The Splendor of Strauss

The first orchestral piece with which I truly fell in love was a Richard Strauss tone poem.

While I have studied clarinet for over 10 years and have always relished the passion and power of orchestral music, it was not until my youth orchestra performed Strauss’s “Don Juan” in May 2009 that I realized just how obsessed I could become with particular pieces.

It was during our first rehearsal of “Don Juan” that I realized the magic of a tone poem. (Just a note: a tone poem is an orchestral work composed in a single movement, and it often tells a story). Although our run-through was a complete mess – entrances were rough, scales were sloppy and chords were out of tune – I was struck by the intensity of the experience of hearing a piece performed in its entirety, without movement breaks. I mused at the beauty of the dreamy clarinet and oboe duet, delighted in the triumphant horn entrances and was enchanted by the haunting and melancholy ending. That spring, “Don Juan” played on repeat as I completed Calculus homework, primped for Prom and drove with my family to New England to visit colleges. This tone poem had it all – tender, heart-melting duets, energetic string arpeggios and exultant brass chords.

After youth orchestra ended, I began to explore other Strauss tone poems. I quickly realized that it wasn’t just “Don Juan” that had the capacity to move me. I soon realized that “Death and Transfiguration,” “Til Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks,” “Thus Spake Zarathustra” and “Ein Heldenleben” are all unique, 40-50 minute pieces bursting with energy and emotion. I soon learned that it’s not just me who has a strange thing for Strauss: my friend and foreign study mate Amy harbors a deep love for “Ein Alpinesymphonie,” and I’m quite sure the highlight of her study abroad experience was hearing the Vienna Philharmonic perform the piece this spring.

Needless to say, I cannot wait to hear the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s performance of “Ein Heldenleben” (“A Hero’s Life”) this weekend. “Ein Heldenleben,” like many of Strauss’s tone poems, is replete with chromatic motives, brass fanfares and complex pairings of lyrical themes and brash chords. Particularly distinctive elements of “Ein Heldenleben” include a long violin cadenza, offstage trumpet segments and quotations from other Strauss tone poems such as “Don Juan,” “Til Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks” and “Also Spake Zarathustra.”

Listen to the first part of “Ein Heldenleben” to get a glimpse of what you will be hearing at Hilbert Circle Theatre: