Opera Composer Richard Strauss

Richard Strauss remains one of the most important German opera composers of the late Romantic to early Modern era. Heavily influenced by Wagner, Strauss' operas include "Salome" and "Elektra."

Richard Georg Strauss was born June 11, 1864, in Munich, Germany. His father, Franz, was the principal horn player at Munich's Court Opera.

Strauss received his early musical education from his father and wrote his first composition at age six. His musical education was enhanced by sitting in on both opera and orchestral rehearsals as his father worked.

In 1882 Strauss enrolled in the Munich University. He did not, as might be expected, study music there. Instead he spent a year studying art history and philosophy.

After a year of study at Munich, Strauss relocated to Berlin, where he also studied briefly. Later in the year he took up the post of assistant conductor at the Meiningen Court orchestra, becoming head conductor in 1885.

Up until this point Strauss' music had, like his father's, been conservative. This changed when he met Alexander Ritter. A composer who was married to one of Wagner's nieces, Ritter introduced Strauss to Wagner's essays and encouraged the young composer to experiment with tone poems.

The year 1889 saw the first performance of Strauss' first tone poem, "Don Juan." To say the audience reaction was mixed is an understatement. Half the crowd cheered enthusiastically. The other half booed with equal enthusiasm. Oddly, the negative responses seem to have spurred Strauss on more than the positive. He wrote:

"I now comfort myself with the knowledge I am on the road I want to take, fully aware that there has never been an artist not considered crazy by thousands of his fellow men."

Strauss was to write more tone poems, the most famous being "Thus Spake Zarathusa,"a piece enshrined in popular culture after its use in the "2001: A Space Odyssey" score.

In 1894, the first of Gounod's operas, "Guntram," made its debut. It was a complete flop. In 1901, "Feuersnot" also failed miserably. Not only were both operas financial disasters, but they were also deemed obscene and immoral by the public.

"Salome," based on the Oscar Wilde play of the same name, was Gounod's first success, but it was controversial.

People either loved or hated "Salome."This was due, in part, to Gounod's use of dissonance and, in part, to the subject matter. The greatest opposition, however, came from those who objected to Wilde's supposedly immoral lifestyle.

Reaction against "Salome"may have hit its peak in New York City. Public reaction against Gounod's opera was so intense that the New York Met closed its run of "Salome" after a single showing.

Elsewhere, however,"Salome" was a huge success and established Strauss as one of the leading opera composers of his day.

Strauss followed up "Salome" with "Elektra." Elektra took Strauss' use of dissonance in opera a step beyond that of "Salome." "Elektra" was Strauss' first collaboration with the Librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal, with whom Strauss worked until Hofmannsthal's death in 1929.

After "Elektra," Strauss' operas become more traditional in composition and lack the modernist elements of "Salome" and "Elektra."

Richard Strauss' reputation is shadowed by his ambiguous relationship with the Nazi party. Strauss was appointed head of the Reichsmusikkammer, or State Music Bureau, by Joseph Goebbels in November 1933.

Goebbels did not consult with Strauss before making the appointment. Strauss accepted the appointment, a decision that hurt his reputation among Germany's artistic community.

During his tenure as head of the Reichsmucikkammer, Strauss became friendly with several prominent members of the Nazi party. It has been speculated that Strauss' intention was to safeguard his Jewish daughter-in-law Anne.

Strauss resigned from his position in 1935, after refusing to remove the name of Jewish librettist Stefan Zweig from the "Die schweigsame Frau" playbill. The Gestapo intercepted a letter from Strauss to Zweig that was critical of the Nazis, and he was ordered to resign his post.

Strauss' relationship with the Nazis was not at an end, however. The composer wrote the "Olymische Hymne" for the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

If Strauss was attempting to keep Anne and his grandchildren safe, he succeeded. By 1938 Anne was under house arrest, and, in 1944, the Gestapo arrested both her and Strauss' son. Strauss was able to use his reputation and contacts within the Nazi party to secure their release, although the couple remained under house arrest until the end of the war.

Did Strauss agree with Nazi policies? Some have said he naively tried to remain apolitical in an environment where being apolitical was impossible. Others have claimed he helped other Jewish friends and co-workers escape the Nazis, although this is merely conjecture.

What is known is that in 1938, with Europe on the brink of World War II, Strauss produced the one-act opera "Friedenstag," an opera set in a besieged fortress during the Thirty Years War.

"Friedenstag" can easily be seen as a criticism of the Nazi party and its policies, and many people interpreted it as such. When war finally came, the Nazis quickly forbade any productions of "Friededstag."While Strauss may have been ambiguous in his personal dealings with the Nazis, he seems to have used the stage to protest their actions.

Strauss' life after the war was relatively quiet, although he had some difficulties during the post-war Nazi investigations. He died at age 85 on Sept. 9, 1949.

Here is a list of some of Strauss' more famous operas:

Resources

Classical.net. (n.d.). Richard Strauss. Retrieved January 20, 2008, from the Classical Net Web site:
www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/straussr.html.

Coy, D. (15 November 2000). Richard Strauss Biography. Retrieved January 20, 2008, from the University of North Texas Web site: people.unt.edu/~dmeek/dec-straussbio.html.

Nice, D. (1998). Richard Strauss Biography. Retrieved January 20, 2008, from the Richard Strauss Web site:
www.richard-strauss.com/biography.html.

The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music. (updated 1 February 2000). Richard Strauss (1864 – 1949). Retrieved January 20, 2008, from the Classical Music Pages Web site:
w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/strauss_r.html.