Richard Strauss's "Geheimnisvolle Musik" : unveiling the meaning of "Salome".

Abstract

Exactly a century ago, Richard Strauss began sketching his third opera. Salome. The music was harmonically and stylistically visionary, provoking much discussion from critics, analysts and composers as to what Strauss had intended to express through his music. Since the premiere performance, Salome's meaning has remained elusive, despite repeated attempts to analyse and interpret the opera. This can be attributed in part to the work's complexity and variety, but can also be regarded as a consequence of analytical attention being focused exclusively upon the published score, despite the existence of a significant volume of sketches for the opera. This study seeks to investigate what Salome meant to Strauss himself through examination of those compositional sketches. Findings are supported and supplemented by passages from his memoirs and letters. Reconstruction of the composer’s thought and intention is further enriched by comparing and contrasting his Salome with interpretations of the opera as experienced from the perspectives of his contemporaries – critics, analysts, and fellow composers – expressed in reviews of premiere performances, early opera guides, and personal correspondence. Salome's meaning is further unveiled through an analysis of the core in which variations in instrumentation. Harmonic language and compositional style (topic) are read as extra-musical symbol .

Date of Award	Dec 2003
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Sponsors	Northern Ireland Department of Employment and Learning
Supervisor	Jan Smaczny (Supervisor)