Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life), Op. 40

Written in a Bavarian mountain resort in 1898, Richard Strauss’ (1864-1949) eighth tone poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) was a response to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 (‘Eroica’). Although he played a bit coy when asked the question, many believe that Strauss had cast himself as the hero given the numerous musical references to his own previous works and his acknowledgement that the violin solo depicted his own wife. This likely self-reference was described by one critic as “a monstrous act of egotism and as revolting a picture of this revolting man as one might ever encounter. He is, then, honest.” But Strauss’ swipe at his critics in “The Hero’s Adversaries” section, where he portrayed them unflatteringly with both chattering woodwinds and leaden brass shows that he took his critics’ dislike for him in stride. While the work is through-composed, it originally had six titled sections: 1. The Hero, 2. The Hero’s Adversaries, 3. The Hero’s Companion, 4. The Hero’s Battlefield, 5. The Hero’s Works of Peace, and 6. The Hero’s Retreat from the World and Fulfillment. While the music has not changed in anyway, this critical edition by Clinton Nieweg and Stuart Serio, which consults six different sources, does not show the section titles as the composer himself had requested that they be removed. Instrumentation: 3+Picc.4(4dEH).2+Eb+BCl.3+CBsn: 8.5.3.2: Timp.Perc(4). 2Hp: Str(9-8-7-6-5 in set).