Richard Strauss: Macbeth, Don Juan, Tod und Verklärung & Festmarsch in C

Featuring

Kirill Karabits
Staatskapelle Weimar
Richard Strauss

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Performer Biography

The Staatskapelle Weimar, founded in 1491, is one of Germany's oldest orchestras and has been associated with famous musicians like Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Liszt, and Richard Strauss.

Composer Biography

Richard Strauss's father, Franz Strauss, was a renowned horn player with conservative tastes who considered Mozart and Beethoven as 'gods' and disliked the 'New German School' of composers like Wagner.

Composition History

Richard Strauss's first tone poem, 'Macbeth', went through three versions before he was satisfied, and he revised the ending at the suggestion of his mentor Hans von Bülow.

Compositional Technique

In 'Macbeth', Richard Strauss uses the bass trumpet, an instrument he encountered at Bayreuth performances of Wagner's 'Ring' cycle, to emphasize the sombre soundscape.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Richard Strauss's 'Tod und Verklärung' ('Death and Transfiguration') is a musical dramatization of the 'hour of death of a person who has pursued the highest aspirations', and marks the beginning of his self-portrait works.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Richard Strauss, influenced by Alexander Ritter, the concert master of the Meiningen court orchestra, began to regard the symphony and sonata form as an 'empty shell' and sought 'new thoughts' in 'new forms'.

Composition History

Richard Strauss's conducting career began when Hans von Bülow, a conductor who premiered Wagner's operas, invited the young composer to conduct his own Suite for wind instruments, Op. 4.