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Richard Strauss
32 quotes
“If my works are good and of any importance for the further development of our art, they will maintain their position in spite of all opposition on the part of critics, and in spite of all denigration of my artistic intentions. If they are worthtless, not even the most gratifying box office success or the most enthusiastic acclamation of augurs will keep them alive. Let the pulping press devour them...I shall not shed a tear over their grave.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1908 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Criticism (page 21-2) (1908).
“I am convinced that the decisive factor in dramatic effect will be a smaller orchestra, which does not drown out the human voice as does a large orchestra…The orchestra of the opera of the future is the chamber orchestra which, by painting in the background of the action on the stage with crystalline clearness, can alone realise precisely the intention of the composer with regard to the vocal parts. It is after all an important desideratum that the audience should not only hear the sounds but should also be able to follow the words closely.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1929 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On composing and conducting (page 39-40) (1929).
“Conducting is, after all, a difficult business – one has to be seventy years of age to realise this fully!”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The left hand has nothing to do with conducting. Its proper place is the waistcoat pocket from which it should only emerge to restrain or make some minor gesture for which in any case a scarcely perceptible glance should suffice.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is better to conduct with the ear instead of with the arm: the rest follows automatically.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ten Golden Rules (for the album of a young conductor)”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1922 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: page38. Originally published 1922.
“When during my stay in Egypt I became familiar with the works of Nietzsche, whose polemic against christianity was particularly to my liking, the antipathy which I had always felt against a religion which relieves the faithful of responsibility for their actions (by means of confession) was confirmed and strengthened.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1892 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Recollections of my youth and years of apprenticeship, page 140. In November 1892, Strauss had set off for an eight month journey to Greece and Egypt for convalesence from a severe lung ailment.
“Melody as revealed in the greatest works of our classics is one of the most noble gifts which an invisible deity has bestowed on mankind.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mozart's melodies, Beethoven's symphonies, Schubert's songs, acts two and three of Tristan are symbols in which are revealed the most profound spiritual truths. They are not "invented", but are "given in their dreams"to those privileged to receive them. Whence they come no one knows, not even their creator, the unconscious mouthpiece of the demiurge.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The melodic idea which suddenly falls upon me out of the blue appears in the imagination immediately, unconsciously, uninfluenced by reason. It is the greatest gift of the divinity and cannot be compared with anything else.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1903 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Inspiration in Music, pages 112-117 (originally written around 1903).
“Of all god-gifted dispensers of joy, Johann Strauss is to me the most endearing. I willingly admit to having sometimes conducted the Perpetuum Mobile with far more pleasure than many a four movement symphony.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As for the Rosenkavalier waltzes...how could I have done those without a thought of the laughing genius of Vienna?”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Johann Strauss, page 77. Originally written in 1925.
“In my opinion, Gustav Mahler's work is one of the most important and interesting products in the history of modern creative arts.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1910 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Gustav Mahler, page 78. Originally written for a volume dedicated to Mahler edited by Paul Stephan, Munich 1910.
“I know what I want, and I know what I meant when I wrote this. After all, I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Michael Kennedy: "Richard Strauss" (1995), Oxford University Press. Pg 111.
“My wife, my child, my music, Nature and the sun; they are my happiness.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: written on the sketches for his Domestic Symphony. Charles Youmans, Mahler and Strauss in Dialogue, Indiana University press (2016), found on page 60.
“Anybody who wants to be a real musician must be able to set a menu to music.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am not one to compose long melodies as did Mozart. I can’t get beyond short themes. But what I can do, is utilize such a theme, paraphrase it and extract everything that is in it, and I don’t think there’s anybody today who can match me in that.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1931 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quotes from Stefan Zweigs's posthumous memoire, The World of Yesterday. Zweig worked with Strauss closely on the opera The Silent Woman in the period 1931-1934 and got to know him well.
“Why don't people see what is new in my work, how in them, as is found only in Beethoven, the human being visibly plays a part in the work.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1949 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 19th June 1949, in Willi Schuh, Strauss the early years, 1982, Cambridge University Press, page xiii.
