R. Strauss - Also sprach Zarathustra & Don Juan / BPO Karajan

 

Of Strauss's tone-poems seven are musical portraits, among them Don Juan, composed in 1888, the work with which he first won wide international fame. His literary source was the fragmentary verse-drama by Nikolaus Lenau (1802-1850) in which the quest for the perfect woman ceases when Don Juan loses interest in the chase and allows himself to be killed in a duel. Strauss's tone-poem draws the likeness of the lusty dynamic hero with outstanding verve and orchestral virtuosity, against episodes portraying three of his ladies.

Also sprach Zarathustra is no portrait, but a musical response to Nietzsche's philosophical rhapsody of that title which was published complete in 1892. In the tone-poem Strauss contrasts man and nature by reference to the adjacent, yet diatonically remote keys of B and C (major and minor).

He completed the full score on 24 August 1896, and himself conducted the premiere at Frankfurt on 27 November of that year.

Nietzsche's Zarathustra lived for ten years in the mountains remote from his fellow-men. At lenght he decided that the wisdom which he had accrued deserved to be passed on the world; so he descended again to preach his doctrine in some 80 discourses, most of them quite short. Their message can be summed up:"all gods are dead: let us now will the survival of the Superman". Strauss selected eight of Nietzsche's chapter-headings and worked them into his score. Although he soaked himself in Nietzsche's work, and loved to argue for hours about Zarathustra's teachings, his tone-poem does not attempt to turn philosophy into music, but forms a symphonic structure out of such elements in the book as are susceptible to musical parallels. (William Mann)

RICHARD STRAUSS (1864-1949)

Also sprach Zarathustra op. 30

Tone-poem for large orchestra (freely after Friedrich Nietzsche)

1) Introduction (1:38)

2) Of the Backworldsmen (3:30)

3) Of the Great Longing (2:05)

4) Of Joys and Passion (2:21)

5) The Song of the Grave (2:48)

6) Of Science (4:34)

7) The Convalescent (5:29)

8) The Dance-Song (8:25)

9) Song of the Nigh Wanderer (4:55)

10) Don Juan op. 20 (18:13)

Tone-poem after Nikolaus Lenau

BERLINER PHILHARMONIKER

Thomas Brandis, violin

HERBERT VON KARAJAN

1984 Polydor International GmbH, Hamburg

1 CD DDD / 410 959-2 GH

Thanks to elhenry (in Mp3)

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