German composer Richard Strauss: biography, creativity

Richard Strauss is a composer whose operas and musical poems were conquered by an emotional revelation. Expressionism (expression) of his works is an acute reaction to the society of that time.

Richard Strauss. Biography of the composer

The country of Richard does not exist any more. In 1864, Munich was the city of the independent Kingdom of Bavaria, then merged into the Germanic lands. On June 11, a son of the court musician Franz Strauss was born. Father served in the opera as a horn player (a wind instrument that resembles a spiral pipe). It was he who was the first teacher of Richard's music. Classes delivered a genuine joy to both, this led to the fact that at the age of 6 the boy owned a musical instrument and instrument. In addition, he independently composed the first opera and did not stop writing until his death.

Father's science seemed too conservative for a young man, he was looking for a different expression in music. In 1874, Richard Strauss first became acquainted with the work of Wagner, he endlessly conquers the style and mood of the operas. But the father sincerely considers these works as lower-grade music and forbids his son to even listen to them. Only after reaching adulthood, Richard begins a deep study of the score "Tristan and Isolde". In the meantime, he attends the rehearsals of the Court Orchestra and receives lessons in orchestration and theory.

Style of the composer

Strauss's music is the search for his famous style, which he took for several years. In 1882, he entered the Institute of Philosophy and History in Munich, but leaves a year's training. But it is there that he gets acquainted with Max Schillings. Two young people become such close friends that Strauss easily convinces a friend to do his beloved profession seriously. Thanks to this, Germany receives a brilliant conductor and composer of theater productions, as well as a teacher and author of the opera Mona Lisa.

Richard Strauss himself goes to Berlin. There he receives a post of conductor and continues to write compositions in his father's conservative style. An illustrative example is his "Concerto for French Horn No. 1". After 1883, young Strauss met Alexander Ritter. A distant relative of Wagner convinces the young man that his true music can not be someone's repetition, that symphonic poems are the most correct way for the composer's creativity. From this moment, Strauss's easy and bright style is becoming firmly established.

Personal life

A great influence on the fate and creativity of Richard Strauss was his happy marriage to Paulina Maria de Ane. They met in 1887 in Munich. Paulina was just starting her solo career as an opera singer and taking lessons from the composer. As a protege followed him to Weimar. Brilliantly made her debut in 1890, in 1894 she performed a role in the opera of her teacher "Guntram". The wedding of the young took place on September 10 in Marquartstein.

The wayward character of his young wife Richter was enduring, justifying him with the property of a talented personality. According to some of his statements, which have survived to this day, after violent quarrels with Paulina, he is visited by a particularly active Muse of Inspiration. Indeed, it was during the marriage that Richard Strauss created his best works. For his wife, he wrote several songs, after the performance of which the popularity of the singer has increased.

The happy life of the couple in love ended with an absurd mistake. One day, my wife was given a note for her husband when he toured Germany, from an unknown woman. The next day, Paulina filed for divorce. Returning home, Richard tried to explain to the emotional actress that he was not guilty of anything, but she did not want to listen to him. Until the end of his days the composer had romantic feelings for his ex-wife, had written music for her many times and had never met anyone else.

Creativity Strauss

Composer Richard Strauss tried not to succumb to the "political storms" in the country, but as a true creator absorbed the mood of his people. He lived more than 80 years and found three different government regimes. The uniqueness of the composer is in amazing performance. He could write music always and everywhere, without experiencing creative "stagnation" or crises. His first work "Guntram", created in 1893, is a musical drama, built classically for the first sample on the viewer.

Further work of the composer has such a variety of genres that it gives an impression of the work of different authors. "From Italy" (1886, Richard Strauss) - a symphonic poem, written on the impressions of the journey. At the age of 21, the young composer visits the romantic country for a month and is so full of emotional emotions that he spills them on musical notes. The viewer's attitude to the symphony is ambiguous, but the composer begins to speak and remember his name.

Don Juan (1889)

At 25, Strauss reaches mature mastery and conquers the musical world with this powerful, bright poem. Here you can feel the influence of the Italian sun, and of falling in love with your student de Anu. Dedicated to the poem Ludwig Tuilles, with whom he studied in Munich. The premiere took place on November 11, was flawless and had a grandiose success.

"Don Juan" is a musical story about the unrestrained lover. The theme of impetuous violins, thirsting for pleasure, precedes in an enchanting introduction, like fireworks. Bells and harp tell about the magic of love and affection for a woman. Low sounds of the varton and clarinet are spoken in a gentle whisper with a subtle sound of violins. Bells in union with the pipe fill the soul with endless fun. The culmination of the play is a tremolo of violins, and the lover is again devastated and lonely.

Macbeth (1888-1890)

After "Don Juan" Richard Strauss wrote the opera "Macbeth". This symphony did not make a big furore and is considered a critically oversaturated one. The composer's father gives this work a sharp assessment and in his letters asks to finalize the material. According to him, the idea is not bad, but it is worth throwing all the instrumental excesses. It's the bust that prevents the viewer from understanding the author and hearing what he wanted to say.

