R. Strauss: Don Quixote & Till Eulenspiegel

Featuring

Alban Gerhardt
Lawrence Power
Markus Stenz
Gürzenich-Orchester Köln
Richard Strauss

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Compositional Technique

Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks is a free adaptation of the classical A-B-A-C-A rondo form, using two main themes to represent the character of Till.

Compositional Technique

Don Quixote is a type of sinfonia concertante, featuring solo cello and viola alongside the orchestra, with the cello representing Don Quixote and the viola representing Sancho Panza.

Composition History

Strauss considered his tone poem Ein Heldenleben (Hero and World) and Don Quixote to be complementary works, illustrating different aspects of heroism.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Strauss described his use of variation form in Don Quixote as taking it "ad absurdum" and showering it with "tragicomic persiflage."

Notable Performances

Both Richard Strauss's Don Quixote and Till Eulenspiegel received their world premieres by the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne, conducted by Franz Wüllner.

Instruments

Lawrence Power, the violist on this recording, plays a rare viola made by the Bolognese maker Antonio Brensi around 1610.

Composition History

Richard Strauss first conceived the idea for Don Quixote, a "mad set of free variations on a knightly theme," while on holiday in Florence in October 1896.