The Richard Strauss Companion

Mark-Dan Schmid

Sep 2003 · Greenwood Publishing Group

About this ebook

Featuring ten new essays on different aspects of the compositions, artistic influences, and persona of Richard Strauss, The Strauss Companion explores the composer's relationship to his own work and to that of his noted contemporaries. Guided by not only musical interests but literary, political, and philosophical ones as well, Strauss is an ideal candidate for this sort of treatment. Following this discussion of his influences, the volume moves to a discussion of the works themselves, including operas, tone poems, and stage works; these compositions are explored analytically and also in terms of their critical reception. The final chapter investigates for the first time Strauss's much-neglected choral works, revealing their rich musical and vocal capacities, while a select bibliography and complete works-list round out the volume.

These colorful and intriguing essays are written by some of the foremost American, German, British, and Canadian Strauss scholars of our time, making it an important resource for students not only of Strauss's work, but of all musical composition and art music.

About the author

MARK-DANIEL SCHMID is an Assistant Professor of Music History and Literature and Piano at Mansfield University in Mansfield, Pennsylvania. Having previously taught for several years at the Musikschule Leinfelden-Echterdingen in Germany, his scholarly interests include Richard Strauss, Frantisek Xaver Dusek, and film music.