Roberto González-Monjas
Corinne Winters Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Richard Strauss

In an era marked by the experiments of modernism, two of the most fascinating composers from the German-speaking world chose to look backwards. Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Richard Strauss shared a deep nostalgia for the heyday of Viennese cultural tradition, but expressed it in entirely different ways. While Korngold, as a Hollywood exile, recalled the Vienna of his childhood through American eyes, the aging Strauss turned his gaze toward life's great questions with the wisdom that only comes with age.

Korngold: Theme and Variations

In 1953, the American Association of School Orchestras commissioned a work from Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957). Korngold became so enthusiastic that he composed two. Theme and Variations was the first, a work with a light musical language. The opening theme is marked "like an Irish folk tune" and is a charming and energetic theme. It is followed by variations, each expressing its own emotion or character.

Korngold was also a renowned film composer. Theme and Variations has a Hollywood quality to it. In particular, the sonic textures may evoke associations with old Hollywood films.

R. Strauss: Vier letzte Lieder

Vier letzte Lieder deals with farewell, death, and acceptance, expressed in a romantic yet peaceful manner. Richard Strauss (1864–1949) composed the songs in 1948, when he was 84 years old. He wrote them for his wife, the soprano Pauline, and they became his final love letter to her.

The songs were premiered the year after his death, in 1950, at Royal Albert Hall in London. The premiere nevertheless took place exactly as Strauss had wished, with a fine orchestra, a fine conductor, and Kirsten Flagstad as soloist.

The songs are regarded as among the most personal, human, and beautiful music Strauss ever wrote.

Korngold: Straussiana

Straussiana was the second work commissioned for student orchestras, although it is a technically demanding piece. It is based on music by Johann Strauss II, one of Korngold's idols. The three movements of the work are a polka, a mazurka, and finally a waltz, reflecting Korngold's love of Viennese operetta.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold grew up in Vienna, where he became a celebrated prodigy. Straussiana recalls his childhood in Vienna and carries a nostalgic character.

R. Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier Suite

The opera Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss was an immediate success when it premiered in 1911. It gained international recognition within just a few months and became an audience favourite. The plot is set in 18th-century Vienna and is full of romantic intrigue, humour, and melancholy.

The suite was composed in 1945 and contains the highlights from the opera. It is often described as an orchestral portrait of the opera's "wigs, waltzes, and wit". The music is sonorous and romantic, while also paying tribute to the classic, supremely elegant Viennese waltzes.