’s libretto; includes references to contemporary criticism.
Find this resource:

After the Hofmannsthal Collaborations

Strauss worked with various librettists after Hofmannsthal’s death. First, he collaborated with Stefan Zweig, who ultimately fled Austria and then with Joseph Gregor. For Strauss’s final opera Capriccio, the librettist was the conductor Clemens Kraus. Strauss’s later operas contain affinities with earlier ones, as Gilliam 2003 explores; likewise, Schlötterer 2005 discusses Strauss’s use of Greek myth in Die Liebe der Danae. Yet, new ideas also emerge, as with pacifism in Friedenstag, which Gilliam 2004 and Potter 1983 explore. Wilhelm 1988 discusses the development of Capriccio and its perspectives on the competing priorities between text and music in opera.

Gilliam, Bryan. “Ariadne, Daphne, and the Problem of Verwandlung.” Cambridge Opera Journal 15.1 (2003): 67–81.
DOI: 10.1017/S0954586703000673 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Concept of transformation in Strauss’s work, with reference to the earlier opera Ariadne auf Naxos but with specific application to the substance of the later opera Daphne. Useful discussion of the function of instrumental music in the latter work.
Find this resource:
Gilliam, Bryan. “‘Friede im Innern’: Strauss’s Public and Private Worlds in the mid-1930s.” Journal of the American Musicological Society 57.3 (2004): 565–598.
DOI: 10.1525/jams.2004.57.3.565 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Focus on Strauss’s political and artistic situation in Nazi Germany, including the composition of Friedenstag and various choral works around the time of the controversy about Zweig. Includes a discussion of cultural forces and their influence on Strauss’s musical choices.
Find this resource:
Potter, Pamela M. “Strauss’s Friedenstag: A Pacifist Attempt at Political Resistance.” Musical Quarterly 69 (1983): 408–424.
DOI: 10.1093/mq/LXIX.3.408 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Investigation of Friedenstag as a political statement; considers the text in the contexts of the work itself and also the Nazi regime; perspectives assist in placing the work among Strauss’s late operas and also in approaching the music.
Find this resource:
Schlötterer, Reinhold. “Richard Strauss, ‘Der griechische Germane,’ und seine letzte mythologische Oper ‘Die Liebe der Danae.’” In Richard Strauss: Der griechische Germane. Edited by Ulrich Tadday, 121–137. Munich: Edition Text + Kritik, 2005.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Discusses Die Liebe der Danae in light of its connections with Greek mythology and Strauss’s use of that milieu for expressing modern ideas.
Find this resource:
Wilhelm, Kurt. Fürs Wort brauche ich Hilfe: Die Geburt der Oper Capriccio von Richard Strauss und Clemens Krauss. Munich: Nymphenburger, 1988.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Documentary study of Capriccio based on selected source materials to present an overview of the compositional history from the impulse for the opera with Zweig to its completion and premiere. Includes facsimiles of music and text pages; photos from the period and from the premiere.
Find this resource:

Lieder

Strauss composed Lieder throughout his career, with more than two hundred contributions to the genre, both with piano and with orchestral accompaniment. Youens 2010 and Getz 2003 offer solid introductions to these works, which can be supplemented with the detailed explorations in Del Mar 1986. Schlötterer 1988 includes the full text of the poems as Strauss set them. Petersen 1980 offers insights into the compositional background of the Lieder. Zychowicz 2004 offers a comparative study with the Lieder of Mahler. Jackson 1992, a study of the late songs, demonstrates their affinities with earlier works in the genre.

Del Mar, Norman. “A Lifetime of Lieder Writing.” In Richard Strauss: A Critical Commentary on His Life and Works. Vol. 3. By Norman Del Mar, 246–404. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1986.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Arranged chronologically, this self-contained section of Del Mar’s study offers a comprehensive guide to Strauss’s Lieder; includes an alphabetic list of songs (pp. xiii–xxi) with chronological list of songs in the appendixes, plus numerous examples to illustrate the analyses; Vier letzte Lieder discussed on pp. 460–466.
Find this resource:
Getz, Christine. “The Lieder of Richard Strauss.” In The Richard Strauss Companion. Edited by Mark-Daniel Schmid, 335–382. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Overview of Lieder that contains information on various aspects of tone-painting in the settings and also differences between the orchestral and keyboard versions of the songs.
Find this resource:
Jackson, Timothy L. “Ruhe meine Seele! and the Letzte Orchesterlieder.” In Richard Strauss and His World. Edited by Bryan Gilliam, 90–137. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Reconsideration of the provenance of Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder based on various kinds of documentation, including manuscript study and internal evidence. Includes a bibliography of secondary literature on the Vier letzte Lieder.
Find this resource:
Petersen, Barbara A. Ton und Wort: The Lieder of Richard Strauss. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1980.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Overview of sources (manuscripts and printed sources), texts, poets, styles of setting texts, performance practice, and criticism. Includes a model study of the Lieder, Op. 68. Also covers unfinished vocal music and various sketchbooks. Includes a select bibliography.
Find this resource:
Schlötterer, Reinhold. Die Texte der Lieder von Richard Strauss. Pfaffenhofen, West Germany: W. Ludwig Verlag, 1988.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A collection of the texts of all the Strauss Lieder, with annotations, including revisions the composer made, composition details, and the published source of the text. Appendix includes a list of poets Strauss set, with all songs indexed by first line and by title.
Find this resource:
Youens, Susan. “‘Actually, I Like My Songs Best’: Strauss’s Lieder.” In The Cambridge Companion to Richard Strauss. Edited by Charles Youmans, 151–177. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
DOI: 10.1017/CCOL9780521899307 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Useful taxonomy of Strauss’s Lieder with sensitivity to both texts and musical style; uses specific passages to illustrate qualities found in various Lieder, and could be taken forward for further examinations of other works in this genre.
Find this resource:
Zychowicz, James L. “The Lieder of Mahler and Richard Strauss.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Lied. Edited by James Parsons, 245–272. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
DOI: 10.1017/CCOL9780521800273 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Comprehensive overview of Strauss’s Lieder; includes a discussion of the poets Strauss set and the differences between the piano and orchestral versions; includes a table of the Lieder in chronological order sorted by title, with the keyboard and orchestra versions aligned.
Find this resource:

