Death and Transfiguration


Death and Transfiguration, Op. 24, is a tone poem for orchestra by Richard Strauss. Strauss began composition in the late summer of 1888 and completed the work on 18 November 1889. The work is dedicated to the composer's friend Friedrich Rosch.
The music depicts the death of an artist. At Strauss's request, this was described in a poem by the composer's friend Alexander Ritter as an interpretation of Death and Transfiguration, after it was composed. As the man lies dying, thoughts of his life pass through his head: his childhood innocence, the struggles of his manhood, the attainment of his worldly goals; and at the end, he receives the longed-for transfiguration "from the infinite reaches of heaven".

Performance history

Strauss conducted the premiere on 21 June 1890 at the Eisenach Festival. He also conducted this work for his first appearance in the United Kingdom, at the Wagner Concert with the Philharmonic Society on 15 June 1897 at the Queen's Hall in London.

Critical reaction

English music critic Ernest Newman described this as music to which one would not want to die or awaken. "It is too spectacular, too brilliantly lit, too full of pageantry of a crowd; whereas this is a journey one must make very quietly, and alone".
French critic Romain Rolland in his Musiciens d'aujourd'hui called the piece "one of the most moving works of Strauss, and that which is constructed with the noblest utility".

Structure

There are four parts :
A typical performance lasts about 25 minutes.
\relative c

Instrumentation

;Woodwinds
;Brass
;Percussion
;Strings

Quoted

In one of Strauss's last compositions, "Im Abendrot" from the Four Last Songs, Strauss poignantly quotes the "transfiguration theme" from his tone poem of 60 years earlier, during and after the soprano's final line, "Ist dies etwa der Tod?".

Just before his own death, he remarked that his music was absolutely correct; his feelings mirrored those of the artist depicted within; Strauss said to his daughter-in-law as he lay on his deathbed in 1949: "It's a funny thing, Alice, dying is just the way I composed it in Tod und Verklärung."

Discography

ConductorOrchestraRecorded
Bruno WalterRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra1924
Richard StraussStaatskapelle Berlin1926
Albert CoatesLondon Symphony Orchestra1928
Leopold StokowskiPhiladelphia Orchestra1934
Richard StraussMunich Radio Symphony Orchestra1937
Victor de SabataBerlin Philharmonic1939
Leopold StokowskiAll-American Youth Orchestra1941
Willem MengelbergConcertgebouw Orchestra1942
Arturo ToscaniniPhiladelphia Orchestra1942
Leopold StokowskiNew York City Symphony Orchestra1944
Richard StraussVienna Philharmonic1944
Eugene OrmandyPhiladelphia Orchestra1945
Fritz ReinerRCA Victor Symphony Orchestra1950
Arturo ToscaniniNBC Symphony Orchestra1952
Wilhelm FurtwänglerVienna Philharmonic1953
Victor de SabataVienna Philharmonic1953
Herbert von KarajanPhilharmonia Orchestra2/3 June 1953
Jascha HorensteinBamberg Symphony1954
William SteinbergPittsburgh Symphony Orchestra1954
Karl BöhmConcertgebouw Orchestra1955
Hans KnappertsbuschOrchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire7/8 May 1956
Fritz ReinerVienna Philharmonic1956
Artur RodzińskiPhilharmonia Orchestra1957
George SzellCleveland Orchestra1957
Antal DorátiMinneapolis Symphony Orchestra1958
Eugene OrmandyPhiladelphia Orchestra1959
Herbert von KarajanVienna Philharmonic1960
Pierre MonteuxSan Francisco Symphony23 Jan 1960
Otto KlempererPhilharmonia Orchestra1961
Erich LeinsdorfLos Angeles Philharmonic1961
Zdeněk KošlerPrague Symphony Orchestra1967
Jascha HorensteinLondon Symphony Orchestra1970
Rudolf KempeStaatskapelle Dresden1970
Lorin MaazelNew Philharmonia Orchestra1971
Herbert von KarajanBerlin Philharmonic1972
Eugene OrmandyPhiladelphia Orchestra1978
Lorin MaazelCleveland Orchestra1979
Antal DorátiDetroit Symphony Orchestra1980
Klaus TennstedtLondon Philharmonic Orchestra1980?
Claudio AbbadoLondon Symphony Orchestra1981
Bernard HaitinkRoyal Concertgebouw Orchestra1981
Eduardo MataDallas Symphony Orchestra1981
Kazuyoshi AkiyamaVancouver Symphony Orchestra1982
Sergiu CelibidacheSWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra1982
Herbert von KarajanBerlin Philharmonic1982
Michael GielenCincinnati Symphony Orchestra1984
André PrevinVienna Philharmonic1987
Giuseppe SinopoliNew York Philharmonic1987
Christoph von DohnányiVienna Philharmonic1989
Neeme JärviScottish National Orchestra1989
Tolga KashifPhilharmonia Orchestra1989
Zdeněk KošlerSlovak Philharmonic1989
Yondani ButtLondon Symphony Orchestra1990
Vladimir AshkenazyCleveland Orchestra1990
James LevineMetropolitan Opera Orchestra1995
Lorin MaazelBavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra1995
Jesús López CobosCincinnati Symphony Orchestra1997
Kurt MasurNew York Philharmonic1998
Vladimir AshkenazyCzech Philharmonic1999
David ZinmanTonhalle Orchester Zürich2001
Lorin MaazelNew York Philharmonic2005
Donald RunniclesAtlanta Symphony Orchestra2006
Johannes FritzschThe Queensland Orchestra2008
Manfred HoneckPittsburgh Symphony Orchestra2013
Mariss JansonsBavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra2014