Songs: Vier Letze Lieder by Strauss

.:.Prompt.:.

[German Romantic Lyric Poetry and music]: Richard Strauss, song cycle: Vier letzte Lieder [Four Last Songs] The German and English texts are in the Course Pack. Before you come to class, be sure to listen to them, sung by Jessye Norman.
Frühling (“Spring”)
September
Beim Schlafengehen (“Going to Sleep”)
Im Abendrot (“At Sunset”)
BLOG: What is a song cycle? (If you don’t know, find out.) What is Strauss’s overriding theme in this cycle? The last song, “Im Abendrot,” is obviously about death. Why is significant that larks appear in this song? What kind of birds are they? When do larks sing? Does ending with a question make the entire song cycle more powerful? How so? Include pictures of Richard Strauss and Jessye Norman (perhaps the album cover).

.:.Blog.:.

          Richard Strauss' song cycle, the Four Last Songs, is a very powerful song cycle. A song cycle, meant to be sung together in a certain order, holds its very own touch. Leading a person from one song to another, from one time frame to another, allows the person to feel what the songs are saying more powerfully than listening to them out of order or even individually. In the Last Four Songs, Strauss gives us a very powerful feel of death. the calm in the way the singer displays this, the touch of acceptance in the words and the final stand of being complete before one leaves life, is displayed heavily as the theme in these songs. The last song, "Im Abendrot," shows this exceptionally well. As the scene becomes dark and gloomy, the larks begin their song, lightening up the scene with their songs yet adding to the feeling of loneliness. Larks, a song bird that symbolizes the urge to look into one's self and explore what we see, adds to the scene as they lead the pair ahead with their in-flight songs. In the end of "Im Abendrot," the couple fine themselves in a nice area and are tired of traveling. They want to settle down, to let go of the stress and suffering of life. the question at the end "is this perchance death?" leads us to feel the tiredness and urge to let go yet also leaves us with the question if the area that the couple sees the afterlife or just another step to get there. With the imagery and the way the songs are sung, the Four Last Songs give us a very calm and sweet look at death instead of the dark and dangerous look many other Romantic poetry normally gives us.







                              Jessye Norman

                                          Richard Strauss