- Don Juan (Strauss)
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Don Juan, Op. 20 is a tone poem for large orchestra by the German composer Richard Strauss, written in 1888. The composer conducted its premiere on 11 November 1889 with the orchestra of the Weimar Opera, where he served as Court Kapellmeister.
Strauss wrote and conducted the piece when he was only twenty-four years old and it became an international success shortly after its debut. It marks the discovery of the composer's formal style and tonal language.[citation needed] The work is based on the poem Don Juan by Nikolaus Lenau, from which much of the musical work's passion is drawn. According to the composer, who wrote two days after the first performance "Well then – Don Juan had a great success, it sounded wonderful and went very well. It unleashed a storm of applause rather unusual for Weimar."
An average performance takes around sixteen minutes. The extreme difficulty and virtuosity of nearly every part has made the piece a staple of orchestral audition lists for most instruments.[1]
Instrumentation
The work is scored for 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns in E, 3 trumpets in E, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, cymbals, glockenspiel, harp and strings.
An orchestral score and a score for piano four hands was published by J. Aibl in Leipzig in 1890.
Notes
External links
- Don Juan, Op. 20, by Richard Strauss: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.
Tone poems by Richard Strauss Aus Italien · Don Juan · Macbeth · Tod und Verklärung · Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche · Also sprach Zarathustra · Don Quixote · Ein Heldenleben · Symphonia Domestica · Eine Alpensinfonie
List of compositions by Richard StraussCategories:- Tone poems by Richard Strauss
- Works based on the Don Juan legend
- Ballets to the music of Richard Strauss
- 1888 compositions
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