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.
Vier Letzte Lieder: Im Abendrot
Richard Strauss Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Gegangen Hand in Hand
Vom Wandern ruhen wir beide
Nun überm stillen Land
Rings sich die Täler neigen
Es dunkelt schon die Luft
Zwei Lerchen nur noch steigen
Tritt her, und lass sie schwirren
Bald ist es Schlafenszeit
Dass wir uns nicht verirren
In dieser Einsamkeit
O weiter, stiller Friede
So tief im Abendrot
Wie sind wir wandermüde
Ist dies
Etwa
Der Tod?
The second stanza of Richard Strauss's song Vier letzte Lieder TrV 296, "2. September," is a reflection on life and death as the singer and their companion come to rest after a long journey. The singer recalls the moments they have spent together in both times of difficulty and joy, as they have traveled through life hand in hand. Now they rest above the quiet and still land, surrounded by the gentle slope of valleys and darkening air. Two larks are the only signs of life, ascending into the sweet aroma that fills the air.
The singer turns to their companion, urging them to join in the appreciation of the beauty around them. The larks will soon be gone as it is nearing time for sleep, they should not get lost in the solitude that surrounds them. The peace felt in the evening sun is profound, and the singer's fatigue from their journey leaves them questioning if this sunset-filled moment is, in fact, the harbinger of death. The lyrics capture the mixed feelings of hope and uncertainty that come with the end of life.
Line by Line Meaning
Wir sind durch Not und Freude
We have experienced both hardship and joy together
Gegangen Hand in Hand
We have gone hand in hand
Vom Wandern ruhen wir beide
Now we both rest from our wanderings
Nun überm stillen Land
Now above the quiet land
Rings sich die Täler neigen
The valleys around us slope down
Es dunkelt schon die Luft
The air is already growing dark
Zwei Lerchen nur noch steigen
Only two larks continue to rise
Nachträumend in den Duft
Dreamily into the scent
Tritt her, und lass sie schwirren
Come here and let them flutter
Bald ist es Schlafenszeit
Soon it will be time to sleep
Dass wir uns nicht verirren
So that we do not lose our way
In dieser Einsamkeit
In this solitude
O weiter, stiller Friede
Oh, vast, still peace
So tief im Abendrot
So deep in the evening glow
Wie sind wir wandermüde
How tired we are from wandering
Ist dies
Is this
Etwa
Perhaps
Der Tod?
Death?
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: Richard Strauss, Joseph Freiherr Von Eichendorff
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@skyboyq
We made through strife and wonder
Our journey hand in hand;
From wandering let us rest now
In this peaceful land.
Round us the valleys falling,
The sky withdrawing light;
Two larks alone are calling,
And dreaming from the height.
Stand here and watch them flutter;
Soon will be time to sleep --
So may we never falter
Alone in this great deep.
O wider, still more peaceful!
So deep on evening’s breath.
How we are tired from roaming!
-- Can this even be death?
@peterbierwirth8016
And here for our British friends the original lyrics in German:
Wir sind durch Not und Freude
gegangen Hand in Hand;
vom Wandern ruhen wir
nun überm stillen Land.
Rings sich die Täler neigen,
es dunkelt schon die Luft,
zwei Lerchen nur noch steigen
nachträumend in den Duft.
Tritt her und laß sie schwirren,
bald ist es Schlafenszeit,
daß wir uns nicht verirren
in dieser Einsamkeit.
O weiter, stiller Friede!
So tief im Abendrot.
Wie sind wir wandermüde--
Ist dies etwa der Tod?
Quite good English translation of the German text. Ms. Fleming is producing woderful sounds, but her German diction, sorry, could still be improved, weil ich sie ohne den Originaltext vor Augen zu haben, sie kaum verstanden habe. Therefore I have posted the original lyrics so you can hear yourself what I mean. Now I have to compare Fleming with Schwarzkopf. Will be intgeresting, I suppose. But one thing I still wonder: who is the conductor whose name has not be indicated?
@jeffhowey6871
Probably the most beautiful piece of music ever written and performed brilliantly
@antomontinaro
Really???
@MOGGS1942
It's certainly a contender, Jrff.
@MrMichaelvier
@@antomontinaro : YES !!!!!!! Jeff Howey is right....
@antomontinaro
@@MrMichaelvier Listen to Jessye Norman in these wonderful Last Songs
@denniscapstick1583
I agree - it is sublime, always makes me tear up when I hear this music
@FaridGhadry
Renee Fleming is simply divine. This is, by far, her most accomplished rendering. Glass of Chateau Margot, fireplace crackling, dim lights, and Ms. Fleming last four songs. Heaven is on earth.
@jpaliwal
Well, you are truly blessed. Well, we all are if we get to listen to this.
@peterbierwirth8016
Never heard of any 'Château Margot' - but a glass of the real Château Margaux would be perfectly suitable to accompany Die vier letzten Lieder ...hopefully it won't be your last glass to drink.
@russellsatterthwait3505
Well put. The occasional glimpse of the eternal, and what better setting as the one that you described.