Day 11 — Malven

This setting of Betty Wehrli-Knobel's poem 'Malven' (Hollyhocks) was the last of Strauss's songs to be published. It was also the last thing he wrote, in November 1948, shortly after the Four Last Songs. He dedicated the piece to Maria Jeritza and sent the manuscript to her in March 1949. Jeritza kept the song under wraps under it was sold after her death, when the performance was given by Kiri Te Kanawa in 1985. The poem's theme of nature and finity shows a kinship with the Four Last Songs, as does the brief piano interlude, featuring sequences of unresolved dissonance, though the mood is considerably less epic than those settings of Hesse and Eichendorff. This song was clearly intended to be a quiet, private tribute to a cherished interpreter. Next year, however, a new orchestral version by Wolfgang Rihm will be given its world premiere at the Salzburg Easter Festival, performed by Anja Harteros, the Staatskapelle Dresden and Christian Thielemann. Heard with orchestral accompaniment, it may reveal strong affinities with the Four Last Songs.

Click here to listen to Soile Isokoski's performance of 'Malven'.
The painting is 'Der Traum' by Ferdinand Hodler.

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