All Topics  
Eine Alpensinfonie

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Eine Alpensinfonie
 
 
  Topics Eine Alpensinfonie Topic Home

Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), Op. 64, is a large symphonic poem
Symphonic poem

A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in one movement in which some extramusical program provides a narrative or illustrative element....
 composed by Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss

Richard Georg Strauss was a German composer of the late Romantic music and early modern eras, particularly of operas, Lieder and tone poems. Strauss was also a prominent Conducting....
 between 1911 and 1915. A typical performance entails upwards of forty-five minutes of continuous music. It depicts a full-day excursion on a mountain in the Bavarian Alps, recalling in vivid orchestral expression the composer's own experiences hiking at age fourteen. Strauss dedicated the work to Count Nicolaus Seebach and the Royal Kapelle (Orchestra) in Dresden, the ensemble which gave the premiere in 1915.

The symphony was the first ever work to be released on CD, recorded by Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan

Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conducting, one of the most renowned 20th-century conductors. His obituary in The New York Times described him as "probably the world's best-known conductor and one of the most powerful figures in classical music." Karajan conducted the Berlin Philharmonic for thirty-five years....
 for Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon

Deutsche Grammophon is a Germany classical record label, now part of the Universal Music Group. The company has long been known for its high standards of high fidelity....
.

Alpine Symphony is one of Strauss’ largest non-operatic conceptions, and the composer himself considered it his best-wrought work in terms of its orchestration.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Eine Alpensinfonie'
Start a new discussion about 'Eine Alpensinfonie'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), Op. 64, is a large symphonic poem
Symphonic poem

A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in one movement in which some extramusical program provides a narrative or illustrative element....
 composed by Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss

Richard Georg Strauss was a German composer of the late Romantic music and early modern eras, particularly of operas, Lieder and tone poems. Strauss was also a prominent Conducting....
 between 1911 and 1915. A typical performance entails upwards of forty-five minutes of continuous music. It depicts a full-day excursion on a mountain in the Bavarian Alps, recalling in vivid orchestral expression the composer's own experiences hiking at age fourteen. Strauss dedicated the work to Count Nicolaus Seebach and the Royal Kapelle (Orchestra) in Dresden, the ensemble which gave the premiere in 1915.

The symphony was the first ever work to be released on CD, recorded by Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan

Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conducting, one of the most renowned 20th-century conductors. His obituary in The New York Times described him as "probably the world's best-known conductor and one of the most powerful figures in classical music." Karajan conducted the Berlin Philharmonic for thirty-five years....
 for Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon

Deutsche Grammophon is a Germany classical record label, now part of the Universal Music Group. The company has long been known for its high standards of high fidelity....
.

Instrumentation

The Alpine Symphony is one of Strauss’ largest non-operatic conceptions, and the composer himself considered it his best-wrought work in terms of its orchestration. The Alpine Symphony is scored for the following forces: Woodwinds:
4 Flute
Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike other woodwind instruments, a flute is a reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air against an edge....
s (Fl. 3, 4 doubling Piccolo
Piccolo

The piccolo is a small flute. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger component, the flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written....
s)
3 Oboe
Oboe

The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois", "hoboy", or "French hoboy"....
s (Ob. 3 doubling English Horn)
Heckelphone
Heckelphone

The Heckelphone is a musical instrument invented by Wilhelm Heckel and his sons, introduced in 1904.It is a double reed instrument of the oboe family, but with a wider bore and hence a heavier and more penetrating tone....
2 Clarinet
Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word clarino meaning a particular type of trumpet, as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet....
s in B-flat
Clarinet in E-flat
E-flat clarinet

The E-flat clarinet is a member of the clarinet family. It is usually classed as a soprano clarinet, although some authors describe it as a "sopranino" or even "piccolo" clarinet....
Clarinet in C (doubling Bass Clarinet
Bass clarinet

The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet....
 in B-flat)
4 Bassoon
Bassoon

The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the Bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher....
s (Bsn. 4 doubling Contrabassoon
Contrabassoon

The contrabassoon is a larger version of the bassoon sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences....
)


Brass
Brass instrument

A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose tone is produced by vibration of the lips as the player blows into a tubular resonator. They are also called labrosones, literally meaning "lip-vibrated instruments" ....
:
8 Horn
Horn (instrument)

The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. It is descended from the natural horn and is informally known as the French horn....
s (Hns. 5-8 doubling Wagner Tubas
Wagner tuba

The Wagner tuba is a comparatively rare brass instrument that combines elements of both the Horn and the tuba. It was originally created for Richard Wagner's operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen....
 in F and B-flat)
4 Trumpet
Trumpet

The trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest Register in the brass instrument family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BC....
s
4 Trombone
Trombone

The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass instrument family. Like all brass instruments, it is a lip-reed aerophone: sound is produced when the player?s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate....
s
2 Tuba
Tuba

The tuba is the largest and lowest pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped Mouthpiece ....
s


