The book delves into how Strauss engaged with Wagner's influence in his stage compositions, analyzing the interplay between their works and the historical backdrop of the time. Through this exploration, it highlights Strauss' unique artistic evolution and the broader implications of his music in relation to Wagner's legacy.
Elektra was the fourth of fifteen operas by Strauss and opened his successful partnership with the librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Gilliam's study of this major work examines its musical-historical context and also provides a detailed analysis of some of its musical features. He establishes a chronology of the evolution of the opera and places it in the larger framework of German opera of the time. His detailed examination of the sketchbooks enables him to offer fresh insight into Strauss's use of motifs and overall tonal structure. In so doing he shows how the work's arresting dissonance and chromaticism have hidden its similarities to his later, seemingly more tonally conservative opera, Der Rosenkavalier: not only does Strauss exploit in both a variety of musical styles to express irony, parody, and other emotions, but both are in fact thoroughly tonal
Richard Strauss' successful conducting and composing career spanned one of the most fascinating stretches of modern German history, from oil lamps to atomic energy, from a young empire to a divided Germany. This biography covers Strauss' early musical development, his emergence as a tone poet in the late nineteenth century, his turn to the stage at the beginning of the twentieth century, the successes and misfires of the post-World War I era, the turbulent 1930s, and the period of the Second World War and its aftermath.
Set against the backdrop of a tumultuous era in German history, this biography explores the life and career of Richard Strauss, a prominent composer. It delves into his artistic evolution, the impact of political upheavals on his work, and his complex relationships with contemporaries. The narrative highlights Strauss's contributions to music, revealing how he navigated challenges while maintaining his creative vision amidst societal changes. This insightful examination offers a deep understanding of both the artist and the historical context in which he thrived.
Richard Strauss' fifteen operas make up the largest German operatic legacy since Wagner's operas of the nineteenth century. In the first book to discuss all of Strauss' operas, Bryan Gilliam explores the composer's response to Wagner in his discussion of Strauss's stage works and their historical contexts.
Composers, performers, and audiences alike sought to negate their recent post in various ways: by affirming modern technology (electronic or mechanical music, sound recordings, radio, and film), exploring music of a more remote past (principally Baroque music), and celebrating popular music (particularly jazz). The essays contained in this volume address these fundamental themes.
The musical-historical context of the German composer and his world are discussed from the perspectives of musical-stylistic influences, tonal language, relationships with contemporaries, and political contexts. Specific pieces instrumental and operatic are studied from many approaches: structural a