Backstage / Listening Guides / Strauss Don Juan

Listening Guide

Don Juan, tone poem, Opus 20

Composed 1887-1888, first performed in 1889 with Strauss conducting.
Don Juan was a fictional Spanish legend, with a reputation for seducing rich women. The psychology of the characters in Nikolaus Lena’s nineteenth century play of Don Juan appealed to Strauss.

Story
Don Juan traces the outlines of Don Juan’s career beginning with a scene with his brother trying to persuade him to lead a better life. Don Juan is never around long enough to see the true consequence of his actions, but one day he is challenged to a death duel. Although Don Juan is winning the duel he decides to give himself up to the opponent as he finds the concept of victory boring!
Strauss pushed his musicians to their limits – both technically and physically. Strauss commented after the first performance, “I was really sorry for the poor horns and trumpets. They were quite blue in the face, the whole affair was so strenuous”.

Listening points

• The horns are used in a heroic way to represent Don Juan.
• Listen out for the rich harmonies and beautiful melodies.
• Opening is allegro molto con brio – fast and loud to represent Don Juan.

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• Listen out for a sudden slowing of the music and the dynamic change to pp – Don Juan has seen a beautiful woman and begins to seduce her, which develops into a love scene and the harmony becomes richer and more sensual.
• Suddenly the music halts – Don Juan has seen his next woman but she is resistant to his charms. Eventually she gives in and the second love scene takes place – listen out for the solo oboe. To end this scene Strauss uses the strings going from low to high pitches with an accelerando.
• A new theme is introduced for Don Juan, played by four horns. They call out over the whole orchestra.
• There is a carnival scene using lots of staccato triplet motifs.
• The dynamic suddenly collapses from fff to ppp in the space of five bars – reality has hit Don Juan and he questions his life.
• The music for the death duel is heroic as Don Juan is winning until a sudden pause where the whole orchestra stops.
• A pianissimo minor chord is followed shortly by two jabbing trumpets – this is the knife killing Don Juan.
• Listen for descending shuddering trills in the strings as Don Juan’s life ebbs away.

RICHARD STRAUSS 1864 – 1949

• German composer and conductor, who lived through two world wars.
• Strauss’s father was a professional orchestral horn player, which was a great inspiration for Strauss. He began piano lessons aged 4 and wrote his first compositions at the age of 6!
• Strauss was greatly influenced by the composers Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner, as well as philosophy and psychology.
• Strauss was deeply interested in human psychology, which is portrayed in his music.
• Strauss’s work is classified as late romantic music and was popular throughout his lifetime.