"", Op. 27, No. 1, is the first in a set of four songs composed by

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

in 1894. It was originally for voice and piano, and not orchestrated by Strauss until 1948, after he had completed one of his '' Four Last Songs'', "". The words are from a poem "" (Rest, my soul) written by the poet Karl Henckell.

History

Strauss composed the song in May 1894, and that September he gave it as a wedding present to his wife the soprano Pauline de Ahna.

Related songs

Timothy L. Jackson has noted that Strauss had composed the song "Ruhe, meine Seele!" for piano and voice in 1894 but did not orchestrate it until 1948, just after he had completed "Im Abendrot" and before he composed the other three of his '' Four Last Songs''. Jackson suggests that the addition of "Ruhe, meine Seele!" to the ''Four Last Songs'' forms a five-song unified

song cycle A song cycle () is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in sequence, as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combinat ...

, if "Ruhe, meine Seele!" is performed as a prelude to "Im Abendrot", to which it bears motivic similarity.

Instrumentation and accompaniment

The instrumentation is: piccolo, 2

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

s, 2

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

s, cor anglais, 2

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

s in B,

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays no ...

, 2

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

s, 4 horns in F, 2

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

s in C, 3

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

s, tuba, 3

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

, celesta,

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

and the orchestral

string section The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...

. The accompaniment has sombre and ambiguous harmonies, with contrasting calm and tempestuous episodes, but ends peacefully in the home key of C major.

Lyrics

Opus 27

The other songs of Opus 27 are: * Op. 27 No. 2 " Cäcilie" (Wenn du es wüßtest) * Op. 27 No. 3 " Heimliche Aufforderung" (Auf, hebe die funkelnde Schale) * Op. 27 No. 4 " Morgen!" (Und morgen wird die Sonne wieder scheinen)

Recordings

Richard Strauss recorded it twice with himself accompanying on the piano. In 1919 with the baritone Heinrich Schlusnus and again in 1944, with the baritone Alfred Poell.*Getz, Christine (1991), The Lieder of Richard Strauss, chapter 10 in Mark-Daniel Schmid, ''Richard Strauss Companion'', Praeger Publishers, Westfield CT, 2003, , page 376.

References and notes

External links

*
''The LiederNet Archive'': "Rest my soul"
English translation by Emily Ezust Orchestral accompaniment *, Jessye Norman *, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Piano accompaniment *, Alfred Poell *, Kiri Te Kanawa *, Dima Orsho *, Richard Tauber *, Helen Traubel *, Birgit Nilsson {{Authority control Songs by Richard Strauss Music dedicated to family or friends 1894 songs Compositions in C major Orchestral songs