''Die Tageszeiten'' (''Times of the Day'') is a
choral
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
composition written for
male voice choir
A men's chorus or male voice choir (MVC) (German: ''Männerchor''), is a choir consisting of men who sing with either a tenor or bass voice, and whose music is typically arranged into high and low tenors (1st and 2nd tenor), and high and low bass ...
and orchestra 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 ...
(1864–1949), TrV 256,
Op. 76 (published 1928). It consists of four movements: "The Morning", "Afternoon Peace", "The Evening" and "The Night". The lyrics are based on four poems of the same names by
Joseph Eichendorff (1788–1857) from his collection ''Wanderlieder'' (Wanderers' songs). The work was premiered on 21 July 1928 with the
Wiener Schubertbund
The Wiener Schubertbund ("Vienna Schubert Society") is a men's choir in Vienna, Austria, founded in 1863.
History
The choir's founder in 1863, and its first musical director, was Franz Mair. It was originally affiliated to a teachers' association ...
(Vienna Schubert Society) and the
Vienna Philharmonic
The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world.
The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. It ...
as part of the
Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
centenary.
Composition history
On 1 May 1924, the male voice choir of the
Wiener Schubertbund
The Wiener Schubertbund ("Vienna Schubert Society") is a men's choir in Vienna, Austria, founded in 1863.
History
The choir's founder in 1863, and its first musical director, was Franz Mair. It was originally affiliated to a teachers' association ...
(Vienna Schubert Society) serenaded Strauss in honor of his sixtieth birthday outside his house on Mozart-Platz. The choirmaster,
Viktor Keldorfer Viktor Josef Keldorfer (14 April 1873 – 28 January 1959) was an Austrian conductor of male voice choirs, in particular from 1922 to 1954 of the ''Wiener Schubertbund'', and was a chairman of choir associations.
Life
Keldorfer was born in Salzbur ...
, 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.
![Joseph von Eichendorff](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Joseph_von_Eichendorff.jpg)
Eichendorff was a very popular
Romantic poet whose songs had been set many times by composers, such as
Hugo Wolf
Hugo Philipp Jacob Wolf (13 March 1860 – 22 February 1903) was an Austrian composer of Slovene origin, particularly noted for his art songs, or Lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Ro ...
. 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
The ''Four Last Songs'' (german: Vier letzte Lieder, link=no), Op. posth., for soprano and orchestra are – with the exception of the song "Malven" (Mallows), composed later the same year – the final completed works of Richard Strauss. They ...
'', ''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".
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
Garmisch
Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...
where Strauss showed him three of a four movement song cycle based on poems from Eichendorff's ''Wanderlieder'' ("Der Abend" was completed later that year). In this initial version, Strauss had composed an orchestral opening, a depiction of dawn leading to the first line of the poem "Fliegt der erste Morgenstrahl". Keldorfer suggested an alternative opening in which the choir sang
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
using a verse from Eichendorf's poetic
novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...
''Die Glücksritter'' (''The Fortune Seekers''). Del Mar comments that the verse had been used previously by
Hans Pfitzner
Hans Erich Pfitzner (5 May 1869 – 22 May 1949) was a German composer, conductor and polemicist who was a self-described anti-modernist. His best known work is the post-Romantic opera ''Palestrina'' (1917), loosely based on the life of the s ...
, which might have put Strauss off. However, he duly obliged Keldorfer and replaced the orchestral introduction with the a cappella opening.
Del Mar
Del Mar is Spanish for "of the sea" or "from the sea". It may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Del Mar, California
* Del Mar High School, located in San Jose, California
* Del Mar racetrack, located in Del Mar, California
* Del Mar Fai ...
writes about ''Die Tageszeiten'':
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.
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.
Lyrics
Richard Strauss based the lyrics for ''Die Tageszeiten'' on the following poems by Joseph Eichendorff (1788–1857):
Introduction (a cappella)
Morning
Afternoon Rest
Evening
Night
Choir and orchestra
![Strauss richard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Strauss_richard.jpg)
The male voice choir is scored for two
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
parts and two
bass parts. The orchestra consists of:
* Two flutes, two
oboe
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 ...
s, two
clarinet
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 ...
s,
bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...
, two
bassoon
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 virtuo ...
s,
double bassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences.
Differences from the bassoon
The reed is consid ...
.
* Four
french horn
The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...
s, two trumpets, three
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 ...
*
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 ...
*
Organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
(Night)
*
Strings
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
Clemens Krauss
Clemens Heinrich Krauss (31 March 189316 May 1954) was an Austrian conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and Richard Wagner.
Krauss was born in Vienna to Clementine Krauss, the ...
made an arrangement for mixed choir (
SATB
SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass.
Choral music
Four-part harm ...
) after the composer's death, which was premiered with the
Vienna Philharmonic
The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world.
The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. It ...
on 2 March 1952.
[Lodata, page 403.]
References
Sources
* ''Richard Strauss Edition: Volume 30 Works for Choir and Orchestra'', Peters Edition, Richard Strauss Verlag, Vienna (2004), ISMN 9790014106997.
*
Del Mar, Norman, ''Richard Strauss. A Critical Commentary on his Life and Works'', Volume 2, London: Faber and Faber (2009)
969
Year 969 ( CMLXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 1st millennium, the 69th ...
(second edition), .
* Lodata, Suzanne, ''The Challenge of the Choral Works'', chapter 11 in Mark-Daniel Schmid, ''Richard Strauss Companion'', Praeger Publishers, Westfield CT, (2003), .
* Trenner, Franz (2003) ''Richard Strauss Chronik'', Verlag Dr Richard Strauss Gmbh, Wien, .
External links
Eichendorff textsand translations online at German
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...
Lieder.net original Eichendorff texts and translations into several languages.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tageszeiten
Choral compositions
1928 compositions
Compositions by Richard Strauss
Adaptations of works by Joseph von Eichendorff