Strauss had come across the poem Im Abendrot by Joseph von Eichendorff, which he felt had a special meaning for him. He set its text to music in May 1948. Strauss had also recently been given a copy of the complete poems of Hermann Hesse and was strongly inspired by them. He set three of them – Frühling, September, and Beim Schlafengehen – for soprano and orchestra, and contemplated setting two more, Nacht and Hohe des Sommers, in the same manner. He also embarked on a choral setting of Hesse's Besinnung, but laid it aside after the projected fugue became "too complicated".
Original Name | 4 letzte Lieder |
Librettist | Hermann Hesse; Joseph von Eichendorff |
Date of composition | 1948 |
Premiered | 1950, May 22nd in London, United Kingdom by Wilhelm Furtwängler |
First published | 1950 |
Type | Lieder |
Catalogue | TrV 296 |
Approx. duration | 18 minutes |
Instruments |
Voice (Soprano)
Orchestra |
Autotranslations beta |
Richard Strauss: 4 Last Songs, TrV 296 Richard Strauss: 4 Last Songs, TrV 296 Richard Strauss: 4 Last Songs, TrV 296 |