Strauss: Ein Heldenleben

Featuring

Bernard Haitink
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Richard Strauss
Anton Webern

Did you know?

1/7

Performer Biography

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1891, has a distinguished history, with its recordings earning 60 Grammy Awards, more than any other orchestra in the world.

Compositional Technique

In 'Ein Heldenleben', Richard Strauss uses musical themes to depict his critics, requesting 'snarling' oboes and 'hissing' cymbals to represent them.

Performer Biography

Bernard Haitink, the conductor on this album, has had an international career spanning over five decades, serving as music director of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for twenty-five years and holding honorary positions with other major orchestras.

Critical Reception

Anton Webern never heard his early work 'Im Sommerwind' performed during his lifetime, and it was only premiered in 1962, sixteen years after his death.

Composition History

Anton Webern's 'Im Sommerwind' was composed in 1904, based on a poem by German novelist and philosopher Bruno Wille, and was influenced by Richard Strauss's tone poems and Arnold Schoenberg's 'Verklärte Nacht'.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Richard Strauss's tone poem 'Ein Heldenleben' is an autobiography in music, as he believed himself as interesting a subject as historical figures like Napoleon.

Compositional Technique

Richard Strauss's wife, Pauline, an accomplished soprano, is represented in 'Ein Heldenleben' by a solo violin, with markings like 'flippant,' 'angry,' and 'nagging' to reflect her complex personality.