Richard Strauss at 150

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Today marks the 150th birthday of Richard Strauss (1864-1949). The Bavarian town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where the composer lived for over 40 years, will begin its celebration with the Richard Strauss Festival. In numerous other events, the music of Strauss, one of the most performed composers in the world, will be honored.

The RISM online catalog has almost 700 sources by Richard Strauss. Most of his manuscripts can today be found in German-speaking countries. Among the few digitized sources are sketches to the opera “Die Frau ohne Schatten” from the collection of the Juilliard School (US-NYj, RISM ID no. 900005650). RISM has an ongoing partnership with the Richard Strauss Quellenverzeichnis project, which is why we have so many sources in the database by this modern composer.

Strauss also has connections to Frankfurt, where some of his works were premiered. Richard Strauss directed a Friday Concert of the Frankfurt Museum Society on 27 November 1896, in which he conducted the world premiere of his tone poem “Also sprach Zarathustra.” Three years later saw the premiere of “Ein Heldenleben” by the same ensemble, again under his baton. Beginning on Sunday, June 15, there will be an exhibit at the Frankfurt Opera about Strauss with an accompanying symposium. Recent publications on Strauss include:

• Bryan Gilliam, Rounding Wagner’s Mountain: Richard Strauss and Modern German Opera (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014).
• A German edition of Gilliam’s The Life of Richard Strauss, published as Richard Strauss – Magier der Töne. Eine Biographie (Munich: C.H. Beck, 2014).
• David Hurwitz; Richard Strauss: An Owner’s Manual (Montclair, NJ: Amadeus Press, 2014).
• Ann Kersting-Meuleman and Friederike Wißman, “Richard Strauss - (K)ein Heldenleben?” Forum Musikbibliothek 35 (2014): 26-32.
• Laurenz Lütteken, Richard Strauss. Die Opern. Ein musikalischer Werkführer (Munich: Beck, 2013).

Below, the first part of Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten. Follow along with the Juilliard sketchbook! With the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Groot Omroepkoor, and Nationaal Kinderkoor, Vladimir Jurowski, conductor.

Image credit: Sketchbook to Die Frau ohne Schatten, Juilliard School (without shelfmark, inside front cover), dedication to Richard Specht.

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Category: Musical anniversaries

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