"" (translated as "Dedication" or "Devotion") is a ' 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 1885 (completed 13 August), setting a poem by the Austrian poet Hermann von Gilm. It was included in Strauss's first published collection of songs, as Op. 10 in 1885. Originally scored for voice and piano, the song was orchestrated in 1932 by the German conductor

Robert Heger Robert Heger (19 August 1886 – 14 January 1978) was a German conductor and composer from Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine. Life and career He studied at the Conservatory of Strasbourg under Franz Stockhausen, then in Zurich under Lothar Kempt ...

and in 1940 by Strauss himself. It is one of the composer's best-known songs.

History

In 1882, his friend Ludwig Thuile introduced Strauss to the poetry of Gilm contained in the volume (last leaves), published in the year of the poet's death (and the composer's birth) 1864.Del Mar, pp. 264–267. However, the original Gilm poem was not contained in this volume, and the original title of Gilm's poem was the refrain "" ("have thanks" or "take thanks"). The Opus 10 songs were all written for the tenor voice, which caused some trouble in the Strauss family, since his father Franz wanted him to write his first published songs for his Aunt Johanna as thanks for all of her help with his musical development. The song was dedicated to the principal tenor of the Munich Court Opera, Heinrich Vogl. Strauss promised to later write some songs for Aunt Johanna. "" was the first of eight songs by Strauss published as Op. 10, which were all settings of Gilm's poems. In 1885, they were the first songs Strauss ever published. The song was given its first public performance at

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 26,000 (2024).

in a chamber concert on 5 March 1886 (along with three other Opus 10 songs "Nichts", " Allerseelen", and "Georgine") sung by the tenor . In 1897, John Bernhoff wrote an English version of the lyrics, which were published as a bilingual “Universal Edition” by his publishers (Joseph Aible Verlag, Leipzig). The song was orchestrated by the German conductor

in 1932. In June 1940, Richard Strauss orchestrated the song for Viorica Ursuleac. Strauss altered the music slightly and also added an extra line "Du wunderbare Helena" (you wonderful Helena), referring to her singing of the title role in his opera ''

Die ägyptische Helena ''Die ägyptische Helena'' (''The Egyptian Helen''), Op. 75, is an opera in two acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It premiered at the Dresden Semperoper on 6 June 1928. Strauss had written the title role with ...

'' at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

in 1933. The Strauss orchestration was premiered at Rome on 4 July 1940 with Ursulaec singing and her husband

Clemens Krauss Clemens Heinrich Krauss (31 March 189316 May 1954) was an Austrian conducting, conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and Richard Wagner. He founded the Vienna New Year's Concert ...

conducting. Strauss recorded the song three times with himself on the piano; in 1919 with the

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

Heinrich Schlusnus and twice in 1942 from Vienna for wartime radio broadcasts with

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

Maria Reining and tenor Anton Dermota.

Lyrics

Orchestral arrangements

The 1940

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

by Strauss was completed at Garmisch on 19 June 1940. The following instrumentation is employed.Hurwitz, David. ''Richard Strauss: An Owners Manual''. Milwaukee: Amadeus Press (2014), , p. 174. * Two

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, two

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, two

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, three

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 * Four

french horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

s, three

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 *

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, ...

* Two

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 ...

s * Strings The 1932 orchestration by Heger has the following instrumentation: * Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets,

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 ...

, two bassoons * Four french horns, two trumpets, one

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 ...

* Timpani * One harp * Strings

Notes

References

Cited sources

Norman Del Mar Norman René Del Mar Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (31 July 19196 February 1994) was an English Conductor (music), conductor, horn player, and biographer. As a conductor, he specialised in the music of late romantic composers; ...

, ''Richard Strauss. A Critical Commentary on his Life and Works'', Volume 3, London: Faber and Faber (2009) 968(second edition), .

External links

*
Zueignung
(in German) Theater Karlsruhe * Paul Thomason
Zueignung and other songs
* Georg Hirsch
Radio Script in German / "Aus Lotte Lehmanns Archiv"
lottelehmannleague.org * Tara Diana Warfield
A voice teacher prepares: using art song as ateaching tool for the role of Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier
DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) thesis,

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

, 2011 * Keith Anderson
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) / Songs of Love and Death

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zueignung Songs by Richard Strauss 1883 songs Orchestral songs