'ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA' BY RICHARD STRAUSS

Today, The Grandma is relaxing at home. The weather is cold, and she has preferred to listen to some classical music. She has chosen Richard Strauss and his masterpiece Also sprach Zarathustra, that was first performed on a day like today in 1896.

Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30, Thus Spoke Zarathustra or Thus Spake Zarathustra, is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical 1883-1885 novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

The composer conducted its first performance on 27 November 1896 in Frankfurt. A typical performance lasts half an hour.

The initial fanfare  -titled Sunrise in the composer's programme notes- became well known after its use in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The work is orchestrated for piccolo, 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 3 oboes, English horn, clarinet in E-flat, 2 clarinets in B-flat, bass clarinet in B-flat, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 6 horns in F and E, 4 trumpets in C and E, 3 trombones, 2 tubas, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, glockenspiel, bell on low E, organ, and strings: 2 harps, violins I, II (16 each), violas (12), cellos (12), and double basses (8) (with low B string).

More information: Richard Strauss

The piece is divided into nine sections, played with only three definite pauses. Strauss named the sections after selected chapters of Friedrich Nietzsche's novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra:

1. "Einleitung, oder Sonnenaufgang" (Introduction, or Sunrise)

2. "Von den Hinterweltlern" (Of the Backworldsmen)

3. "Von der großen Sehnsucht" (Of the Great Longing)

4. "Von den Freuden und Leidenschaften" (Of Joys and Passions)

5. "Das Grablied" (The Song of the Grave)

6. "Von der Wissenschaft" (Of Science and Learning)

7. "Der Genesende" (The Convalescent)

8. "Das Tanzlied" (The Dance Song)

9. "Nachtwandlerlied" (Song of the Night Wanderer)

These selected chapters from Nietzsche's novel highlight major moments of the character Zarathustra's philosophical journey in the novel. The general storylines and ideas in these chapters were the inspiration used to build the tone poem's structure.

The piece starts with a sustained double low C on the double basses, contrabassoon and Church organ. This transforms into the brass fanfare of the Introduction and introduces the dawn motif, from Zarathustra's Prologue, the text of which is included in the printed score, that is common throughout the work: the motif includes three notes, in intervals of a fifth and octave, as C–G–C (known also as the Nature-motif).

On its first appearance, the motif is a part of the first five notes of the natural overtone series: octave, octave and fifth, two octaves, two octaves and major third, played as part of a C major chord with the third doubled. The major third is immediately changed to a minor third, which is the first note played in the work (E flat) that is not part of the overtone series.

Of the Backworldsmen begins with cellos, double-basses and organ pedal before changing into a lyrical passage for the entire section. The next two sections, Of the Great Longing and Of Joys and Passions, both introduce motifs that are more chromatic in nature.

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The strings prevail in The Song of the Grave, which acts like a transition section to the next section.

Of Science features an unusual fugue beginning at measure 201 in the double-basses and cellos, which consists of all twelve notes of the chromatic scale. Measure 223 contains one of the very few sections in the orchestral literature where the basses must play a contra B (the lowest B on a piano), which is only possible on a 5-string bass or (less frequently) on a 4-string bass with a low-B extension.

The Convalescent acts as a reprise of the original motif, and ends with the entire orchestra climaxing on a massive chord.

The Dance Song features a very prominent violin solo throughout the section.

The end of the Song of the Night Wanderer leaves the piece half resolved, with high flutes, piccolos and violins playing a B major chord, while the lower strings pluck a C.

One of the major compositional themes of the piece is the contrast between the keys of B major, representing humanity, and C major, representing the universe. Because B and C are adjacent notes, these keys are tonally dissimilar: B major uses five sharps, while C major has none.

More information: U Discover Music

Bear in mind that you are not making
music for your own pleasure,
but for the pleasure of your audience.

Richard Strauss

HÄNSEL UND GRETEL, MÄRCHENOPER & FOLK MUSIC

Today, The Grandma continues relaxing at home. She has been listening to one of her favourite operas, Hänsel und Gretel, the masterpiece composed but Engelbert Humperdinck that was first performed on a day like today in 1893.

Hansel and Gretel, in German Hänsel und Gretel, is an opera by nineteenth-century composer Engelbert Humperdinck, who described it as a Märchenoper, a fairy-tale opera.

The libretto was written by Humperdinck's sister, Adelheid Wette, based on the Grimm brothers' fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. It is much admired for its folk music-inspired themes, one of the most famous being the Abendsegen or Evening Benediction from act 2.

The idea for the opera was proposed to Humperdinck by his sister, who approached him about writing music for songs that she had written for her children for Christmas based on Hansel and Gretel. After several revisions, the musical sketches and the songs were turned into a full-scale opera.

Humperdinck composed Hansel and Gretel in Frankfurt in 1891 and 1892.

The opera was first performed in the Hoftheater in Weimar on 23 December 1893, conducted by Richard Strauss. It has been associated with Christmas since its earliest performances, and today it is still most often performed at Christmastime.

Hansel and Gretel was first conducted in Weimar by Richard Strauss in 1893, followed by its Hamburg premiere on 25 September 1894, conducted by Gustav Mahler.

Its first performance outside Germany was in Basel, Switzerland, on 16 November 1894.

The first performance in England was in London on 26 December 1894, at Daly's Theatre and its first United States performance was on 8 October 1895 in New York.

The first performance in Australia was on 6 April 1907, at the Princess Theatre, Melbourne.

In English-speaking countries, Hansel and Gretel is most often performed in English. The long-time standard English translation was by Constance Bache. In the United States, the opera was often performed in a translation by Norman Kelley written for the Metropolitan Opera's 1967 production by Nathaniel Merrill and Robert O'Hearn.

In 1987 a darkly comic new production with English translation by David Pountney was created for the English National Opera in London. Since 2007, the Met has performed the work in a production originally created for the Welsh National Opera using Pountney's translation.

More information: All That Is Interesting

Opera is the ultimate art form.
It has singing and music and drama
and dance and emotion and story.

Diane Paulus