Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs, (Vier letzte Lieder) Op. posth. for Soprano and orchestra (1948)

Hermann Hesse - German-Swiss poet (1877-1962) Joseph von Eichendorff - German-Swiss poet (1788-1857) 00:02 1. Frühling (Spring) / Hesse 03:01 2. September / Hesse 06:50 3. Beim Schlafengehen (Going to Sleep) / Hesse 11:53 4. Im Abendrot (At Sunset - At Gloaming) / Eichendorff Soprano: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Philharmonia Orchestra Conductor: Herbert von Karajan Live at Royal Festival Hall – (EMI 1956) **For Lyrics, see the Pinned Comment** The Four Last Songs Op. posth., for soprano & orchestra are – with the exception of the song "Malven" (Mallows), composed later the same year – the final completed works of Strauss. They were composed in 1948 when the composer was 84. The songs are Frühling, September, Beim Schlafengehen , "Im Abendrot" . The title Four Last Songs was provided posthumously by Strauss's friend Ernst Roth, who published the 4 songs as a single unit in 1950 after Strauss's death. Strauss died in September 1949. The premiere was given at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 22 May 1950 by soprano Kirsten Flagstad & the Philharmonia, conducted by Furtwängler. The work has no opus number, & was published in 1950 after Strauss's death. It is listed as AV 150 in von Asow & Hermann's thematical index, & as TrV 296 in the index of Franz & Florian Trenner. Background: Strauss had come across the poem Im Abendrot by Joseph von Eichendorff, which he felt had a special meaning for him. He set its text to music in May 1948. Strauss had also recently been given a copy of the complete poems of Hermann Hesse & was strongly inspired by them. He set three of them – Frühling, September, & Beim Schlafengehen – for soprano & orchestra, & contemplated setting two more, Nacht a& Höhe des Sommers, in the same manner. He also embarked on a choral setting of Hesse's Besinnung, but laid it aside after the projected fugue became "too complicated". With the exception of the song "Malven" ("Mallows") composed later the same year, the songs are Strauss's final completed works. The overall title Four Last Songs was provided by Strauss's friend Ernst Roth, the chief editor of Boosey & Hawkes, when he published all four songs as a single unit in 1950, & in the order that most performances now follow: "Frühling", "September", "Beim Schlafengehen", "Im Abendrot". Sequence of the songs: Roth's 1950 published sequence follows neither the order of composition of the songs (Im Abendrot: May 6, 1948; Frühling: July 20, 1948; Beim Schlafengehen: August 4, 1948; September: September 20, 1948) nor that of the 1950 premiere (by Kirsten Flagstad conducted by Furtwängler). Although most recordings adhere to Roth, some stay with Flagstad/Furtwängler – Beim Schlafengehen, September, Frühling, Im Abendrot. The latter include Sena Jurinac's 1951 recording with the Stockholm Philharmonic conducted by Fritz Busch; Lisa Della Casa's 1953 recording with the Vienna Philharmonic under K. Böhm; & Felicity Lott's 1986 recording with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Neeme Järvi. There is no authority because Strauss did not conceive a cycle, but he did entrust the premiere to Flagstad. Subject matter: All of the songs but "Frühling" deal with death & all were written shortly before Strauss himself died. They are suffused with a sense of calm, acceptance, & completeness. The settings are for a solo soprano voice given soaring melodies against a full orchestra, & all four songs have prominent horn parts. The combination of a beautiful vocal line with supportive horn accompaniment references Strauss's own life; his wife Pauline de Ahna was a famous soprano & his father Franz Strauss a professional horn player. Towards the end of "Im Abendrot", after the soprano's intonation of "Ist dies etwa der Tod?" ("Is this perhaps death?"), Strauss musically quotes his own tone poem Death & Transfiguration, written 60 years earlier. As in that piece, the quoted seven-note phrase (known as the "transfiguration theme") has been seen as the fulfillment of the soul through death. Premiere & first recording One of the last wishes of Strauss was that Kirsten Flagstad be the soprano to introduce the four songs. "I would like to make it possible," he wrote to her, "that the songs should be at your disposal for a world premiere in the course of a concert with a first-class conductor &orchestra. The premiere was given posthumously at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 22 May 1950, sung by Flagstad, with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Furtwängler. The performance was made possible by a magnanimous effort of the Maharaja of Mysore, Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar Bahudar. Though he could not be present, the music-loving maharaja put up a $4,800 guarantee for the performance, so that the 4 Last Songs could be recorded for his large personal collection – then estimated at around 20,000 records & the recording then shipped to him in Mysore.