Songs

Richard Strauss’ reputation among current music lovers is primarily based on his operas (e.g., Salome and Der Rosenkavalier) and large symphonic tone poems (Zarathustra, Don Juan). However, he produced a great deal of music in many genres, and a fuller picture of the man and composer must take those other creations into account. In fact, some critics hold the opinion that Strauss’ lieder provide a better, more intimate picture of the man than do his compositions for large ensemble. These songs show Strauss in the milieu of the fin-de-siecle salon, a place where he was comfortable to be himself and reveal a penchant for striking oppositions: noble and intellectual but prone to low humor, reserved but at times giving vent to strong sensual impulses. After achieving local recognition for some of his early song sets, Strauss garnered wider acclaim with his op. 27 collection (1894), four songs written as a wedding gift for his wife and which includes Im Spätboot.
The scene put forth in Im Spätboot is typically vivid. The poem picks up on a familiar motif—the sweet sleep of death—and details the final boat ride. We are in Charon’s hands now, and Strauss keys in on the motion of the boat as it conveys all travelers to their final destination. Strauss sinks much of the vocal writing deep in the darkness. All indications of a single sustained emotion are undercut by unexpected dissonant resolutions and deceptive harmonic progressions, creating a sense of tension that must navigate across successive peaks and troughs.
Following these early songs, Strauss garnered wider acclaim with additional vocal collections, including Opp. 19, 21, and 27. This last set comprises four songs written as a wedding gift for his wife, soprano Pauline de Ahna. Certain traits become more prominent in his mature songs: rapturous harmonic support, operatic gestures (including high A’s and B-flat’s), simpler postludes, and “over the top” expressivity. Domestic bliss certainly motivates the more optimistic song texts, as in “Ich trage meine Minne”. The doubling of voice and piano create an aural oneness that probably goes beyond music to biography. “Breit’ uber mein Haupt” explores a similar world but is less intimate and more effusive.
In “Ach weh mir unglückhaftem Mann” Strauss provides a wonderfully apt depiction of the poem’s imagery, which centers on a young lover’s flights of fancy: “If only I had money,” he says, “I would harness four white horses and lead them to you in a trot.” And sure enough, after the initial despairing chromatic ideas have run their course, the piano accompaniment plays the horses’ trotting rhythm and the mood brightens considerably.
Dominated by a rolling piano accompaniment, “Heimliche Aufforderung” is a recognized masterpiece. The hyperactive texture and melodic action accord with the poem’s unrestrained eroticism. Quick modulations help portray the protagonist’s drunken anticipation, building every instant until the final line, which Strauss wisely repeats. At the other end of the spectrum, the comic miniature “Für fünfzehn Pfennige” uses jagged vocal texture and coloratura flourishes to lightly have fun at the expense of bel canto opera.
“Morgen” finds Strauss luxuriating in Schumannesque sounds, as the arpeggiated left hand and soaring right hand combine to set the stage upon which the voice enters in medias res. Finally, “Schlechtes Wetter” shows an older Strauss revisiting poets of his youth (Heine) for a brief song ranging from stormy chromaticism to pensive lyricism. Such romantic sentiments as the poem deals with are hardly novel, though Strauss takes great pains to invigorate each fleeting emotion with descriptive music. This small selection can only hint at the astounding variety achieved by Strauss over the course of 60 years in writing art song.


These songs provide just a glimpse into a very complex and multi-faceted musical personality, ranging from youthful orchestral works in imitation of Schumann and Wagner all the way to the modernist operas written under the Nazi regime. Strauss’ Four Last Songs (1948) are a concert favorite, testifying to the importance the vocal genre held in his output from start to finish.

(c) Jason Stell