Day 24 — Morgen

And so the Richard Strauss Lieder Advent Calendar comes to a close, albeit an open-ended one. Behind the last window is the 1894 Lied 'Morgen', the final part of Strauss's wedding present to Pauline. This represents the 'til death do us part' of marital commitment. After an aching introduction, the voice enters almost absentmindedly. Within each of the accompanying arpeggios is perhaps a hint of past pain, now resolved. The poised solo violin, part of the original arrangement and carried over into Strauss’s 1897 orchestration, offers a wordless commentary. Continuous harmonic shifts – not least the Neapolitan chord on 'Glückes' – and the slow unravelling feeling of release (hinting at mortality) lend this song its unanticipated power, albeit anticipating the mood of the Four Last Songs by over 50 years. It ends, as with 'Die Frauen sind oft fromm und still', on a tonic chord, hovering in second inversion.

Click here to listen to Felicity Lott and Graham Johnson's performance.
Click here to hear Jessye Norman singing the orchestrated version of the song with the Gewandhausorchester under Kurt Masur.
The painting is 'Anbetung I' by Ferdinand Hodler.

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