Allerseelen (Strauss)
| Allerseelen | |
|---|---|
| Lied by Richard Strauss | |
Am Allerseelentag, by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, 1839
|
|
| English | All Souls' Day |
| Catalogue | Op. 10 number 8, TrV 141 |
| Text | Poem by Hermann von Gilm |
| Language | German |
| Composed | 31 October 1885 |
| Dedication | Heinrich Vogl |
| Scoring | Voice and piano |
"Allerseelen" ("All Souls' Day") is an art song for voice and piano composed by Richard Strauss in 1885, setting a poem by the Austrian poet Hermann von Gilm from his collection Letzte Blätter (Last Pages). It is the last in a collection of eight songs which were all settings of Gilm poems from the same volume entitled Acht Lieder aus Letzte Blätter (Eight Songs from Last Pages), the first collection of songs Strauss ever published as Op. 10 in 1885, including also "Zueignung" (Dedication) and "Die Nacht" (The Night). The song was orchestrated in 1932 by German conductor Robert Heger.
In 1882, Strauss' friend, Ludwig Thuile, introduced Strauss to the poetry of Gilm contained in the volume Letzte Blätter (Last Pages), published in the year of the poet's death, (and the composer's birth), 1864, which contained the poem, Allerseelen. The Opus 10 songs were all intended for the tenor voice and were dedicated to the principal tenor of the Munich Court Opera, Heinrich Vogl. Gilm's poem Allerselen was well known in Germany; Eduard Lassen had set it several years previously. Strauss completed the song on 3 October, 1885, whilst at Meiningen, where he had started his first job as conductor under Hans von Bülow. The song was given its first public performance at Meiningen in a chamber concert on 5 March, 1886, (along with three other Opus 10 songs ("Zueignung" ("Dedication"), "Nichts" ("Nothing"), and "Die Georgine" ("The Dahlia")), sung by the tenor Rudolf Engelhardt. Whilst Strauss originally conceived of the song as being for a tenor, he did perform it, as accompanist to his wife, Pauline in two concerts in Brussels given in November 1896, and other concerts around Germany in 1898 and 1899. In 1921, during his US tour, he also performed it with the soprano, Elena Gerhardt. Unfortunately, there are no known recordings by Strauss of this song.
...
Wikipedia