"", Op. 27, No. 1, is the first 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. It was originally for voice and piano, and not

orchestrated Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

by Strauss until 1948, after he had completed 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 ...

'', "". The words are from a poem "" (Rest, my soul) written by the poet Karl Henckell.

History

Strauss composed the song in May 1894, and that September he gave it as a wedding present to his wife 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. ...

Related songs

Timothy L. Jackson Timothy L. Jackson (born 1958) is an American professor of music theory who has spent most of his career at the University of North Texas and specializes in music of the eighteenth through twentieth centuries, Schenkerian theory, politics and musi ...

has noted that Strauss had composed the song "Ruhe, meine Seele!" for piano and voice in 1894 but did not orchestrate it until 1948, just after he had completed "Im Abendrot" and before he composed the other three of his ''

''. Jackson suggests that the addition of "Ruhe, meine Seele!" to the ''Four Last Songs'' forms a five-song unified

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...

, if "Ruhe, meine Seele!" is performed as a prelude to "Im Abendrot", to which it bears motivic similarity.

Instrumentation and accompaniment

The instrumentation is:

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

, 2

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 ...

s, 2

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 ...

cor anglais The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...

, 2

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 in B,

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 ...

, 2

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, 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 F, 2

trumpet 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 ...

s in C, 3

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

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 ...

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...

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 accompaniment has sombre and ambiguous harmonies, with contrasting calm and tempestuous episodes, but ends peacefully in the home key of

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

Lyrics

Opus 27

The other songs of Opus 27 are: * Op. 27 No. 2 " Cäcilie" (Wenn du es wüßtest) * Op. 27 No. 3 "

Heimliche Aufforderung "" ("The Secret Invitation" or "The Lovers; Pledge"), Op. 27, No. 3, is one of a set of four songs composed for voice and piano by Richard Strauss in 1894. The German conductor Robert Heger orchestrated it in 1929.Morgen! "Morgen!" ("Tomorrow!") is the last in a set of four songs composed in 1894 by the German composer Richard Strauss. It is designated Opus 27, Number 4. The text of this Lied, the German love poem "Morgen!", was written by Strauss's contemporary, ...

" (Und morgen wird die Sonne wieder scheinen)

Recordings

Richard Strauss recorded it twice with himself accompanying on the piano. In 1919 with the baritone

Heinrich Schlusnus Heinrich Schlusnus (6 August 1888 – 18 June 1952) was Germany's foremost lyric baritone of the period between World War I and World War II. He sang opera and lieder with equal distinction. Career A native of Braubach, Schlusnus studied with vo ...

and again in 1944, with the baritone

Alfred Poell Alfred Poell (18 March 1900 – 30 January 1968) was an Austrian operatic baritone. Poell was born in Linz, Austria and studied medicine at the University of Innsbruck and obtained his doctorate there. He practised for a time as a neck specialist ...

.*Getz, Christine (1991), The Lieder of Richard Strauss, chapter 10 in Mark-Daniel Schmid, ''Richard Strauss Companion'', Praeger Publishers, Westfield CT, 2003, , page 376.

References and notes

External links

*
''The LiederNet Archive'': "Rest my soul"
English translation by Emily Ezust Orchestral accompaniment *,

Jessye Norman Jessye Mae Norman (September 15, 1945 – September 30, 2019) was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles, but refused to be limited to that voice type. A commanding presence on operatic, concert ...

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Dame Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike Schwarzkopf, (9 December 19153 August 2006) was a German-born Austro-British soprano. She was among the foremost singers of lieder, and is renowned for her performances of Viennese operetta, as well as the op ...

Piano accompaniment *,

Kiri Te Kanawa Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa , (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a retired New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". Te ...

Dima Orsho Dima Orsho (; b. 1975, Damascus, Syria) is a Syrian soprano singer and composer. She studied first at the Damascus Higher Institute for Music, then at the Boston Conservatory. Since 2003, she has been a member of the Syrian Hewar ensemble, alo ...

Richard Tauber Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948) was an Austrian tenor and film actor. Early life Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and an actress who played soubrette roles at the local theat ...

Helen Traubel Helen Francesca Traubel (June 16, 1899July 28, 1972) was an American opera and concert singer. A dramatic soprano, she was best known for her Wagnerian roles, especially those of Brünnhilde and Isolde. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, s ...

Birgit Nilsson Märta Birgit Nilsson (17 May 1918 – 25 December 2005) was a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano. Although she sang a wide répertoire of operatic and vocal works, Nilsson was best known for her performances in the operas of Richard Wagner a ...

{{Authority control Songs by Richard Strauss Music dedicated to family or friends 1894 songs Compositions in C major