Richard Strauss: New Perspectives on the Composer and His Work

Despite what was once a tendency by musicologists to overlook or deny Richard Strauss's importance, the essays in this volume firmly place the German composer in the musical mainstream and situate him among the most influential composers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Originally published by Duke University Press in 1992, this book examines Strauss's life and work from a number of approaches and during various periods of his long career, opening up unique corridors of insight finto a crucial time in German history. Beyond the enlightening introduction by Michael Kennedy, individual essays use Strauss's creative work as a framework for larger musicological questions such as the tension between narrative and structure in program music, the problem of extended tonality at the turn of the century, stylistic choice versus stylistic obligation, and conflicting perspectives of progressive versus conservative music.

CONTENIDO:

Preface to the Paperback Edition
Introduction: The Warmer Climate for Strauss (Michael Kennedy)
Preface

The Musical-Historical Context
-Strauss before Liszt and Wagner: Some Observations (R. Larry Todd)
-Miners Digging from Opposite Sides: Mahler, Strauss, and the Problem of Program Music (Stephen E. Hefling)
-Extended Tonality in Mahler and Strauss (Kofi Agawu)
-Ironic Allusions to Italian Opera in the Musical Comedies of Richard Strauss (Reinhold Chlotterer)
-Strauss and the National Socialists: The Debate and Its Relevance (Pamela M. Potter)
-Die Handler und die Kunst: Richard Strauss as Composers' Advocate (Barbara A. Petersen)

The Musical Works
-Fiery-Pulsed Libertine or Domestic Hero? Strauss's Don Juan Reinvestigated (James Hepokoski)
-The Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra (1945): Remarks about the Origin of the Work Based on a Newly Discovered Source (Gunter Brosche)
-The Metamorphosis of the Metamorphoses: New Analytic and Source-Critical Discoveries (Timothy L. Jackson)
-The Element of Time in Der Rosenkavalier (Lewis Lockwood)

Strauss's Intermezzo: Innovation and Tradition (Bryan Gilliam)

Index