Metamorphoses for 23 solo strings by Richard Strauss, performed by musicians of the WDR Sinfonieorchester under the direction of their then chief conductor Semyon Bychkov. Recorded in February 2001 at the then WDR Studio Stolberger Straße Cologne. Historical recording from the WDR Klassik archive.
Richard Strauss - Metamorphoses for 23 solo strings
WDR Symphony Orchestra
Semyon Bychkov, conductor
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Introduction
March 1945: War is raging in Europe. Countless people fall victim to it, but numerous cultural assets are also destroyed. In his villa in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 81-year-old Richard Strauss sits and completes his "Metamorphoses" for 23 solo strings.
The "Mepharmorphosen" are one of his much-cited "wrist exercises," the composer informs us in a letter, not without irony. "In memoriam" is later written above the score at the point where the composer quotes the funeral march from Beethoven's Eroica in the double basses. What exactly this deeply sad piece is about, the composer takes to his grave in 1949.
Since then, numerous speculations about the occasion and the content of the piece have been making the rounds among musicians and musicologists.
(Text: Jan Ritterstaedt)