Source Studies

Sources studies, that is, investigations of sketches and manuscripts, offer information about Strauss’s creative process, which is outlined in Schlötterer 1999 and applied to orchestral works in Werbeck 2010. Since Strauss approached operas differently, the perspectives on Strauss’s preliminary sketches offered in Gilliam 1985 is useful. While these studies include various facsimile pages, Trenner 1977, a facsimile edition of the sketchbooks, offers a comprehensive perspective on them.

Gilliam, Bryan. “Strauss’s Preliminary Opera Sketches: Thematic Fragments and Symphonic Continuity.” 19th Century Music 9 (1985): 176–188.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Counters earlier ideas about Strauss’s compositional practice by using sketches and drafts to explore the composer’s approach to opera.
Find this resource:
Schlötterer, Reinhold. “Zum Schaffensprozeß bei Richard Strauss: Ausgehend von autographen Dokumenten der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek.” In Richard Strauss: Autographen, Porträts, Bühnenbilder. Edited by Hartmut Schaefer, 23–27. Munich: Bayerischer Staatsbibliothek, 1999.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Outline of Strauss’s compositional process with direct references to sketches and other materials in the Staatsbibliothek. Includes distinctions between kinds of materials that survive. Sketch facsimiles also appear in the latter part of the volume.
Find this resource:
Trenner, Franz. Die Skizzenbücher von Richard Strauss aus dem Richard-Strauss-Archiv in Garmisch. Tutzing, West Germany: Hans Schneider, 1977.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Single volume consisting of a catalogue of the sketchbooks found at Garmisch and also a facsimile of them. The catalogue provides further information about the contents, including transcriptions of handwritten annotations. The edition does not include a transcription of the music. Includes a brief foreword.
Find this resource:
Werbeck, Walter. “Strauss’s Compositional Process.” In The Cambridge Companion to Richard Strauss. Edited by Charles Youmans, 22–41. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
DOI: 10.1017/CCOL9780521899307 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Overview of Strauss’s approach to composition, with the emphasis on instrumental compositions. Includes references to both source materials and other firsthand accounts, such as interview and letters. See also Trenner 1977.
Find this resource:

Specific Works

Studies of specific works offer further insights into the composer’s working method. Gilliam 1991, a monograph on Elektra, reflects both the musical content and the libretto’s evolution. A similar study, Jones 2009, offers insights into the composition of Der Rosenkavalier. More focused studies are also useful. Erwin 1981 explores the pre-sketch efforts for Ariadne and Jackson 1992 and Lodes 1994 discuss the composition of Metamorphosen. For some works, it is valuable to gain the full perspective, as in the documentary study of Capriccio in Wilhelm 1988 (cited under After the Hofmannsthal Collaborations). Lodes 1994, a study of Metamorphosen, offers perspectives on Strauss’s reworking of existing material, which is complemented by Jackson 1992.

