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1 - In Search of Song

Richard Strauss’s “Schlechtes Wetter” between Poem, Music, and Performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2024

Benjamin Binder
Affiliation:
Duquesne University, Pittsburgh
Jennifer Ronyak
Affiliation:
Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz
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Summary

In this essay, I explore the text and contexts of Richard Strauss’s “Schlechtes Wetter,” Op. 69 No. 5 (1918), in order to illustrate the nature of song as interpretation. First, from the musicological side (and with brief reference to two classic theoretical accounts of the methodology of Lied analysis by Kofi Agawu and Lawrence Zbikowski), I consider Heinrich Heine’s poem and Strauss’s setting of it as meta-texts that reflect on the artists’ creative processes, observing in particular how Strauss’s song can also be heard to reveal the creative and interpretative essence of the traditional manner of identifying text-music relationships in the Lied. Turning then toward the work and perspectives of performers, I explore Strauss’s song as it was interpreted by soprano Elisabeth Schumann and the composer at the piano on their 1921 tour of the United States, along with some brief concluding reflections on my own performance of the song as pianist with soprano Sari Gruber in recitals given over the past decade. These performances radically alter our understanding of what the song is about and who we are to understand its vocal persona to be, illustrating the vital role of performance in determining what a song is and means.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • In Search of Song
  • Edited by Benjamin Binder, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Jennifer Ronyak, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz
  • Book: The Lied at the Crossroads of Performance and Musicology
  • Online publication: 09 February 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009003605.003
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  • In Search of Song
  • Edited by Benjamin Binder, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Jennifer Ronyak, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz
  • Book: The Lied at the Crossroads of Performance and Musicology
  • Online publication: 09 February 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009003605.003
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • In Search of Song
  • Edited by Benjamin Binder, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Jennifer Ronyak, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz
  • Book: The Lied at the Crossroads of Performance and Musicology
  • Online publication: 09 February 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009003605.003
Available formats
×