Utan svafvel och fosfor
| Utan svafvel och fosfor | |
|---|---|
| Choral work by Richard Strauss | |
 Swedish matchbox | |
| English | Without sulfur and phosphorus |
| Catalogue | TrV 159 (AV 88). |
| Text | Swedish matchbox |
| Language | Swedish. |
| Composed | Dec 7 1889 |
| Scoring | Male voice choir TTBB. |
Utan svafvel och fosfor (TrV 159) is an acapella work for male voice choir written by Richard Strauss in 1889. It sets the words found on a Swedish matchbox.
Composition History
Strauss had arrived at Weimar as Kapellmeister on September 8, 1889, the residency of the Grand Dukes of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. The Hofkapellmaster (chief music director) was Eduard Lassen (1830-1904) who welcomed the young Strauss and "readily acknowledged his artistic superiority".[1] Strauss finished orchestrating his his tone poem Death and Transfiguration soon after his arrival and on November 11, he premiered his Don Juan.
He spent many of is evenings, mostly in the company of Eduard Lassen, at the The Künstlerheim, which he described to his father as "a frivolous means of passing the time, in a charming old smithy". An Artists' Ball was held there on December 14, in imitation of the Paris Universal Exhibition of that year, which Richard attended as a moorish sweet seller. It was for this occasion that he composed, on December 7, his Scherzo-Quartet for male voices on a text he had found on a box of matches made in Sweden (Schwedischer Zündholzschachtel) Utan svavfel och phosphor.[2]
Later, he wrote of this time at Weimar "The theatre, cards, as well as my fiancee, claimed most of my attention" (his fiancee being Pauline de Ahna who had also come to Weimar in October to work at the Court Opera).[3] The piece is written for two tenor parts and two bass parts and takes a little over 3 minutes to perform. The piece was written with an alternative German translation of the lyrics Ohne Schwefel und Phosphor. Strauss did not give the piece an opus number, indicating that he did not think it an important work. The work has been recorded by the Berlin radio chorus, with the Swedish lyrics, conducted by Robin Gritton.[4]
References
- ↑ Schuh page 175.
- ↑ Schuh page 182-3.
- ↑ Kennedy, page 68.
- ↑ (The) Unknown Richard Strauss, Vol 14: Choral Works, Berlin Radio Chorus, Koch Schwann 3-6541-2 (2002)
Sources
- Kennedy, Michael (1999), Richard Strauss: Man, Musician, Enigma, Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-027748 ISBN 978-0521027748
- Schuh, Willi (1982). Richard Strauss: A Chronicle of the Early Years 1864-1898, (translated by Mary Wittal), Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24104-9.
- Choral score, published in 1992
