Operas by Richard Strauss
Guntram (1894) Feuersnot (1901) Salome (1905) Elektra (1909) Der Rosenkavalier (1911) Ariadne auf Naxos (1912) Die Frau ohne Schatten (1918) Intermezzo (1923) Die ägyptische Helena (1927) Arabella (1932) Die schweigsame Frau (1934) Friedenstag (1938) Daphne (1938) Die Liebe der Danae (1940) Capriccio (1942) This article is about the German composer of tone-poems and operas. ... Image File history File links Strauss3. ... Guntram is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss with a German libretto written by the composer. ... Feuersnot (The Need for Fire or Fire Famine) is a Singgedicht (sung poem) or opera in one act by Richard Strauss. ... This article is about the opera by Richard Strauss . ... Der Rosenkavalier (The Cavalier of the Rose) is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. ... Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne on Naxos) is an opera by Richard Strauss with libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. ... Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow) is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss with a libretto by his long-time collaborator, the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. ... Intermezzo is a Bürgerliche Komödie mit sinfonischen Zwischenspielen (town comedy with symphonic interludes) or opera in two acts by Richard Strauss to his own German libretto. ... Die ägyptische Helena (The Egyptian Helen) is an opera in two acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. ... Arabella is an opera (lyric comedy in 3 acts) by Richard Strauss with libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last common work. ... Die schweigsame Frau (in English The Silent Woman) is an opera by Richard Strauss with libretto by Stefan Zweig after Ben Jonsons Epicoene, or the Silent Woman. ... Friedenstag (Peace Day) is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Joseph Gregor. ... Daphne is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Joseph Gregor. ... Die Liebe der Danae (The Love of Danae) is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Joseph Gregor. ... Capriccio is an opera by German composer Richard Strauss. ...
v • d • e

For information about the 1967 opera based on the 1931 Eugene O'Neill play based on the Elektra story, see Mourning Becomes Electra.

Elektra is a one-act opera by Richard Strauss, to a German-language libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal adapted from his drama of 1903—the first of many such collaborations between composer and librettist. It was first performed at the Dresden State Opera on January 25, 1909, and remains a part of the standard operatic repertoire. Eugene Gladstone ONeill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was a Nobel- and four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright. ... Mourning Becomes Electra is the title for a trilogy of plays by Eugene ONeill, first performed in 1931. ... For other uses, see Opera (disambiguation). ... This article is about the German composer of tone-poems and operas. ... Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo von Hofmannsthal (February 1, 1874 – July 15, 1929), was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. ... Year 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Semperoper in Dresden Semperoper front facade The Semperoper or Saxon State Opera Dresden (Ger: Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden) is an opera house in Dresden, Germany, and is one of the most famous in the world. ... is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Roles

Ernst Edler von Schuch (born 23 November 1846 in Graz, died 10 May 1914 in Dresden) was a German conductor. ... This article is about the voice-type. ... A mezzo-soprano (meaning medium soprano in Italian) is a female singer with a range usually extending from the A below middle C to the F an eleventh above middle C. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a darker (or lower) vocal tone than sopranos, and their vocal range is between that... Ernestine Schumann-Heink (15 June 1861 - 17 November 1936) was a well-known operatic contralto, noted for the great control, tone, beauty, and wide range of her singing. ... This article is about Tenor vocalists in music. ... A bass (or basso in Italian) is a male singer who sings in the deepest vocal range of the human voice. ... For other uses, see Baritone (disambiguation). ... In music, an alto is a singer with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a soprano. ...

Synopsis

The plot of Elektra is based upon the great Greek tragedy of the same name by the tragedian Sophocles. The unrelenting gloom and horror that permeate the original play produce, in the hands of Hofmannsthal and Strauss, a drama whose sole theme is revenge. Clytemnestra, helped by her paramour Aegistheus, has secured the murder of her husband, Agamemnon, and now is afraid that her guilt will be discovered by her children, Elektra, Chrysothemis, and their banished brother Orestes. Elektra, who is the personification of the passionate lust for vengeance, tries to persuade her timid sister to kill Clytemnestra and Aegistheus. Before the plan is carried out, Orestes, who had been reported as dead, arrives and, upon being told the truth by Elektra, determines upon revenge for his father's death. He kills Clytemnestra and Aegistheus; Elektra, in an ecstatic dance of triumph, falls dead in front of her horror-stricken attendants. For other uses, see Tragedy (disambiguation). ... Electra or Elektra is a Greek tragic play by Sophocles. ... This article is about the Greek tragedian. ... Clytemnestra trying to awake the Erinyes while her son is being purified by Apollo, Apulian red-figure krater, 480–470 BC, Louvre (Cp 710) After the murder (1882 painting) Clytemnestra (or Clytaemestra) ‘‘(Eng. ... In Greek mythology, Aegisthus (goat strength, also transliterated as Aegisthos or Aigísthos) was the son of Thyestes and his daughter, Pelopia. ... This article is about a character in Greek mythology. ... Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Electra was daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. ... In Greek mythology, Chrysothemis was a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. ... Orestes Ορεστης is a Greek name, literally he who stands on the mountain, or mountain-dweller. Orestes can refer to: In Greek mythology, the son of Agamemnon. ...

