Tír Na HiFi

A Day in the Life of an Alp

Richard Strauss was a misunderstood genius.

Long after his death, he was still being labeled a banal composer of program music...whatever that is...all music has a program...a Bach fugue has a palpable one... as do the Sarabandes, Gigues, Gavottes. In retrospect, the flak aimed at Richard Clayderman Strauss was envy-generated. He was immensely successful in his day.

True Genius was supposed to go by unnoticed, to be recognized only after death...preferably of starvation in a garret.

The Alpine Symphony lists the following sections:

Nacht (Night)
Sonnenaufgang (Sunrise)
Der Anstieg (The Ascent)
Eintritt in den Wald (Entry into the Forest)
Wanderung neben dem Bache (Wandering by the Brook)
Am Wasserfall (At the Waterfall)
Erscheinung (Apparition)
Auf blumigen Wiesen (On Flowering Meadows)
Auf der Alm (On the Alpine Pasture)
Durch Dickicht und Gestrüpp auf Irrwegen (Through Thickets and Undergrowth on the Wrong Path)
Auf dem Gletscher (On the Glacier)
Gefahrvolle Augenblicke (Dangerous Moments)
Auf dem Gipfel (On the Summit)
Vision (Vision)
Nebel steigen auf (Mists Rise)
Die Sonne verdüstert sich allmählich (The Sun Gradually Becomes Obscured)
Elegie (Elegy)
Stille vor dem Sturm (Calm Before the Storm)
Gewitter und Sturm, Abstieg (Thunder and Tempest, Descent)
Sonnenuntergang (Sunset)
Ausklang (Quiet Settles)[23]
Nacht (Night)
Note that the first and last sections carry the same title.
During the Day in between...Eternity...we relive space-time, where the chimera of measured time fades away.

Last weekend (November 30 and December 1), in Dortmund's superb concert hall, the Munich Philharmonic and I offered a mini R. Strauss retrospective in two concerts...Don Quixote, Till Eulenspiegel. Rosenkavalier Suite, Metamorphosen and the Alpine Symphony.

Forget the descriptions...if ever there was music of the spirit, it's to be found in the Alpine Symphony. Unleashed proto-visions, atavistic dreams, howls and joys from the collective soul of all humanity. I felt as if I was hearing the work as if I had never before performed it, a privileged viewing of the topography of Man's inner cosmos.

Thank you, Master Strauss

You feast at the table of the Elected Few.

- Lorin Maazel

Long after his death, he was still being labeled a banal composer of program music...whatever that is...all music has a program...a Bach fugue has a palpable one... as do the Sarabandes, Gigues, Gavottes. In retrospect, the flak aimed at Richard Clayderman Strauss was envy-generated. He was immensely successful in his day.

james wrote:

Long after his death, he was still being labeled a banal composer of program music...whatever that is...all music has a program...a Bach fugue has a palpable one... as do the Sarabandes, Gigues, Gavottes. In retrospect, the flak aimed at Richard Clayderman Strauss was envy-generated. He was immensely successful in his day.

Richard Clayderman Strauss ??


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Strauss

Richard Georg Strauss (11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a leading German composer ....

fergus wrote:Richard Strauss' Alpine Symphony should be in every collection. It is a wonderful evocation of the spirit of the Natural World.

Seán wrote:You will be pleased to know that von Karajan's magnificent recording with the BPO takes pride of place on my shelf.

Seán wrote:

james wrote:

Long after his death, he was still being labeled a banal composer of program music...whatever that is...all music has a program...a Bach fugue has a palpable one... as do the Sarabandes, Gigues, Gavottes. In retrospect, the flak aimed at Richard Clayderman Strauss was envy-generated. He was immensely successful in his day.

Richard Clayderman Strauss ??


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Strauss

Richard Georg Strauss (11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a leading German composer ....

James, I think that Maestro Maazel makes an incorrect reference to the pianist Richard Clayderman: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Clayderman, but he is extolling the virtues of the music written by Richard Georg Strauss as is clear from his post.

james wrote:

Seán wrote: James, I think that Maestro Maazel makes an incorrect reference to the pianist Richard Clayderman: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Clayderman, but he is extolling the virtues of the music written by Richard Georg Strauss as is clear from his post.

Agreed Sean .. I just thought when I read the name that maybe R Strauss was R. Clayderman Strauss and that maybe the pianist has chosen this as a name in the same way we have the singer Engerbert Humperdink [copied from the composer]. When I read the article I said "I never knew Strauss's middle name was Clayderman" so I looked it up and it wasn't !! So R. Claydermann is probably using his real name .. [unlike the current version of Engelbert Humperdink]. Or maybe Maezell is making some sort of point ..who knows?

james