Four last Songs

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The Four Last Songs, AV 150 - TrV 296 by Richard Strauss based on poems by Hermann Hesse and Joseph von Eichendorff , were written in 1948 in Switzerland, where Strauss and his wife had moved after the end of the war. Their title does not come from the composer, nor were they intended to be a complete cycle. Rather, they document a continuous, dynamic examination of the topics of death and parting, also against the background of the past war and in anticipation of one's own imminent death. In the last of the four songs, Im Abendrot , Strauss not only quotes his own orchestral piece Death and Transfiguration , but also, rhythmically slightly modified, the beginning of the German Requiem by Johannes Brahms .

History of origin

During this time, Strauss met Hermann Hesse by chance in a Swiss hotel. The encounter was not pleasant for Hesse, also because he did not like Strauss' “rushing” style. Among the Four Last Songs Hesse said later, she appeared to him "like all Strauss music: virtuosity, refined, fully handcrafted beauty, but no center, just an end in itself."

In the first printed edition, which was published posthumously in 1950 by Boosey & Hawkes , on the instructions of the publishing director Ernst Roth, with whom Strauss was friends, an order that deviated from the chronology of the creation was chosen, which has been retained until today - also in concert usage:

  • 1st spring (completion date : Pontresina , July 13, 1948; text: Hermann Hesse, April 1899)
  • September 2 (completion date: Montreux , September 20, 1948; text: Hermann Hesse, September 23, 1927)
  • 3. When going to bed (completion date: Pontresina, August 4, 1948; text: Hermann Hesse, July 1911)
  • 4. In the sunset (completion date: Montreux, May 6, 1948; text: Joseph von Eichendorff)

It was also Roth who named the edition Four Last Songs .

The premiere took place on May 22, 1950 at the Royal Albert Hall in London ; the interpreters were Kirsten Flagstad and the Philharmonia Orchestra under the direction of Wilhelm Furtwängler .

text

1st spring (Text: Hermann Hesse)

September 2nd (Text: Hermann Hesse)

3. When going to bed (Text: Hermann Hesse)

(Hesse's works are protected by copyright until December 31, 2032 and may therefore not be reproduced here.)

4. In the sunset (Text: Joseph von Eichendorff)

We have
gone hand in hand through hardship and joy ;
from hiking we (both) rest [deleted by Strauss]
over the quiet land.

The valleys slope
around it, the air is already darkening.
Two larks only rise
dreamily into the scent.

Come here and let it go, it
will soon be bedtime.
That we don't get lost
in this loneliness.

O further, quiet peace!
So deep in the sunset
How tired are we hiking -
is this death?

Instrumentation

3 flutes , 2 oboes , English horn , 2 clarinets (in Bb and A), bass clarinet, 2 bassoons , contrabassoon , 4 horns (in F, also Eb and D), 3 trumpets (in C, Eb and F), 3 trombones , Tuba , timpani , harp , celesta , and strings .

Recordings (selection)

Only in the sunset :

literature

  • “-Uh” [= Willi Schuh ], review of the premiere, in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , June 1, 1950
  • Willi Schuh, The Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss , in: Schweizerische Musikzeitung , Vol. 90, No. 6 of June 1, 1950, pp. 301–304
  • Volker Wehdeking, Richard Strauss' last song compositions based on Hermann Hesse's poems: Congenial (unfinished) implementation in the spirit of pantheistic “letting go” , in: Hermann-Hesse-Jahrbuch 4 (2009), ISSN  1614-1423 , pp. 97–114

Web links