Four Last Songs

Classical music has gradually been falling out of my regular listening rotation, which is a shame. As my time has gotten short, I’ve found less time to devote to those gorgeous yet long masterworks that populate the genre. But finally, I’ve returned. This week, I bought tickets to see the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Renee Fleming. The piece that led me to buy these tickets is Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs, four orchestral songs for soprano written in 1948, the year before Strauss died.

These four songs constitute the last work that Strauss ever wrote. And, with these songs as evidence, I contend that never before or after has anyone faced death with such beautiful poise. These songs do not rage against the composer’s impending fate, but rather float beautifully, with “weightless profundity,” as Alex Ross writes in The Rest is Noise. Having lived through the chaos of two World Wars, Strauss’s work evinces a calm sense of transcendent resignation. The final song, entitled “Im Abendrot” (At Sunset) ends with sustained chords, fortified by the brass, which flirt with the minor mode before ending in a peaceful major. Listening to this ending, and imagining that this was Strauss’s final musical statement--it’s easy to be blown away with the power of it all.

Seriously, give the two selections below a listen. I don’t care if you’re skeptical or even downright disdainful of classical music; they're worth your time.

Richard Strauss – Four Last Songs; II. September (YSI) (dropbox)
Richard Strauss – Four Last Songs; IV. Im Abendrot (YSI) (dropbox)