12 Offstage Horns
2 Offstage Trumpets
2 Offstage Trombones


Percussion:
Timpani
Timpani

Timpani are musical instruments in the percussion instrument family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a drumhead stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper, and more recently, constructed of more lightweight fiberglass....
 (2 players)
Bass Drum
Bass drum

A bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch . There are three general classifications of bass drums: the concert bass drum, the kick' drum, and the pitched bass drum....
Cymbal
Cymbal

Cymbals are a modern percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various cymbal alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture....
s
Tam-tam
Triangle
Triangle (instrument)

The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the Percussion instrument family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel in modern instruments, bent into a triangle shape....
Cowbells
Glockenspiel
Glockenspiel

File:Glockenspiel-malletech.jpgFile:GlockenspielSousaphone.jpgThe glockenspiel is a musical instrument in the percussion instrument family....
Wind Machine
Wind machine

The wind machine is a specialist musical instrument used to produce the sound of wind. One type uses an electric fan with wooden slats added to produce the required sound....
Thunder Machine


Keyboards:
Organ
Organ (music)

The organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard played either Manual or Pedal clavier. The organ is one of the oldest musical instruments in the European classical music....
Celesta
Celesta

The celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard instrument. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box ....


Strings
String instrument

A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones....
:
2 Harp
Harp

The 'harp' is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the Sounding board. It is also considered to be a percussion instrument....
s


Violin
Violin

The violin is a Bow string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
s I (18), II (16)
Viola
Viola

The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range , and nearly identical playing position....
s (12)
Violoncellos (10)
Double bass
Double bass

The double bass or contrabass is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow string instrument used in the modern orchestra. It is a standard member of the string section of the orchestra and smaller string musical ensembles in European classical music....
es (8)


The stipulated forces (including the offstage brass) thus total 123 players. The composer further suggested that the harps and some woodwind instruments should be doubled if possible, and indicated that the stated number of string players should be regarded as a minimum.

The use of Samuel's Aerophone
Aerophone

An aerophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate, without the use of strings or membranes, and without the vibration of the instrument itself adding considerably to the sound....
 is prescribed in the orchestration notes along with the instrumentation. This device, invented by Belgian
Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
 flautist Bernhard Samuel in 1912, is a bellows operated by a foot pedal with an air hose attached to the mouthpiece of woodwind instruments and aids the player to sustain long notes without interruption.

Such use of contemporary instrumentation combined with the vast resources needed for this work might better reflect Strauss' style of expanding the orchestra beyond the style more closely associated with the Romantic period
Romantic music

In music, romanticism is a term, often considered misleading, and concept derived from literature traditionally defined by attributes including, "interest in nature, medieval chivalry, mysticism, [and] remoteness [ Social alienation and Solitude]"....
 and into the Modern period
Modernism (music)

Modernism in music is characterized by a desire for or belief in progress and science, surrealism, anti-romanticism, political advocacy, general intellectualism, and/or a breaking with the past or common practice period ? Ezra Pound's modernist slogan, "Make it new," as applied to music....
.

Program

Although performed as one continuous movement, the Alpine Symphony has a distinct program which describes each phase of the Alpine journey in chronological order. The score includes the following section titles (without numbers):
  1. Nacht (Night)
  2. Sonnenaufgang (Sunrise)
  3. Der Anstieg (the Ascent)
  4. Eintritt in den Wald (Entry into the Woods)
  5. Wanderung neben dem Bache (Walking along the Brook)
  6. Am Wasserfall (at the Waterfall
    Waterfall

    A waterfall is usually a geology geologic formation resulting from water, often in the form of a stream, flowing over an erosion-resistant rock formation that forms a nickpoint, or sudden break in elevation....
    )
  7. Erscheinung (a Visual Feature)
  8. Auf blumigen Wiesen (on Flowery Meadows)
  9. Auf der Alm (on the Pasture)
  10. Durch Dickicht und Gestrüpp auf Irrwegen (Wrong Path through the Thicket)
  11. Auf dem Gletscher (on the Glacier
    Glacier

    A glacier is a large, slow-moving mass of ice, formed from compacted layers of snow, that slowly deforms and flows in response to gravity and high pressure....
    )
  12. Gefahrvolle Augenblicke (Moments of Danger)
  13. Auf dem Gipfel (at the Summit)
  14. Vision (Vision)
  15. Nebel steigen auf (the Fog Rises)
  16. Die Sonne verdüstert sich allmählich (the Sun is Gradually Obscured)
  17. Elegie (Elegy)
  18. Stille vor dem Sturm (Calm before the Storm)
  19. Gewitter und Sturm, Abstieg (Thunder and storm, Descent)
  20. Sonnenuntergang (Sunset)
  21. Ausklang (the Journey Ends)
  22. Nacht (Night)


Eine Alpensinfonie represents a striking example of a program symphony, where each concept, idea, or experience is given a distinct Leitmotif
Leitmotif

