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"Des Dichters Abendgang" ("The Poets Evening Stroll") is an
The 1918 orchestral arrangement calls for the following instruments:
* Three
The poem captures the enlightenment and transcendence felt by the poet as he takes his evening stroll. The inner light guides him even when times become dark.
art song
An art song is a Western vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano accompaniment, and usually in the classical art music tradition. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the collective genre of such 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 ...
using the text of a poem with the same name by Ludwig Uhland
Johann Ludwig Uhland (26 April 1787 – 13 November 1862) was a German poet, philologist and literary historian.
Biography
He was born in Tübingen, Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, but also took an interest i ...
(1787–1862), the second in his Opus
''Opus'' (pl. ''opera'') is a Latin word meaning "work". Italian equivalents are ''opera'' (singular) and ''opere'' (pl.).
Opus or OPUS may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* Opus number, (abbr. Op.) specifying order of (usually) publicatio ...
47 collection, (TrV 200) which was published in 1900. Originally written for piano and voice, Strauss wrote an orchestral version in 1918.
Composition history
Strauss wrote the song at his home inCharlottenburg
Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...
near Berlin, completing it on May 8, 1900. Strauss set five of Uhlands's poems in his Opus 47 songs. He had only recently set another Uhland poem ''Die Ulme zu Hirsau'' (opus 43/3, 1899). The poet had also been a childhood favourite of Strauss: two of his earliest ''Jugendlieder'' (childhood songs) written in 1871 were Uhland settings. Strauss' tempo marking is "Sehr ruhig and feierlich" (very quiet and solemn) and his setting "is a full scale heroic song, originally composed in Strauss' heroic key of E flat". The song was published in a bilingual edition with English lyrics the same year. In 1918, he wrote an orchestral version of the song, this time in the key of D flat, which was premiered on April 20, 1919, in Berlin sung by tenor Ernst Kraus
Ernst Kraus (June 8, 1863 – September 5, 1941) was a German dramatic tenor best known for his performances in the operas of Richard Wagner. He decided to embark on an operatic career when he heard leading singers performing in Nuremberg ...
with Stauss conducting the Berlin Philharmonic
The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world.
History
The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...
.Trenner, page 406
Orchestral arrangement
The 1918 orchestral arrangement calls for the following instruments:
* Three 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, 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, 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 ...
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.
* 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, three 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, three 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 ...
s, one 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 ...
* Two 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 ...
s (playing in unison).
* 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 ...
Lyrics
The poem captures the enlightenment and transcendence felt by the poet as he takes his evening stroll. The inner light guides him even when times become dark.
See also
References
Notes Sources * Del Mar, Norman (2009)968
Year 968 ( CMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Byzantine Empire
* Emperor Nikephoros II receives a Bulgarian embassy led by Prince Boris (th ...
''Richard Strauss: A Critical Commentary on his Life and Works'', Volume 3 (second edition). London: Faber and Faber. .
* Jefferson, Alan (1971). ''The Lieder of Richard Straus''. London: Cassel and Company. .
* Trenner, Franz (2003). ''Richard Strauss Chronik''. Wien: Verlag Dr Richard Strauss Gmbh. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dichters Abendsgang, Des
Songs about writers
Songs by Richard Strauss
1900 songs
Adaptations of works by Ludwig Uhland