Strauss, along with Gustav Mahler, represents the late flowering of German Romanticism after Richard Wagner, in which pioneering subtleties of orchestration are combined with an advanced harmonic style.
Strauss was born on 11 June 1864 in Munich, the son of Franz Strauss, who was the principal horn player at the Court Opera in Munich. In his youth, he received a thorough musical education from his father. He wrote his first composition at the age of six, and continued to write music almost until his death.
During his boyhood Strauss attended orchestra rehearsals of the Munich Court Orchestra, and he also received private instruction in music theory and orchestration from an assistant conductor there. In 1872 he started receiving violin instruction at the Royal School of Music from Benno Walter, his father's cousin. In 1874 Strauss heard his first Wagner operas, Lohengrin and Tannhäuser. The influence of Wagner's music on Strauss's style was to be profound, but at first his musically conservative father forbade him to study it. Indeed, in the Strauss household, the music of Richard Wagner was viewed with deep suspicion, and it was not until the age of 16 that Strauss was able to obtain a score of Tristan und Isolde. In later life, Strauss said that he deeply regretted the conservative hostility to Wagner's progressive works. Nevertheless, Strauss's father undoubtedly had a crucial influence on his son's developing taste, not least in Strauss's abiding love for the horn.
In early 1882 in Vienna he gave the first performance of his Violin Concerto in D minor, playing a piano reduction of the orchestral part himself, with his teacher and "cousin" Benno Walter as soloist. The same year he entered Munich University, where he studied Philosophy and Art History, but not music. He left a year later to go to Berlin, where he studied briefly before securing a post as assistant conductor to Hans von Bülow, who had been enormously impressed by the young composer's Serenade for wind instruments, composed when he was only 16 years of age. Strauss learned the art of conducting by observing Bülow in rehearsal. Bülow was very fond of the young man and decided that Strauss should be his successor as conductor of the Meiningen orchestra when Bülow resigned in 1885. Strauss's compositions at this time were indebted to the style of Robert Schumann or Felix Mendelssohn, true to his father's teachings. His Horn Concerto No. 1, Op. 11, is representative of this period and is a staple of modern horn repertoire.
Strauss married soprano Pauline de Ahna on 10 September 1894. She was famous for being irascible, garrulous, eccentric and outspoken, but the marriage, to all appearances, was essentially happy and she was a great source of inspiration to him. Throughout his life, from his earliest songs to the final Four Last Songs of 1948, he preferred the soprano voice to all others, and all his operas contain important soprano roles.
The Strausses had one son, Franz, in 1897. Franz married Alice von Grab, a Jewish woman, in a Catholic ceremony (despite being an agnostic) in 1924. Franz and Alice had two sons, Richard and Christian.
Before and during the 1939-45 War, he was criticised as a Nazi sympathiser, and held an official (musical) post. This claim is not entirely accurate. He lost the job when he refused to remove the name of a Jewish librettist from a programme. He was also condemned for criticisms of the Nazi party. He was thereafter denounced by the Nazi party, and he was forced to make concessions and submit to their will in order to save his family.
Morgen!
Richard Strauss Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sprache: deutsch
Und morgen wird die Sonne wieder scheinen,
Und auf dem Wege, den ich gehen werde,
Wird uns, die Glücklichen, sie wieder einen
Inmitten dieser sonnenatmenden Erde.
Werden wir still und langsam niedersteigen,
Stumm werden wir uns in die Augen schauen,
Und auf uns sinkt des Glückes stummes Schweigen.
The lyrics of Richard Strauss's song Morgen! speak of the hope and joy that a new day brings. The singer acknowledges that the sun will shine again, and on the path they will take, they will be united once again with the joyful energy of the earth. The sea, with its vast waves of blue, is referenced as a destination for the singer and their companion, where they will descend slowly and quietly. The two will look into each other's eyes, finding understanding and connection without the need for words. The silence that descends upon them will be filled with the unspoken happiness that they share.
The theme of Morgen! is a complex one, and its interpretation may vary from listener to listener. However, it is commonly believed that the song is about the beauty and impermanence of life. The singer is aware that the happiness they experience is fleeting, but they relish it all the more because of that fact. The sun will rise once more, but its light will not always be there to guide them. The sea with its waves represents the uncertainty and constant change of life, and the moments of stillness and peace amidst that chaos are to be cherished.
