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Richard Strauss

Richard Georg Strauss (German: [ˈʁɪçaʁt ˈʃtʁaʊs]; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his tone poems and operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt. Along with Gustav Mahler, he represents the late flowering of German Romanticism, in which pioneering subtleties of orchestration are combined with an advanced harmonic style.

Strauss's compositional output began in 1870 when he was just six years old and lasted until his death nearly eighty years later. His first tone poem to achieve wide acclaim was Don Juan, and this was followed by other lauded works of this kind, including Death and Transfiguration, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Also sprach Zarathustra, Don Quixote, Ein Heldenleben, Symphonia Domestica, and An Alpine Symphony. His first opera to achieve international fame was Salome which used a libretto by Hedwig Lachmann that was a German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. This was followed by several critically acclaimed operas with librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal: Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Die ägyptische Helena, and Arabella. His last operas, Daphne, Friedenstag, Die Liebe der Danae and Capriccio used libretti written by Joseph Gregor, the Viennese theatre historian. Other well-known works by Strauss include two symphonies, lieder (especially the Four Last Songs), the Violin Concerto in D minor, the Horn Concerto No. 1, Horn Concerto No. 2, his Oboe Concerto and other instrumental works such as Metamorphosen.

A prominent conductor in Western Europe and the Americas, Strauss enjoyed quasi-celebrity status as his compositions became standards of orchestral and operatic repertoire. He was chiefly admired for his interpretations of the works of Liszt, Mozart, and Wagner in addition to his own works. A conducting disciple of Hans von Bülow, Strauss began his conducting career as Bülow's assistant with the Meiningen Court Orchestra in 1883. After Bülow resigned in 1885, Strauss served as that orchestra's primary conductor for five months before being appointed to the conducting staff of the Bavarian State Opera where he worked as third conductor from 1886 to 1889. He then served as principal conductor of the Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar from 1889 to 1894. In 1894 he made his conducting debut at the Bayreuth Festival, conducting Wagner's Tannhäuser with his wife, soprano Pauline de Ahna, singing Elisabeth. He then returned to the Bavarian State Opera, this time as principal conductor, from 1894 to 1898, after which he was principal conductor of the Berlin State Opera from 1898 to 1913. From 1919 to 1924 he was principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera, and in 1920 he co-founded the Salzburg Festival. In addition to these posts, Strauss was a frequent guest conductor in opera houses and with orchestras internationally.

In 1933 Strauss was appointed to two important positions in the musical life of Nazi Germany: head of the Reichsmusikkammer and principal conductor of the Bayreuth Festival. The latter role he accepted after conductor Arturo Toscanini had resigned from the position in protest against the Nazi Party. These positions have led some to criticize Strauss for his seeming collaboration with the Nazis. However, Strauss's daughter-in-law, Alice Grab Strauss [née von Hermannswörth], was Jewish and much of his apparent acquiescence to the Nazi Party was done to save her life and the lives of her children (his Jewish grandchildren). He was also apolitical, and took the Reichsmusikkammer post to advance copyright protections for composers, attempting as well to preserve performances of works by banned composers such as Mahler and Felix Mendelssohn. Further, Strauss insisted on using a Jewish librettist, Stefan Zweig, for his opera Die schweigsame Frau which ultimately led to his firing from the Reichsmusikkammer and Bayreuth. His opera Friedenstag, which premiered just before the outbreak of World War II, was a thinly veiled criticism of the Nazi Party that attempted to persuade Germans to abandon violence for peace. Thanks to his influence, his daughter-in-law was placed under protected house arrest during the war, but despite extensive efforts he was unable to save dozens of his in-laws from being killed in Nazi concentration camps. In 1948, a year before his death, he was cleared of any wrongdoing by a denazification tribunal in Munich.

Birth and Death Data: Born June 11, 1864 (Munich), Died September 8, 1949 (Garmisch-Partenkirchen)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1904 - 1953

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, conductor, lyricist

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 126-150 of 295 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor D6RC-5722 12-in. 4/19/1946 Don Juan Boston Symphony Orchestra ; Serge Koussevitzky Orchestra composer  
Victor D9RB-0267 10-in. 3/9/1949 Die Zeitlose Lotte Lehmann ; Paul Ulanowsky Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor D9RB-0268 10-in. 3/9/1949 Du meines Herzens Krönelein Lotte Lehmann ; Paul Ulanowsky Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor [Trial 1916-02-21-02] Not documented 2/21/1916 Zueignung Mrs. Archibald White Female vocal solo, with piano composer  
Columbia 39306 10-in. 3/26/1914 Lantour lourelo Mme. Vota Female vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 39314 10-in. 4/3/1914 Traum durch die Dämmerung Ottilie Metzger Contralto vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 45604 10-in. 5/5/1915 Ständchen Margarete Matzenauer Mezzo-soprano vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 47352 10-in. 2/8/1917 Morgen Elena Gerhardt Mezzo-soprano vocal solo, with piano and orchestra composer  
Columbia 30146 12-in. 5/23/1911 Cacilie Lillian Nordica Soprano vocal solo composer  
Columbia 30677 12-in. ca. 1911 Serenade Lillian Nordica Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Columbia W143466 10-in. 2/11/1927 Traum durch die Dämmerung Elsa Alsen Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Columbia W144006 10-in. 4/7/1927 Allerseelen Elsa Alsen Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Columbia W144007 10-in. 4/7/1927 Traum durch die Dämmerung Elsa Alsen Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Columbia W148377 10-in. 4/25/1929 Heimliche Aufforderung Fraser Gange Male vocal solo, with piano lyricist, composer  
Columbia W148380 10-in. 4/26/1929 Ruhe meine Seele Arthur Bergh ; Fraser Gange Male vocal solo, with piano composer  
Columbia W149173 10-in. 10/23/1929 Traum durch die Dämmerung Arthur Bergh ; Alexander Kipnis Bass vocal solo, with piano composer  
Columbia W149174 10-in. 10/23/1929 Zueignung Arthur Bergh ; Alexander Kipnis Bass vocal solo, with piano composer  
Columbia W98670 12-in. 9/20/1929 Morgen Louis Graveure Tenor vocal solo, with piano composer  
Columbia 6564 12-in. approximately 1915 Der Rosenkavalier waltzes, act 2 Beecham Symphony Orchestra ; Thomas Beecham Orchestra composer  
Columbia 6766 12-in. approximately 1916 Tills merry pranks: or a rogue's New Queen's Hall Orchestra ; Henry J. Wood Orchestra composer  
Columbia 6786 12-in. approximately 1916 Tills merry pranks: or a rogue's New Queen's Hall Orchestra ; Henry J. Wood Orchestra composer  
Columbia 75034 12-in. 1/18/1922 Don Juan, part 1 London Symphony Orchestra ; Richard Strauss Orchestra conductor, composer  
Columbia 75035 12-in. 1/18/1922 Don Juan, part 2 London Symphony Orchestra ; Richard Strauss Orchestra conductor, composer  
Columbia 75036 12-in. 1/18/1922 Don Juan, part 3 London Symphony Orchestra ; Richard Strauss Orchestra conductor, composer  
Columbia 75037 12-in. 1/18/1922 Don Juan, part 4 London Symphony Orchestra ; Richard Strauss Orchestra conductor, composer  
(Results 126-150 of 295 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Strauss, Richard," accessed March 29, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102331.

Strauss, Richard. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102331.

"Strauss, Richard." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 29 March 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102331

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