A leitmotif is a recurring musical Theme , associated with a particular person, place, or idea. The word has also been used by extension to mean any sort of recurring theme, whether in music, literature, or the life of a fictional character or a real person....
. Additionally, the work uses vivid musical imagery to tell its story - especially during the thunderstorm sequence - and for this reason can be compared to Paul Dukas
Paul Dukas

Paul Abraham Dukas was a French composer and teacher of European classical music....
' The Sorcerer's Apprentice
The Sorcerer's Apprentice

The Sorcerer's Apprentice is the English language name of a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Der Zauberlehrling, written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in fourteen stanzas....
 or many of Richard Wagner's
Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, Conducting, theatre director and essayist, primarily known for his operas . Unlike most other great opera composers, Wagner wrote both the scenario and libretto for his works....
 operas. Strauss makes use of distinctly Bavaria
Bavaria

Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest States of Germany of Germany by area....
n musical themes, yet he also employs the more modern techniques, such as polytonality
Polytonality

The musical use of more than one key simultaneity is polytonality. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time.A well-known, controversial example is the fanfare at the beginning of the second tableau of Igor Stravinsky's ballet, Petrushka....
 (for instance, the use of a D minor chord against the background tonality of B-flat minor near the beginning of the work) and the use of diatonic tone clusters (the introduction has the entire string section sustaining all seven notes of the B-flat minor scale simultaneously across four octaves).

Premieres

  • World Premiere: 28 October 1915, Berlin
    Berlin

    Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
    , Dresden Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer.
  • American Premiere: April 28 1916, Philadelphia Orchestra
    Philadelphia Orchestra

    The Philadelphia Orchestra is an orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is historically considered to be one of the "Big Five " American orchestras....
     conducted by Leopold Stokowski
    Leopold Stokowski

    Leopold Stokowski was a famous orchestral conducting, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted....
     or April 27 1916, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
    Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

    As the fifth-oldest orchestra in the United States, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has a legacy of fine music making as reflected in its performances in historic Music Hall , recordings, and international tours....
     conducted by Ernst Kunwald
    Ernst Kunwald

    Ernst Kunwald was an Austria conducting.Ernst Kunwald was born and died in Vienna. He studied law at the University of Vienna, earning his Dr....
    .


Note

While not a symphony
Symphony

A symphony is a musical composition, often extended and usually for orchestra. "Symphony" does not imply a specific form. Many symphonies are tonality works in four movement with the first in sonata form, and this is often described by music theorists as the structure of a "Classical period " symphony, although even some symphonies by the ac...
 in the strict classical sense, the work does contain many important elements of symphonic form.

Discography

Conductor Orchestra Recorded
Richard Strauss Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra 1936
Karl Böhm Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra 1939
Richard Strauss Bavarian State Orchestra 1941
Franz Konwitschny Orchestra of the Munich State Opera 1952
Dmitri Mitropoulos Vienna Philharmonic 1953
Karl Böhm Staatskapelle Dresden 1957
Yevgeny Mravinsky Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra 1964
Zubin Mehta Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra 1975
Rudolf Kempe Royal Philharmonic Orchestra 1966
Rudolf Kempe Staatskapelle Dresden 1971
Georg Solti Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra 1979
Herbert von Karajan Berliner Philharmoniker 1980
Andrew Davis London Philharmonic Orchestra 1981
André Previn Philadelphia Orchestra 1983
Pierre Bartholomée Orchestre philharmonique de Liège 1983
Kurt Masur Gewandhausorchester Leipzig 1983
Bernard Haitink Concertgebouw Orchestra 1985
Neeme Järvi Scottish National Symphony 1986
Vladimir Ashkenazy Cleveland Orchestra 1988
Herbert Blomstedt San Francisco Symphony 1988
Horst Stein Bamberg Symphony Orchestra 1988
Edo de Waart Minnesota Orchestra 1989
André Previn Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra 1989
Zubin Mehta Berliner Philharmoniker 1989
Takashi Asahina NDR Symphony Orchestra 1990
Rafael Frübeck de Burgos London Symphony Orchestra 1990
Daniel Barenboim Chicago Symphony Orchestra 1992
Giuseppe Sinopoli Staatskapelle Dresden 1993
Zdenek Kosler Czech Philharmonic Orchestra 1994
Choo Hoey Singapore Symphony Orchestra 1994
Seiji Ozawa Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra 1996
Takashi Asahina Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra 1997
Kazimierz Kord Warsaw Philharmonic 1998
Andreas Delfs Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra 1998
Lorin Maazel Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra 1998
Vladimir Ashkenazy Czech Philharmonic Orchestra 1999
Hartmut Haenchen Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra 1999
Giuseppe Sinopoli Staatskapelle Dresden 1999
Christian Thielemann Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra 2000
David Zinman Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra 2002
Gerard Schwarz Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra 2003
Andrew Litton National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain 2004
Franz Welser-Möst Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester 2005
Antoni Wit Staatskapelle Weimar 2005
Fabio Luisi Staatskapelle Dresden 2007
Marin Alsop Baltimore Symphony Orchestra 2007
Mariss Jansons Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra 2007