Line by Line Meaning
Und morgen wird die Sonne wieder scheinen,
And tomorrow the sun will shine again,
Und auf dem Wege, den ich gehen werde,
And on the path that I'll be taking,
Wird uns, die Glücklichen, sie wieder einen
It will unite us, the fortunate ones,
Inmitten dieser sonnenatmenden Erde.
In the midst of this sun-breathing earth.
Und zu dem Strand, dem weiten, wogenblauen,
And to the beach, the wide, wave-blue one,
Werden wir still und langsam niedersteigen,
We'll slowly and quietly descend,
Stumm werden wir uns in die Augen schauen,
Silently we'll gaze into each other's eyes,
Und auf uns sinkt des Glückes stummes Schweigen.
And upon us will fall the silent bliss.
Writer(s): Richard Strauss
Contributed by Bailey Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@garybrownell
And tomorrow the sun will shine again
And on the way which I shall follow
She will again unite us lucky ones
As all around us the earth breathes in the sun
Slowly, silently, we will climb down
To the wide beach and the blue waves
In silence, we will look in each other's eyes
And the mute stillness of happiness will sink upon us
(from wikipedia)
@systeck59
불을 끄면 네 생각이 난다
그리움을 베고 누워
너를 세어 보아도
내 사랑은 잠들지 않아서
우리가 어느 별에서
우리가 어느 별에서 만났기에
이토록 서로 그리워하느냐.
우리가 어느 별에서 그리워하였기에
이토록 서로 사랑하고 있느냐.
사랑이 가난한 사람들이
등불을 들고 거리에 나가
풀은 시들고 꽃은 지는데
우리가 어느 별에서 헤어졌기에
이토록 서로 별빛마다 빛나느냐.
우리가 어느 별에서 잠들었기에
이토록 새벽을 흔들어 깨우느냐.
해 뜨기 전에
가장 추워하는 그대를 위하여
저문 바닷가에 홀로
사람의 모닥불을 피우는 그대를 위하여
나는 오늘밤 어느 별에서
떠나기 위하여 머물고 있느냐.
어느 별의 새벽길을 걷기 위하여
마음의 칼날 아래 떨고 있느냐.
- 정호승 -
@dedebacher2008
Tomorrow!
And tomorrow the sun will shine again
and on the way that I will go,
she will again unite us, the happy ones
amidst this sun-breathing earth,
and to the beach, wide, wave-blue
will we still and slowly descend
silently we will look in each other's eyes
and upon us will sink the mute silence of happiness,
@machante1
Morgen!
John Henry Mackay
Und morgen wird die Sonne wieder scheinen
Und auf dem Wege, den ich gehen werde,
Wird uns, die Glücklichen, sie wieder einen
Inmitten dieser sonnenatmenden Erde ...
Und zu dem Strand, dem weiten, wogenblauen,
Werden wir still und langsam niedersteigen,
Stumm werden wir uns in die Augen schauen,
Und auf uns sinkt des Glückes stummes Schweigen ...
@davidsolomon8203
I have heard great singers sing this, but I was awed by the exquisite beauty of this performance, from the singer, the violinist, the conductor and the orchestra! There are times when I awake with that melody on my mind, and other times, I have to force it out of my mind, in order to go to sleep!
@jsphotos
Same!
@thomaslucia3059
This is - in my opinion - an extraordinary opus...exquisite and achingly beautiful, especially when sung with such silvery lines. This is a most rapturous rendering. My favorite version remains Ms. Te Kanawa's.
@trab49
That sublime pause at the end before the applause grudgingly comes in... it's every single spectator grasping onto the fading melody, not wanting the beautiful moment to end. Magical.
@lizvaughnmusic8978
+trab49 It's my favorite part of every performance!
@kathrinkirchner1053
This describes exactly what magically happened to us all in the audience at Joyce DiDonato's Vienna concert on Nov 24 2016 - silence in the Große Konzerthaussaal before the applause set in: What a beautiful Morgen!
@daniel3231995
The magic is in moments that pass
@itoluigi
Ahh yes! Well said 😭❤️
@quickfoxxes
What a violinist... just absolutely magnificent playing, and with such sensitivity! Brava!
@ian.marais1202
One of today's greatest artists to perform one of the most beautiful songs ever composed. Oh Joyce what fantastic justice you bring to this piece. Absolutely stunning. Love you.❤❤❤❤