Erwin, Charlotte E. “Richard Strauss’s Presketch Planning for ‘Ariadne auf Naxos.’” Musical Quarterly 67.3 (1981): 348–365.
DOI: 10.1093/mq/LXVII.3.348 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Analysis of sketches in the context of the libretto (Handexemplare) for Ariadne auf Naxos to demonstrate Strauss’s preliminary efforts to guide the more detailed sketches he would eventually undertake for individual scenes in the work.
Find this resource:
Gilliam, Bryan. Richard Strauss’s Elektra. Studies in Musical Genesis and Structure. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Thorough investigation of the genesis of Elektra, with substantial coverage of the way the libretto evolved and its relationship with the score. Overview of the compositional history with detailed study of the final scene. Includes comprehensive list of manuscripts plus select bibliography.
Find this resource:
Jackson, Timothy. “The Metamorphosis of the Metamorphosen: New Analytical and Source-Critical Discoveries.” In Richard Strauss: New Perspectives on the Composer and His Work. Edited by Bryan Gilliam, 195–242. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1992.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Thorough investigation of the composition of Strauss’s Metamorphosen; integrates analytic findings with a sketch study and discusses extramusical ideas associated with that score. Includes facsimiles.
Find this resource:
Jones, Joseph E. “A Study of Richard Strauss’s Creative Process: Der Rosenkavalier’s ‘Presentation Scene’ and ‘Schlussduett.’” In Genetic Criticism and the Creative Process: Essays from Music, Literature, and Theater. Edited by William Kinderman and Joseph E. Jones, 170–191. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2009.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Study of the sources for Der Rosenkavalier, with emphasis on the sketches and other autograph materials and with a focus on two episodes in the opera, the “Presentation of the Rose” and the concluding duet. Based on material in Jones dissertation, “Der Rosenkavalier: Genesis, Modelling, and New Aesthetic Paths.”
Find this resource:
Lodes, Birgit. “Richard Strauss’ Skizzen zu den Metamorphosen und ihre Beziehung zu Trauer um München.” Musikforschung 47.3 (1994): 234–252.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Detailed investigation of the sketches for the late orchestral work Metamorphosen and the composer’s music for the film Trauer um München; includes a discussion of reworking ideas to shape a new piece.
Find this resource:

Collected Volumes/Festschrifts

Several volumes of collections contain significant research on Strauss and his legacy, starting with the groundbreaking collections edited by Gilliam (Gilliam 1992a and Gilliam 1992b). Edelmann 2001 focuses on Strauss and modernism. Heinemann, et al. 2002 also contains important articles on various aspects of Strauss’s legacy; a later, more focused volume on the theme of the influence of Greek culture was published in the Text + Kritik series as Tadday 2005. Schmid 2003 includes a section on Strauss’s influence. Of the later publications on Strauss, Youmans 2010 is an important collection of articles about Strauss’s works and their continued relevance.

Edelmann, Bernd, Birgit Lodes, and Reinhold Schlötterer. Richard Strauss und die Moderne: Bericht über das Internationale Symposium, München, 21. bis 23. Juli 1999. Berlin: Henschel, 2001.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Studies are collected in three sections to cover Strauss and the concept of modernity, modernism in music, and modern aspects of modernism. Includes explorations of Strauss in the context of his contemporaries, along with specific features of Strauss’s style that exemplify innovations. In German and English; includes notes.
Find this resource:
Gilliam, Bryan, ed. Richard Strauss and His World. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992a.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Contains four sections: “Essays,” “Letters,” “Memoirs,” and “Criticism and Reception,” with translations of Adorno and others in the last section; “Memoirs” includes English translations of some firsthand accounts. Opening essay by Botstein suggests a reassessment of Strauss, and an essay by Michael Steinberg offers perspectives on Strauss’s politics.
Find this resource:
Gilliam, Bryan, ed. Richard Strauss: New Perspectives on the Composer and His Work. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1992b.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Collected essays in two sections: “The Musical-Historical Context,” with comparative studies on Liszt, Mahler, and others, and “The Musical Works,” which includes articles on late works along with new perspectives on Intermezzo, Rosenkavalier, and other pieces. Includes Petersen’s article on Strauss as an advocate for other composers.
Find this resource:
Heinemann, Michael, Matthias Hermann, and Stefan Weiss, eds. Richard Strauss: Essays zu Leben und Werk. Laaber, Germany: Laaber Verlag, 2002.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A collection of specific and detailed articles on aspects of Strauss’s career, personality, and politics along with studies of major instrumental works, operas, and songs from Feuersnot through the Vier letzte Lieder.
Find this resource:
Schmid, Mark-Daniel, ed. The Richard Strauss Companion. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A collection of essays on Strauss’s influence, his instrumental works, and his vocal music, the latter covering Lieder, operas, and choral music. Includes select bibliography, with annotations, by Scott Warfield.
Find this resource:
Tadday, Ulrich, ed. Richard Strauss: Der griechische Germane. Munich: Edition Text + Kritik, 2005.
Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Collected volume on Greek culture in a German milieu; includes articles that deal with Greek mythology in Strauss’s opera and the incorporation of Greek aesthetics in German music through Strauss particularly in the late works, including Daphne and Die Liebe der Danae.
Find this resource:
Youmans, Charles, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Richard Strauss. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
DOI: 10.1017/CCOL9780521899307 Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Approaches various significant aspects of Strauss’s life and works; model chronology, along with an introduction that assesses research to date; articles offer an overview of the music, compositional process, conducting career, political leanings, legacy, and other aspects of his career. End notes contain detailed references; includes select bibliography.
Find this resource:

Music

Jump to Other Articles:

Article

Down

Recently viewed (0)