Day 3 — Notturno

‘Notturno’, the first of Strauss’s Zwei grössere Gesänge of 1899, is a setting of a poem by Richard Dehmel, whose Verklärte Nacht inspired Schoenberg the very same year. Indeed Dehmel's frank depictions of erotic love captivated a whole generation of composers. Strauss responded to this extended poem with a notable fusion of Lieder and tone poem, looking ahead to the monologues of his later operas. Night is described mysteriously, with radiant moonlit woodwind chords alternating with glowering responses in the lower strings. A solo violin carves an eerie nocturne, before the ideas conspire in an increasingly urgent and nightmarish scenario. In Dehmel’s original text the narrator wakes from his nightmare, but Strauss omits the final line, leaving us in nocturnal limbo.

Click here to view a performance by Thomas Hampson.

The painting is 'Die Nacht' by Ferdinand Hodler. 

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