Richard Strauss: An Owner's Manual (Unlocking the Masters)

This is a very useful survey of the music of the German composer Richard Strauss, whose 150th anniversary of his birth year (1864) is celebrated in 2014. I stress that it is a survey of the music: most of the books about Strauss focus on his biography, or specifics of his output (e.g., Mann's book on the operas). The only book I think you can compare this one to is Norman Del Mar's combination biography and exhaustive discussion of the music: That book will probably never be supplanted for what it does. But I compare that three volume work to this one on purpose, because this one makes some good additions and challenges to Del Mar's central theses.Hurwitz' argument is that, basically, Strauss was a classical era oriented composer throughout; that there is a marked continuity in his career, and that his music composition did not suffer a series of interlocking curves of rise and fall (central premise to Del Mar). Another point he makes is that Strauss, as an operatic composer, was primarily a composer of comic operas, something which, knowing all of Strauss and having listened to him for 50 years, I must confess I never really gave much thought about. I think Hurwitz goes a long way to proving both of his points, and it reminds of me Strauss' long ago and somewhat tongue in cheek remark that Salome and Elektra (his two most advanced operatic works) should be conducted like "fairy music."There are three other good things about the book. First, Hurwitz discusses all of the orchestral and concertante works, as well as all of the operas, in brief summaries that eschew the typical "and here Strauss launches into one of the most sublime / unforgettable / brilliant passages, etc." type of analysis. Second, he brings his own playing experience into the picture, pointing out the difficulties in both the instrumental and orchestral works. Third, he likes all of Strauss, "gets it", and understands that Strauss was a composer who just wrote good music: not much of it terribly profound (there are a few pieces that are, and a handful of composers for that), but virtually all of it very entertaining, memorable, and deserving of careful listening / study. (I should add parenthetically that one of the fun things about Strauss is that he constantly festoons his scores with variations, slow downs, and accelerations of the fragmentary melodic material he works with; and this kind of counterpoint can be an endless source of interest and amusement: never mind what it "means" if it means anything.)The downsides of the book are few. There are a few asides that suggest a desire to get on with it, as per the characterization of Nietzsche's writings, and sometimes Hurwitz slips into colloquial speech, as per his enthusiastic discussion of Die Frau ohne Schatten.On the other hand, if you like Strauss, it's nice to find an author for once who doesn't acquiesce in dismissing large parts of Strauss' output, who recognizes that neglected works like Schlagobers, the two early symphonies, the Panathenaenzug, and all of the post-Ariadne operas have their sustainable and listenable qualities. There may not be a lot of profound insight on this level of music appreciation, but it's terrific to have someone at least talk about them.But the book is also recommendable for beginners, with a caveat that Hurwitz himself recognizes: you have to set aside time to know this material. Not that he puts it like this, but I would say to figure it this way: you can probably get all of Strauss' operas and standard musical pieces on about 40 CD's. Another 10 for the minor pieces and chamber music. Another 10 for all of the songs. So we are looking at 60-70 hours for a complete traversal. You'd have to listen to Strauss for an hour a day for a year to really know him. But it can be done: and this book would be a good guide in the beginning stages. Then, the aspiring Straussian can dig up the Del Mar set for a more detailed discussion.

Christmas present for my mother...can't review yet!

This is a very welcome book. It focuses on the orchestral music and operas of Strauss. Hurwitz is a journalist: he writes well although at times lacks the depth of understanding other studies have. Overall there is much to commend: he quite rightly points out that over his 70 year composing career the "avant garde" period (Don Juan to Elektra) was the exception rather than the rule. He also correctly interprets Strauss's "Second rate" comment on himself as a comparison with the first rate composers Mozart, Beethoven and Wagner! However, there are also shortcomings: he tends to pontificate. For example, he includes two pages on the Symphony in D, which is great, since Del Mar says almost nothing on it. BUT, a lot of this is taken up with his views on orchestration in general rather than the symphony itself. I doubt very much whether he has actually studied the score: if he had, he would have commented on the extraordinary structure of the first movement. I also found his comments on Ein Heldenleben rather mystifying. Apparently modern conductors tend to take it too slowly; the ending is too long. Well, excuse me, I have heard this played many times: what is apparent is that the tempo choices are very uniform, largely because we have a few recordings by Strauss himself and he marked the tempos quite clearly. Ending too long? In my experience audiences love the elegiac and tuneful last minutes, culminating in the wonderful brass in the closing bars (well, wonderful if they are still in tune by that stage in the proceedings!). Judging from the number of recordings this is his most popular long tone poem. However, this is a matter of opinion and he is as entitled to his as anyone else.I also take a different view of the programmatic element of Strauss. Hurwicz thinks that this is an essential way of understanding the music. I myself do not think that this is so. It is rather like Ballet music: does the knowledge of the Ballet (or opera) make the music better or worse? Lots of people like Kachaturian's Ballet music even though they have no real idea what it is about. I loved the ride of the Valkyries even when I had no idea what a Valkyrie was, let alone what they were riding or where to. Some general idea is good enough. Too much attention to the detail of the program can distract you. The Alpine symphony is about life, not a day's excursion (well, I suppose it is about both, like a great painting, the subject is a symbol of something greater). However, I did find out that I had got a bit of the programming of Don Quixote wrong. I had always thought that the variation with the wind machine was the tilting at windmills, when it is really him flying. Will this make me like the music more or less? I do not think so.The book is aimed at the general reader. There is none of the in depth analysis you find in Del Mar or more scholarly works. If you want a good, well informed general introduction to the wide range of Strauss's orchestral works, this is the book for you. Just to put a little plug in, I share Hurwitz's belief that the two Couperin Suites are much under-rated!

Like all of this series this is written with enthusiasm for the music. The analyses are easily understood by any music-lover, although serious musicians may find them descriptive rather than analytical.The biography carefully considers Strauss's liaisons with the Nazi regime.This is a book I will dip into for insights. The CD is a useful sampler. Many will already have a Strauss collection.