Sinfonia domestica
The Sinfonia domestica (op. 53; published as Symphonia Domestica ) is a symphonic poem ( tone poem ) for large orchestra by Richard Strauss and was composed between 1902–1903 in Berlin, where Strauss was the Prussian court conductor.
Similar to his previously composed tone poem Ein Heldenleben , it bears autobiographical traits and represents a rhapsody about his family life. In response to Romain Rolland's objection that Strauss is already dealing with himself again, the composer replied: "I don't see why I don't have a symphony on myself. I find myself as interesting as Napoleon and Alexander. "
The score bears the dedication: To my dear wife and our boy. It is divided into four sections: Allegro, Scherzo, Adagio, Finale, with three themes (the man, the woman, the child) dominating. The sections are assigned to domestic situations: a lively visit from the relatives, the relationship between the parents and the child, family quarrels and, as a final, domestic peace.
The work was premiered on March 31, 1904 by the Wetzler Symphony Orchestra in New York's Carnegie Hall as part of a Strauss Festival under the direction of the composer. Strauss describes, "... that Domestica [...] had a colossal enthusiastic success. After a lot of trouble with the anarchist gang of New York musicians, I managed to achieve a brilliant performance in 15 rehearsals with an array of energy and abundant ranting." Although the premiere was a great success, this tone poem is rarely performed today compared to the other works by Strauss. The work was also recorded for the record with the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of the composer. Further recordings were made under David Zinman , Lorin Maazel , Wilhelm Furtwängler , Herbert von Karajan , Franz Konwitschny and others.
occupation
The Symphony domestica has a playing time of about 45 minutes and calls for the following large orchestra: piccolo , 3 flutes , 2 oboe , oboe d'amore , English horn , 4 clarinets (one in each of D and A, two in B), bass clarinet , 4 Fagotte , Contrabassoon , 4 saxophones (each one soprano, alto, baryton and bass; only in extreme emergency ad libitum), 8 horns , 4 trumpets , 3 trombones , bass tuba , 4 timpani , percussion ( cymbals , triangle , Tambourine , glockenspiel (musical instrument) , bass drum ; two players), 2 harps and strings (16 first violins, 16 second violins, 12 violas, 10 cellos, 8 double basses).
literature
- Mathias Hansen (Ed.): Richard Strauss. The symphonic seals (paperback) Bärenreiter 2003, ISBN 978-3-7618-1468-0
- Gottfried Eberle: Sinfonia domestica for large orchestra , in: Konold, Wulf (Hg.): Lexikon Orchestermusik Romantik , Vol. 3. Mainz a. a., 1989