"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 and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

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. History 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 g ...

History

Strauss composed the song at Marquartstein on 9 September 1894. , the day before his wedding to the soprano Pauline de Ahna. 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 member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, 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 type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

, 2 clarinets in B, 2 bassoons, 4 horns 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 o ...

in E, 3 trombones,

tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

, 3

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has 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 orchestras or ...

and the orchestral

string section The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...

. 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 minor second, 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 ...

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 member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

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!" (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 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