"Frühlingsfeier" ( en, "Spring Festival" or "Rite of Spring") is a song 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 ...

using the text of a poem with the same name by

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...

(1797-1856), the fifth in his Opus 56 collection, (TrV 220) which was published in 1906. Originally written for piano and voice, Strauss wrote an orchestral version in 1933.

Composition History

Strauss set three of Heine's poems in his six Opus 56 songs, the poem ''Frühlingsfeier'' being from Heine's collection ''Romanzen'' (1839–42).

Startling and vivid, it depicts one of the wildest and most colorful of Spring rituals, the festival of Adonis...In addition to being the ideal of manly beauty, Adonis was the God of vegetation whose death and return to life represent decay in winter and its revival in Spring.

Jefferson believes that "This is the most uninhibited of Strauss's lieder so far as the words go, and certainly he matched these words to perfection in his later orchestral setting" The orchestral version was written for

Viorica Ursuleac Viorica Ursuleac (26 March 189422 October 1985) was a Romanian operatic soprano. Viorica Ursuleac was born the daughter of a Greek Orthodox archdeacon, in Chernivtsi, which is now in Ukraine. Following training in Vienna, she made her operatic ...

in 1933. With this song "he had reached his ultimate formula in transparent coloring of a big song supported by big orchestral forces" and "..it is a virtuoso song in every respect, and given the right kind of agony in its interpretation, the final six repetitions of "Adonis!" can wring the heart". Del Mar also believes that the song "...remains in its orchestral version one of the most passionately colorful of Strauss's Lieder".

Lyrics

"The poem expresses the ecstacy of the Spring festival of Adonis: its title could be translated as...''Rite of Spring'', and Heine's poem expresses the cyclic ritual death motif. ''Frühlingsfeier'' is a paen of pagan worship from Strauss's beloved Greece". Strauss added four repetitions of the name "Adonis" to the last verse.

Orchestral arrangement

Strauss finished the orchestral arrangement on September 3, 1933 whilst staying at the Hotel Rez in

Bad Wiessee Bad Wiessee (Central Bavarian: ''Bad Wiessä'') is a municipality in the district of Miesbach in Upper Bavaria in Germany. Since 1922, it has been a spa town and located on the western shore of the Tegernsee Lake. It had a population of around ...

(during the same visit he also orchestrated ''Mein Auge'' and ''Befreit''). The premier of the orchestral version was given on 12 October 1933 in Berlin with Strauss conducting the Berlin philharmonic, Viorica Ursuleac the soloist.Trenner, page 542. * Two

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 ...

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 ...

, two oboes,

English horn 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 ...

, 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 ...

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 and one

Contrabassoon 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 consi ...

. * Four french horns, two trumpets, three trombones * Timpani and

Cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

* One

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 ...

. *

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 ...

References

Notes Sources *

Norman Del Mar Norman René Del Mar CBE (31 July 19196 February 1994) was a British conductor, horn player, and biographer. As a conductor, he specialised in the music of late romantic composers; including Edward Elgar, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss. H ...

, ''Richard Strauss. A Critical Commentary on his Life and Works'', Volume 3, London: Faber and Faber (2009) 968(second edition), . *Jefferson, Alan. (1971) ''The Lieder of Richard Straus''s, Cassel and Company, London. . *Trenner, Franz (2003) ''Richard Strauss Chronik'', Verlag Dr Richard Strauss Gmbh, Wien, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Fruhlingsfeier Songs by Richard Strauss 1906 songs Orchestral songs