Four Songs, Op. 27
Richard Strauss
Born June 11, 1864, in Munich, Bavaria
Died September 8, 1949, in Garmisch, Germany

Between the ages of 21 and 35, Richard Strauss made his reputation with symphonic poems inspired by literary and even philosophical texts; thereafter, for some four decades, he actually set texts--mostly for the theater, composing concert music only when no libretto was in hand. Druing both these periods--on the side, so to speak--he composed songs, often with the voice of his wife, the soprano Pauline de Ahna, in mind, and several of these he orchestrated for use in their joint concert appearances. In their relationship (a tempestuous but passionate one, if the musical evidence of the Domestic Symphony is to be credited), the four published as Op. 27 hold a special position, for the set is dedicated “To my beloved Pauline on September 10, 1894”--their wedding day. Three were composed in Weimar the previous May, and “Cäcilie” was added the day before the wedding. “Morgen” and “Cäcilie” were orchestrated for Pauline’s use, the former in 1897, the latter probably around the same time.

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Two of the poets--Karl Henckell and the Scots-born John Henry Mackay (author of a novel, The Anarchists)--were noted in their day for pronounced leftist leanings, but the texts Strauss chose are unpolitical: Mackay’s poems, like “Cäcilie” (named after the wife of the poet, Heinrich Hart), are love poems, while Henckell’s “Ruhe, meine Seele” is more somber in tone. The year after the songs appeared, Henckell wrote to Strauss expressing his pleasure at the musical setting:

Especially in the passage “Stiehlt sich lichter Sonnenschein” and “wie die Brandung, wenn sie schwillt,” with its emotional content, it seems to me that you have transcribed the verse, or absorbed it, or whatever the correct expression is, quite magnificently.

Strauss returned to his setting of Henckell’s poem in June 1948; a month after completing the first of his Four Last Songs, he made a striking orchestral version. Strauss did not orchestrate Heimliche Aufforderung, but he conducted (and thus presumably approved) the version by the conductor Robert Heger.

Strauss’s song orchestrations are notable for their variety and subtlety. “Morgen” is among the simplest: accompanied by 3 horns, harp, and strings, a solo violin first sings the melody. The voice enters as in mid-thought (the poem begins with the word “and”), counterpointing the violin until the latter breaks off where the ear expects a cadence (“silently we will gaze into each other’s eyes...”), to resume only after the poem’s end. By contrast, “Cäcilie” is set for a full orchestra (double winds; 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba; timpani, harp; and strings) and shifted from the original E major to the more “heroic” E-flat. Between reappearances of the exultant opening ritornello, the stanzas are individually colored: lines for solo strings in “If you knew what it is to dream...,” muted strings in “If you knew what it is to be afraid...”; throughout, timpani are used in delicate as well as insistent ways. Still more elaborate is the late scoring of Ruhe, meine Seele, which adds exceptional weight to the harmonies and activity to the climactic crescendos, also extending the song by a few measures; it calls for triple winds (minus contrabassoon); 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba; timpani, celesta, harp; and strings.

Notes on the Program by David Hamilton