“Thirty years ago I was regarded as a rebel, but to-day, as you see, I have lived to find myself a classic.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1931 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1931. Quoted by William Leon Smyser in his article The Caliph of Vienna: Dr. Richard Strauss, Musician. Published in Music & Letters , Jan., 1931, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Jan., 1931), pp. 46-53. Published by: Oxford University …
“I hope, most revered Maestro, that these metronome markings, in my opinion wholly unneeded by you, are specific enough. Where they do not fit with your conception, I implore you urgently just to ignore them.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1890 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Hans Von Bulow, 15th January 1890, in Schuh and Trenner, Hans von Bulow and Richard Strauss: Correspondence, in English Boosey and Hawkes 1955. Von Bulow had asked for metronome markings from Strauss for Don J…
“It is clear to me that the German nation will achieve new creative energy only by liberating itself from Christianity”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1911 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Diary entry, shortly after the death of Gustav Mahler (1911). Quoted in Oxford University Press, Grove music online: Strauss, Richard, §7: Instrumental works (written by Bryan Gilliam and Charles Youmans).
“Very fine, but why do you put so many wrong notes in? Basically, it is all built on simple triads.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“More like a sacrilege du printemps.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1898 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The first quote was made to Stravinsky after he had shown Strauss some of his works in Paris, 1914. The second quote an overheard joke of Strauss later reported to Stravinsky. Found in Kurt Wilhelm, Richard Strauss - an…
“Declarations about war and politics are not fitting for an artist, who must give his attention to his creations and his works.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1914 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quotation made in an article published in 1914. Strauss had refused to sign the Manifesto of German artists and intellectuals supporting the German role in the war. Other signatories included Strauss' friends and collea…
“Man (in B major) asks: When? When? Nature, (in C Major) answers from the depths Never, never, never will the weather improve".”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Long live the politico-satrical-parodistic opera!”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Hugo von Hoffmannsthal, 5 June 1916. They had been discussing the new first act of Ariadne auf Naxos. A Working Friendhip: The correspondence between Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hoffmanstahl, Vienna House, Ne…
“It is difficult composing endings. Beethoven and Wagner could do it. Only great composers can do it. I can do it too.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Strauss told me about his new ballet, which he wrote in the summer. It’s called ‘Schlagobers’ (whipped cream) and he said, jokingly: ‘Oh yes, when one gets old one has ideas like that.’”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1921 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In America with Richard Strauss. Elisabeth Schumann’s Travel Diary (14th October to 31st December 1921). Elisabeth Schumann was a soprano who worked with Strauss in the 1920s and 1930s. He dedicated his Brentano Lieder …
“Please start from the Bruch violin concerto again!”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Whilst rehearsing the Alpine Symphony, referring to the theme in which he quotes and extends the theme from the slow movement of the violin concerto by Max Bruch. The quote is reported in Kurt Wilhelm, Richard Strauss -…
“I ask myself why I have actually survived once more and been called back to life.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1948 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In late fall of 1948, Willi Schuh visited Strauss after an operation at a Clinic in Lausanne. This was a comment made by Strauss. From It will be alright on the night: Richard Streauss through quotes and anecdotes. Ed A…
“What do I think of Jazz? Jazz is royal concert in the palace of King Attila! The original negro melodies from which it is derived are sublime, but Jazz —" said Dr.Strauss shrugging his shoulders.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) first seen 1922 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sheffield Independent (UK) - Saturday 14 January 1922, reporting an interview given after a concert Strauss conducted at the Manchester Free Trade Hall.
“Producers of opera nowadays usually make the mistake of translating each particular orchestral phrase into terms of a movement on the stage. In this matter one should proceed with a maximum of caution and good taste. There is no objection to bringing life to into the production by changes of position and new nuances of acting during repetitive passages of music, especially in arias. Preludes of one or two bars frequently, and especially in Mozart, clearly express some gesture on stage. But each trill on the flute does not represent a wink on the prima donna, nor every delayed chord on the strings a step or gesture. Whole passages, especially in the finales, are pure concert music and are best left undisturbed by “play acting”.”
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source