Richard Strauss

Richard Strauss (1864-1949) was the most famous German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, and was also one of the period's most famous conductors. Among his best-known works are his operas, including Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; and his tone poems, including Death and Transfiguration, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, and Also sprach Zarathustra, the opening of which is immediately identified with Stanley Kubrick's revolutionary film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Strauss wrote songs throughout his career, including his very last work, the beautiful Vier letzte Lieder ("Four Last Songs", 1948), for soprano and orchestra. Published in 1923, Breit' über mein Haupt dein schwarzes Haar ("Upon My Head Let Fall Thy Black Hair") is the second song in Strauss's 6 Lieder aus 'Lotosblätter' ("6 Songs from 'Lotus Petals'"), Op. 19, on poems by Aldolf Friedrich Graf von Schack (1815-1894).

Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 11. I. Allegro (1883)

Strauss's father, Franz, was much admired for his artistry and technique as the principal horn player of the Munich Court Orchestra, and a teen-aged Richard composed the Concerto in E-flat with his father in mind. But Papa Franz soon discovered that he couldn't comfortably negotiate the concerto's wide range, so for the premiere they found an alternate soloist better able to meet the challenges of one of the most difficult horn concertos in the repertoire. The first movement alternates between heroic agitation and warm lyricism. Taking the concertos of Mendelssohn as a model, the soloist enters immediately following a single introductory chord from the orchestra, and when the second movement is performed it flows seamlessly from the first movement.