Album insights
Among the poets whose works Richard Strauss set to music, three stand out: Adolf von Schack (1815-1894), Richard Dehmel (1863-1920), and Karl Henckell (1864-1929). Initially, Strauss particularly admired the works of von Schack. His Opus 15, 17, and 19 consist of a total of 17 songs, with 16 of them setting von Schack's poems to music. From Dehmel and Henckell's works, Strauss composed 10 settings each, including some of the most famous and beloved songs such as "Wiegenlied," "Befreit," and "Waldseligkeit" by Dehmel, and "Ruhe, meine Seele!" and ''Ich trage meine Minne'' by Henckell.
Adolf von Schack, a wealthy member of Munich's social elite, was an art patron with a significant art collection. On the other hand, despite the content of the poems set to music by Strauss not explicitly revealing it, both Dehmel and Henckell were young, socially revolutionary individuals. They were part of a group rejecting the sentimentality of mid-19th-century poems and advocating socialist views publicly, standing up for society's losers and outsiders. Henckell's proletarian poetry was considered so rebellious in Germany that it led to its banning, resulting in his emigration to Switzerland. Dehmel, the son of a gamekeeper, gained notoriety for his verses on sexual liberation, defending against obscenity charges. He was revered by the younger generation and considered a leading contemporary German poet at the beginning of the 20th century.
It remains uncertain whether Strauss shared Dehmel and Henckell's socialist views. Perhaps, for Strauss, pieces like "Der Arbeitsmann" and "Das Lied des Steinklopfers" were intriguing musically as much as politically. Strauss had a keen eye for musical potential in various themes, enjoying depicting colorful working-class characters. This approach allowed him to employ particularly dramatic orchestral effects, as seen in Dehmel's stormy background in "Lied an meinen Sohn." To grasp a comprehensive view of Strauss as a composer of songs, one must listen to all three songs, along with the exquisite "Am Ufer," a miniature masterpiece.
Contrary to popular belief, most songs in this collection show that Strauss didn't shy away from tackling serious themes as a song composer. This is exemplified in the three Rückert-Lieder from Opus 87. (The fourth song, "Erschaffen und Beleben," a Goethe adaptation from his West-östlicher Divan, was composed separately by Strauss and later added to the complete edition for possible balance.) These pieces carry a sense of melancholy, possibly reflecting Strauss's advanced age. Furthermore, the exceptional song "Im Spätboot," composed in 1906, anticipated both the mood and vocal range (bass), suggesting a connection to the noble resignation of Michelangelo's madrigal (1886), which opens this recording.
Roger Vignoles © 2009
Translated by Viola Scheffel