"Cäcilie", Op. 27 No. 2, is the second in a set of four songs composed by

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

in 1894. The words are from a love poem "Cäcilie" written by Heinrich Hart (1855–1906), a German dramatic critic and journalist who also wrote poetry. It was written for the poet's wife Cäcilie. , or UK English as "

Cecilia Cecilia is a personal name originating in the name of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. The name has been popularly used in Europe (particularly the United Kingdom and Italy, where in 2018 it was the 43rd most popular name for girls born ...

History

Strauss composed the song at

Marquartstein Marquartstein is a municipality in the southeastern part of Bavaria, Germany and is part of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Marquartstein and Staudach-Egerndach. It is situated in a region called Chiemgau, approximately 10 km south of Lake Chi ...

on 9 September 1894. , the day before his wedding to the soprano

Pauline de Ahna Pauline Maria de Ahna (also known as Pauline Strauss (4 February 1863 – 13 May 1950) was a German operatic soprano and the wife of composer Richard Strauss. Her singing career was closely tied to her husband's career as a conductor and composer. ...

. All four of the Opus 27 songs, including ''Cäcilie'' were given as a wedding present to her.

Instrumentation and accompaniment

The song was originally written with piano accompaniment in the key of E major, but later orchestrated in his 'heroic' key of E. The instrumentation is: 2

flutes The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, 2

oboes The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

, 2

clarinets The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. ...

in B, 2

bassoons The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuos ...

, 4

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

in E, 2

trumpets The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...

in E, 3

trombones The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

, 3

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

and the orchestral string section. The tempo direction is "Sehr lebhaft und drängend". Strauss, in his rich and lively orchestration, included parts for a solo string player from each section. The change of key a

semitone A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...

down from E to E explains why, from bar 34 on the violas are asked to play the note B, a semitone below the lowest note normally possible on the instrument; and at this point Strauss asks half the violas to tune this string down a semitone. For the same reason the full score, bar 39, gives the second

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

the note B, a semitone lower than its normal lowest note.

Lyrics

Opus 27

The other songs of Strauss' ''Opus 27'': * Op. 27 No. 1 "

Ruhe, meine Seele! "", Opus number, Op. 27, No. 1, is the first in a set of four songs composed by Richard Strauss in 1894. It was originally for voice and piano, and not Orchestration, orchestrated by Strauss until 1948, after he had completed one of his ''Four Las ...

" (Nicht ein Lüftchen regt sich leise) * Op. 27 No. 3 " Heimliche Aufforderung" (Auf, hebe die funkelnde Schale) * Op. 27 No. 4 " Morgen!" (Und morgen wird die Sonne wieder scheinen)

Recordings

There are many recordings of this, one of Strauss's most popular songs. Richard Strauss recorded it in once in 1944, accompanying the Austrian soprano

Maria Reining Maria Reining (August 7, 1903 in Vienna – March 11, 1991 in Deggendorf) was an Austrian soprano, honored with the title Kammersängerin. At first, Reining worked as in a Viennese bank, and didn't commence her singing career until the age o ...

on the piano.Richard Strauss accompanies (Vol.2), Preiser PR93262.

References and notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cacilie (Richard Strauss) Songs by Richard Strauss 1894 songs