But still many people find in her a close mood to their mental state. The reflection of Shakespeare, the tragedy and the seal of crime are the attainable concepts of willpower. This work is about careerism and the thirst for profit by people who will not stop even before the crime.

"Death and Enlightenment" (1888-1889 gg.)

This opera by Richard Strauss is a subtle perception of the laws of the world and human weakness. It is written at the turn of the change of government structure and reflects the fear of modern society before the changes and uncertainty of the future. The idea of poverty and death in Richard's poem impresses with its intellectuality.

In comparison with other things of the author, this symphony loses its strength, its illustrations and its intensity. But as a separate work is a highly artistic interesting opera. The whole point is the lack of emotional solace before the inevitable and terrible end for a person who highly values his existence.

"Merry tricks" (1895)

Strauss dedicated his friend Arthur Zaydlyu to the merry tricks of Till Ulenspiegel. They studied at the same university in Munich and agreed on the love of Wagner's work. Zaydl at one time was considered a specialist in the work and biography of the composer, who was imitated all his life by Richard. Subsequently, Arthur worked as an editor of the central German newspapers and with V. Klatte wrote a book about his friend. "Characteristic sketch" is the first biography and analysis of musical activity of R. Strauss.

The poem made its debut in Cologne, it was performed by Herzen-the orchestra, conducted by F. Wultern. The duration of the work is only 15 minutes, but critics consider this to be the apex of the author's talent. In his review, M. Kennedy calls her "witty". The play consists of 27 episodes, which lay out the work on the plot of the adventures of the legendary hero Ulenspiegel from birth to death.

"Thus spake Zarathustra" (1896)

In the creation of this poem, another composer Arthur Seidl took part again. In his line of business, from 1898 to 1999 he was an employee of the Nietzsche Archives. It was he who gave Richard the book of a famous thinker, "So Spoke Zarathustra." Strauss, under the impression of the read, writes a magnificent symphonic poem. 9 fragments have names from the chapters of the book. The author himself conducts the first performance in Frankfurt.

Critics are delighted with the vivid example of German Romanticism, in which a kind of "dullness" cooperates with rabid despotism. Music is often used in the modern world and cinematography. For example, in the screen saver "What? Where? When? "And in the film" Space Odyssey. " Director S. Kubrick took fragments of the symphony "So Spoke Zarathustra" (Strauss) for the representation of the unearthly development of the universe.

"Salome" (1905)

The drama of Richard is written according to the work of Oscar Wilde, which the writer wrote for Sarah Bernhardt. The premiere was marked by such a scandal in Berlin that it can be taken for the unprecedented success of the play. Eroticism and sensitivity, the emotional East, the immoral image of Salome in contrast to the purity of the Baptist - this is an inspiring illustration for a composer like Richard Strauss. "Salome" was written for a year and a half. In the process of writing corresponded the character of the main character. Instead of a flat and direct monster, embraced by animal desire, a fragile girl appeared, embraced by a tragic passion.

In Puritan Germany, the opera caused conflicting reviews of critics. Even the singers refused to perform roles in the play, calling it immoral. The first actress, who was offered the role of Salome, angrily replied to Richard: "I am a decent woman!". However, it was this singer M. Wittich who took on the courage of the first performance.

The Alpine (1915)

The last symphonic poem of the German composer. Even in his early youth, Richard was worried about the idea of creating music that sounds like an ascent to the mountains. Three times he started the work, but every time the sheet music went to melt the fireplace. Only in 1914, after the opera "Woman without a shadow", the author again takes up the development of this idea.

The premiere took place on February 18 in Berlin, the author conducted. "Alpine Symphony" is one of the most popular things of our time. This is program music, broken down into meaning by 22 parts. The last significant concert of Richard is precisely this poem performed by the Bavarian State Orchestra in 1941.

Songs of the composer

During his life, the author wrote many songs for the soprano, which was sung by his beloved woman. In 1948, "Four Last Songs" was created. At concerts this work is sung at the end. Richard Strauss, whose songs were always filled with a thirst for life and positive, in the last work wrote about the fatigue and premonition of death. The expectation of the end sounds calm, with the confidence of a person who has actively lived his life.

"In the evening light" - the first song speaks of peace of mind, written on the poems of Eichendorf. Next come "Spring" and "Fall asleep". The final "September" is a stunning penetration of the autumn mood and a light rain. These works are based on the poems of G. Hesse. All compositions are a unique combination of music and text. The atmosphere and style are so strong that critics, recognizing the songs are somewhat outdated even for 48 years, and now perceive them as the author's strongest creation.

Author and conductor

In addition to the above symphonic operas, Richard wrote the "Home Symphony" and "Don Quixote", "The Life of the Hero" and the suite "The Bourgeois in the Nobility", as well as several other successful and not very works. In addition to writing, Strauss is the conductor of his music and the work of other composers. His repertoire is the operas and symphonies of the authors of the 18-20th centuries.

Richard Strauss - the last romantic of his time - characterized his work with humor and simplicity:

"Maybe I'm not a top-notch composer, but I'm a first-class second-rate composer!"