Richard Strauss
There are certain details about the family background of Richard Strauss that every lover of music needs to remember. His maternal grandfather, Joseph Pschorr, founded a brewery the name of which can still be seen in Germany today. This puts Strauss in a category of composers (along with Mahler, Debussy, and Smetana) whose ancestors were in the liquor business. I regret to say that musicologists have so far ignored this detail and its implications for stylistic analysis.
Old Mr Pschorr was so frugal that he went about the house in his underwear in order to keep his outer clothes from getting too worn. He also kept his coffin in the living room and would have it re-varnished from time to time. His daughter, Josepha, Richard Strauss’s mother, was subject to nervous spells (understandable as she grew up in a house with a coffin in the living room). She consulted the same doctor who attended Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria, Wagner’s great patron. The word “attended“ especially applies here. When Mad Ludwig drowned in Starnberger Lake, the doctor drowned with him.
Strauss’s father was Franz Joseph Strauss, who was the first horn of the Munich Court Orchestra for forty-two years. His first wife died of cholera; their son died of TB and the infant daughter of cholera. He lost his entire family by age 32. He met Josepha Strauss soon after but—perhaps a bit shell-shocked or gun-shy or whatever the term is--took seven years to propose to her.
Franz Strauss played his French horn in the premieres of Tristan, Die Meistersinger, Das Rheingold and Die Walküre but hated every minute of it. When Wagner’s death was announced, the other members of the Munich Court Orchestra rose in silent tribute; Franz Strauss, alone, remained firmly seated. His greatest fear was that his very talented son would grow up to like the music of Wagner. To his chagrin, this is what happened.
But not before Richard would go through a phase of Brahms adoration. Incidentally, Franz Strauss hated Brahms also. He was an Equal Opportunity hater. Playing the French horn in an orchestra for forty-two years makes you misanthropic.
Old Mr Pschorr was so frugal that he went about the house in his underwear in order to keep his outer clothes from getting too worn. He also kept his coffin in the living room and would have it re-varnished from time to time. His daughter, Josepha, Richard Strauss’s mother, was subject to nervous spells (understandable as she grew up in a house with a coffin in the living room). She consulted the same doctor who attended Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria, Wagner’s great patron. The word “attended“ especially applies here. When Mad Ludwig drowned in Starnberger Lake, the doctor drowned with him.
Strauss’s father was Franz Joseph Strauss, who was the first horn of the Munich Court Orchestra for forty-two years. His first wife died of cholera; their son died of TB and the infant daughter of cholera. He lost his entire family by age 32. He met Josepha Strauss soon after but—perhaps a bit shell-shocked or gun-shy or whatever the term is--took seven years to propose to her.
Franz Strauss played his French horn in the premieres of Tristan, Die Meistersinger, Das Rheingold and Die Walküre but hated every minute of it. When Wagner’s death was announced, the other members of the Munich Court Orchestra rose in silent tribute; Franz Strauss, alone, remained firmly seated. His greatest fear was that his very talented son would grow up to like the music of Wagner. To his chagrin, this is what happened.
But not before Richard would go through a phase of Brahms adoration. Incidentally, Franz Strauss hated Brahms also. He was an Equal Opportunity hater. Playing the French horn in an orchestra for forty-two years makes you misanthropic.
posted by Richard Wilson at 7:12 AM
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