Richard Strauss conducts his “Eine Alpensinfonie” Op. 64 (Bayerisches Staatsorchester, June 1941)

In this rare, but historically relevant recording, Richard Strauss conducts his Alpine Symphony with the Bavarian State Orchestra in 1941.

At the time that Richard Strauss composed the Alpine Symphony in 1914, he brought to a close that chapter of his career characterized by the ultimate development of the symphonic poem as conceived by Franz Liszt, or as Strauss liked to call the tone poem.

A full decade had passed between this last work of the genre and the one preceding it, the Sinfonia Domestica, during which Strauss had trod completely different paths. During this period he had primarily focused on his operatic works stretching from works such as Salomé (1905) and Elektra (1909), which are often considered Strauss’ most daring and experimental works to Der Rosankavalier (1911) and Ariadne auf Naxos (1912).

These four titles again signal changes in Strauss’ manner. Whereas in Elektra, the stylistic line of Salomé was pursued to its logical extreme- the ultimate end of the Wagnerian aesthetic and music drama that dominated much of the later half of the 19th century. Strauss created a completely different type of musical atmosphere in Der Rosankavalier, not only in his subject matter but also in musical outlook. He discovered a form of modern rococo for the contemporary musical theatre which was close to a modernized revival of the baroque mythological theatre. This turn from the monumental to the elegant also brought about a change in the orchestral body. In Ariadne auf Naxos, Strauss dispensed with the giant orchestra he used in his preceding three operas in favor of an instrumental group closer to chamber music in its economy.

The critics and journalists had just taken note of the new epoch of Strauss, upon whom the spotlight of international interest was focused even then, when he came out with the Alpine Symphony. It was a twofold sensation - a return to the purely orchestral tone-poem as well as a throwback to the style of symphonic ponderosity. And this ponderosity was again surpassed in the new score, with its whole arsenal of the most unusual noisemaking instruments: wind machine, thunder machine and cowbells, in addition to the usual percussion instruments, plus a specially organized brass group offstage consisting of twelve horns, two trumpets and two trombones. Here we are dealing with gigantic performance requirements, which raise the question as to what impulse could possibly have induced the composer to create such an ostentatious anachronism - considering his own stage of development at that time.

One might suppose that the Alpine Symphony was a result of an overpowering personal experience of nature that sought artistic expression, but this explanation does not suffice of itself. Theoretically, the form of the Alpine Symphony and, hence, its means of realization, could have been quite different for the same experience. There must be another explanation for the fact that the result was this very ultimate of an almost subjective tone poem with a unique realism of tonal painting.

A hint for this assumption can be found in the fact that the work is "dedicated in gratitude to Count Nicolaus Seebach and the Royal Orchestra at Dresden." In other words, it was a token of appreciation for a series of important and successful premieres for which Strauss owed a debt of gratitude to the Dresden Opera and its manager (Feuersnot in 1901, Salome, Elektra and Der Rosenkavalier). Naturally such a gift best fulfills its purpose when it is capable, as a bravura piece, of giving the performing orchestra an opportunity to display its full talents through a rousing and resounding gamut of musical expression.

However, the Dresden Royal Opera Orchestra already enjoyed an international reputation for versatility, If it was to demonstrate its technical and interpretive ability in many stylistic facets with a single work, then such work must possess the characteristics of - the Alpine Symphony. In no way does it detract from our appreciation of this work as both an artistic conception and the musical recording of a personal experience to realize that the primary reason for its form was the desire to give an orchestra of world renown "something to do in all sections for a change. It is conceivable that the composer did not only take into consideration the orchestra members' pleasure in playing this work but also the satisfaction to be experienced by the conductor. This satisfaction could all the more be appreciated by Strauss inasmuch as he himself, in his own inimitable manner, was a masterful orchestral conductor, one of those rare examples capable of exacting a maximum of tonal fascination with a minimum of gesticulation. What follows is a work of apparent programmatic simplicity under the guise of more than 60 plus themes to create form and structure.

Adapted from Walter Abendroth.

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