Marc Albrecht
Stefan Dohr Richard Strauss

Strauss loved nature and was particularly fascinated by mountain landscapes. In 1908 he settled in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where he built a house with a good view of the Bavarian Alps. The tone poem An Alpine Symphony from 1915 is based on a natural experience from these mountains: As a fifteen-year-old, he took part in a dramatic trip where his traveling companions were surprised by a storm. An Alpine Symphony is Strauss's longest tonal poem and the one written for the largest orchestra. Here he describes a stormy mountain trip from sunrise to sunset.

In the years between An Alpine Symphony and Horn Concerto No. 2, Strauss worked primarily with opera. In Intermezzo from 1924, he wrote the text himself – the plot is based on scenes from his own marriage, and the main characters are himself and his wife Pauline – lightly disguised. The scenography at the first production was a copy of the composer's home. The opera contains four interludes for orchestra, which became popular concert pieces. What is played here is entitled Träumerei am Kamin – daydreams by the fireplace.

Richard Strauss's father, Franz, worked as a horn player in the court orchestra in Munich and was considered one of the best on the instrument of his time. Franz Strauss also composed music, primarily for horn. In 1883, the son wrote a horn concerto with his father in mind, but it was so technically demanding that he never wanted to perform it publicly. Almost sixty years later, Richard Strauss wrote his Horn Concerto No. 2 in memory of his father. Amid the dark war years, he composed a nostalgic, Mozart-like concerto played for the first time in 1943.