Die Tageszeiten
Die Tageszeiten | |
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Choral composition by Richard Strauss | |
![]() Strauss, photo by Schmutzer 1922 | |
English | Times of the Day |
Catalogue | TrV 256 |
Opus | 76 |
Text | Poems by Joseph Eichendorff |
Language | German |
Composed | 19 December 1927, Vienna.[1] |
Dedication | To The Wiener Schubertbund and their conductor Viktor Keldorfer |
Scoring | Male voice choir and orchestra. |
Die Tageszeiten (Times of the Day) is a
Composition history
On 1 May 1924, the male voice choir of the Wiener Schubertbund (Vienna Schubert Society) serenaded Strauss in honor of his sixtieth birthday outside his house on Mozart-Platz. The choirmaster, Viktor Keldorfer, took the opportunity to ask if Strauss might write a piece for the choir and suggested the poetry of Joseph Eichendorff as a possible text.[3][4]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Joseph_von_Eichendorff.jpg/170px-Joseph_von_Eichendorff.jpg)
Eichendorff was a very popular Romantic poet whose songs had been set many times by composers, such as Hugo Wolf.[5] Indeed, Strauss had used Eichendorff in earlier choral works and was to turn to Eichendorff twenty years later for one of his Four Last Songs, Im Abendrot, also about a time of the day. His response to Keldorfer's suggestion was to comment about the poet: "Good! Very good! He is a full blooded romanticist who is close to me".[6]
The idea developed slowly in Strauss' mind, and Keldorfer heard nothing until in 1927 he received an invitation to visit Strauss at his home in
Although the shape of the pieces arise from the form of the Eichendorff poems, the style of the music depends on the instrumental textures ... whilst the vocal lines adopt a relatively subordinate role. The peaceful second movement has its roots firmly planted in German folk-song, though its conventionality is qualified by Strauss' calculated indifference to the rules of strict part writing. the movement conjures up both the sultry heat and provides an attractive contrast to the more vivacious movements which flank it ... The last two songs run continuously, Evening merging appropriately into Night with haunting suggestions of distant storms. The final song is a peaceful and attractive Nocturne which opens with a horn solo and has a middle section filled with birdsong and atmospheric orchestration. The work ends with a hymn like repetition of the final verse.[7]
Strauss did not conduct the premiere in Vienna on 21 July 1928. He did conduct the piece with the Wiener Schubertbund the next year, on 23 January 1929.[8]
Lyrics
Richard Strauss based the lyrics for Die Tageszeiten on the following poems by Joseph Eichendorff (1788–1857):
Introduction (a cappella)
Wann der Hahn kräht auf dem Dache,
Putzt der Mond die Lampe aus
Und die Stern ziehn von der Wache
Gott, Gott behüte Land und Haus.
Morning
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Edvard_Munch_-_The_Sun_%281911%29.jpg/260px-Edvard_Munch_-_The_Sun_%281911%29.jpg)
Der Morgen |
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Fliegt der erste Morgenstrahl |
Afternoon Rest
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Csuk_Afternoon_Rest_1910.jpg/170px-Csuk_Afternoon_Rest_1910.jpg)
Mittagsruh |
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Über Bergen, Fluß und Talen, |
Evening
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/%D0%92%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%80.jpg/170px-%D0%92%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%80.jpg)
Der Abend |
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Schweigt der Menschen laute Lust: |
Night
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Munch_Moonlight.jpg/170px-Munch_Moonlight.jpg)
Die Nacht |
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Wie schön, hier zu verträumen |
Choir and orchestra
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Strauss_richard.jpg/150px-Strauss_richard.jpg)
The male voice choir is scored for two tenor parts and two bass parts. The orchestra consists of:
Clemens Krauss made an arrangement for mixed choir (SATB) after the composer's death, which was premiered with the Vienna Philharmonic on 2 March 1952.[9]
References
Sources
- Richard Strauss Edition: Volume 30 Works for Choir and Orchestra, Peters Edition, Richard Strauss Verlag, Vienna (2004), ISMN 9790014106997.
- ISBN 978-0-571-25097-4.
- Lodata, Suzanne, The Challenge of the Choral Works, chapter 11 in Mark-Daniel Schmid, Richard Strauss Companion, Praeger Publishers, Westfield CT, (2003), ISBN 0-313-27901-2.
- Trenner, Franz (2003) Richard Strauss Chronik, Verlag Dr Richard Strauss Gmbh, Wien, ISBN 3-901974-01-6.
External links
- Eichendorff texts and translations online at German Project Gutenberg (in German)
- Lieder.net, original Eichendorff texts and translations into several languages.