Style and instrumentation

Musically, Elektra deploys dissonance, chromaticism and extremely fluid tonality in a way which recalls but moves beyond the same composer's Salome of 1905, and which represents Strauss's furthest advances in modernism, from which he later retreated. The bitonal or extended Elektra chord is a well known dissonance from the opera while harmonic parallelism is also prominent modernist technique^[1]. In music, a consonance (Latin consonare, sounding together) is a harmony, chord, or interval considered stable, as opposed to a dissonance, which is considered unstable. ... The chromatic scale is a scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone or half step apart. ... Tonality is a system of writing music according to certain hierarchical pitch relationships around a key center or tonic. ... This article is about the opera by Richard Strauss . ... For other uses, see 1905 (disambiguation). ... Modernism in musicis characterized by a desire for or belief in progressand science, surrealism, anti-romanticism, politicaladvocacy, general intellectualism, and/or a breaking with tradition or common practice. ... In music harmonic parallelism, also known as harmonic planing or parallel voice leading, is the parallel movement of two or more lines or chords (harmonies). ...

To support the overwhelming emotional content of the opera, Strauss uses a very large and in some ways unusual orchestra, with the following instrumentation: For other uses, see Orchestra (disambiguation). ...

This article is about the instrument in the flute family. ... ♠ This article is about the family of musical instruments. ... For other uses, see Oboe (disambiguation). ... Cor anglais The cor anglais or English horn is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... Heckelphone The heckelphone is a musical instrument invented by Wilhelm Heckel and his sons, introduced in 1904. ... Two soprano clarinets: a B♭ clarinet (left, with capped mouthpiece) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ... Basset horn The basset horn (sometimes written basset-horn) is a musical instrument, a member of the clarinet family. ... The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. ... The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers and occasionally even higher. ... The contrabassoon, also contrafagotto or double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon sounding an octave lower. ... For other uses, see Horn. ... The Wagner tuba is a comparatively rare brass instrument that combines elements of both the horn and the tuba. ... Trumpeter redirects here. ... Bass trumpet in C with rotary valves The bass trumpet is a type of low trumpet which was first developed during the 1820s in Germany. ... The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ... The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ... The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ... For other uses, see Tuba (disambiguation). ... A timpanist in the United States Air Forces in Europe Band. ... Most orchestral glockenspiels are mounted in a case. ... A triangle. ... “Buben” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Drum (disambiguation). ... It is also possible that you want to know about the Cymbalum instrument. ... Renoirs 1909 painting Dancing girl with castanets Castanets The castanets are a percussion instrument (idiophone), much used in Moorish music, Roma music, Spanish music and Latin American music. ... A tam tam is also a kind of Gong A tam is also kind of Jamaican hat, probably from the Irish tam-o-shanter. ... French type, four-octave Celesta The Celesta (IPA ) is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. ... For other uses, see Harp (disambiguation). ... For the Anne Rice novel, see Violin (novel). ... The viola (French, alto; German Bratsche) is a bowed string instrument. ... The viola (French, alto; German Bratsche) is a bowed string instrument. ... Alternate meaning: Cello web browser A cropped image to show the relative size of a cello to a human (Uncropped Version) The cello (also violoncello or cello) is a stringed instrument and part of the violin family. ... Side and front views of a modern double bass with a French bow. ...

Motives and chords

The characters in Elektra are famously characterized in the music through motives or chords including the Elektra chord. Klytamnestra, in contrast to Agamemnon's clearly diatonic minor triad motif, is characterized by a bitonal six note collection most often represented as a pair of two minor chords a tritone apart, typically on B and F, rather than simultaneously^[2].

Agamemnon is depicted through a triadic motive:

Criticism

Despite the much admired "orchestral virtuosity" and "musical structure" Kramer criticizes the portrayal of Elektra, as with Salome, as misogynist, comparing it to the portrayal of women in Otto Weininger's Sex and Character^[2]. Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble) or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium. ... The term musical form refers to two related concepts: the type of composition (for example, a musical work can have the form of a symphony, a concerto, or other generic type -- see Multi-movement forms below) the structure of a particular piece (for example, a piece can be written in... Misogyny is an exaggerated pathological aversion towards women. ... Otto Weininger (April 3, 1880 – October 4, 1903) was an Austrian philosopher. ...

Source

1. ^ DeLone et al, eds., Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music p.333, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall ISBN 0-13-049346-5.
2. ^ ^{a b} Lawrence Kramer, "Fin-de-siècle Fantasies: Elektra, Degeneration and Sexual Science", Cambridge Opera Journal, Vol. 5, No. 2,July 1993, pp. 141-165.