Strauss goes mountain-climbing

Synopsis

To their contemporaries, the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler (born in 1860) and the German composer Richard Strauss (born in 1864) were a study in contrasts. The short, nervous Mahler, and the tall, phlegmatic Strauss even looked different. Both were famous composers and conductors who knew and admired each other, but their differences ran deep — Mahler, in his spiritual questing, turned to Christianity, while Strauss, an agnostic through and through, preferred Nietzsche.

When Mahler died in 1911, the usually unflappable Strauss was deeply affected, and unable to work for several days. When he resumed to his normal schedule, as he put it, "producing music like a cow produces milk," Strauss began work on "An Alpine Symphony," which he conducted for the first time in Berlin on today's date in 1915.

On its surface, "An Alpine Symphony" depicts mountain climbing — but some have suggested that for Strauss the mountain was really the music of Richard Wagner, a composer he once described as "so gigantic a peak that no one could rise higher." In his journals, Strauss reveals that Mahler and Nietzsche were also on his mind. In fact, the "Alpine Symphony" includes echoes of both Mahler's Symphonies and Strauss's Nietszche-inspired tone poem "Also sprach Zaratustra."

It's been suggested that in this Alpine journey, the climbers are, in effect, Strauss and Mahler, each in his own way trying to surmount the great Romantic creations of Wagner.

Music Played in Today's Program

Richard Strauss (1864-1949) An Alpine Symphony Vienna Philharmonic; André Previn, cond Telarc 80211

On This Day

Births

• 1896 - American conductor, composer and Eastman School of Music director, Howard Hanson, in Wahoo, Nebraska;

Deaths

• 1755 - French composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, age 65, in Roissy-en-Brie;

Premieres

• 1893 - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 ("Pathétique"), at the Hall of Nobles in St. Petersburg, with Tchaikovsky conducting (Julian date: Oct. 16);

• 1915 - R. Strauss: "An Alpine Symphony," in Berlin, with the composer conducting;

• 1925 - Loeffler: "The Canticle of the Sun," for voice and chamber orchestra, at the Library of Congress Festival of Chamber Music in Washington, D.C.;

• 1931 - William Grant Still: Symphony No. 1 ("Afro-American"), by the Rochester (N.Y.) Philharmonic, Howard Hanson conducting;

• 1932 - Stravinsky: "Duo Concertante" for Violin and Piano, in Berlin at the Funkhaus, with violinist Samuel Dushkin and the composer at the piano;

• 1935 - Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 15, in Moscow;

• 1942 - R. Strauss: opera "Capriccio," in Munich at the Bavarian State Opera, conducted by Clemens Krauss, with vocal soloists Viorica Ursuleac (The Countess), Horst Taubmann (Flamand), Hans Hotter (Olivier), and Georg Hann (La Roche);

• 1943 - Martinu: "Memorial to Lidice," in New York City;

• 1952 - Elliott Carter: Eight Etudes and a Fantasy for flute,oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, in New York, by members of the New York Woodwind Quintet;

• 1955 - Bernstein: incidental music for "The Lark" (play by Jean Anoilh adapted by Lillian Hellman) at trial run in Boston at the Plymouth Theater; The show opened in New York City at the Longacre Theater on November 17, 1955;

• 1965 - Ned Rorem: "Lions" for orchestra and jazz combo, by the Detroit Symphony, Sixten Ehrling conducting;

• 1972 - Morton Feldman: "Pianos and Voices," in Buffalo, N.Y.;

• 2001 - Kamran Ince: "Flight Box," at the Milwaukee Art Museum, by the ensemble Present Music.