To the Question of Style Specifics of the Orchestral Song in Richard Strauss’s Works

Abstract

Richard Strauss played one of the leading roles in formation of the orchestral song genre of the fin de siècle period of the Austro-German School. His works include original orchestral songs and orchestral transcriptions of the Klavierlied. The author mainly calls the original orchestral songs “Orchestergesang”, including in this concept not only the properties of the Lied but also of such genres as the opera aria and symphonic poem. The analysis of Strauss’s works has revealed a number of style features that creates a unique style of his orchestral song. Those style specifics are the ratio of monumentality and intimacy, imaginative sphere, tonality semantics, usage of rhetorical patterns, expressive vocal declamation, and mixing of timbres. The orchestral song of Strauss represented the era of fin de siècle in the musical art and became a genre model for the composers of the Munich School (Siegmund von Hausegger, Max von Schillings) and Arnold Schoenberg’s early works.