Don Juan

A milestone for conductors, academics and lovers of Richard Strauss' oeuvre alike: The third volume now published in the Richard Strauss Works - Critical Edition (RSW) is the first critical edition of the symphonic poem Don Juan composed in 1888. The musical text was re-edited, using all available sources, and illustrated with interesting facsimile pages.

We know nothing about the motives which prompted Strauss to compose the tone poem Don Juan after Macbeth. All presumptions remain speculation, whether in reference to his love affair with Dora Wihan, the early stages of his relationship with his subsequent wife Pauline or his appreciation of Paul Heyse’s tragedy Don Juan’s Ende. It is also not known what role was played by Mozart’s Don Giovanni within this context. All that we do know is that Strauss attached great importance to the mention of Lenau – as indicated by the subtitle of the composition – and distanced himself from Wilhelm Mauke’s interpretation4 according to which the female characters featured in Don Juan refer to “Zerlinchen”, “the Countess” and “Anna”. Be that as it may, the mythical figure of the restless seducer corresponds well to Liszt’s stipulation that symphonic poems should be based on meaningful plots. Perhaps Strauss was simply fascinated by the potential of the subject for its expression in musical form, with a particular blend of sonata form (“male” versus “female” themes) and rondo form (a hero involved in a series of amorous episodes). What is however certain is that this subject was discussed and perhaps even defined within Strauss’s circle of friends in Munich. The proximity of this group led by Alexander Ritter and its inner circle including Ludwig Thuille, Friedrich Rösch and Arthur Seidl7 to the early tone poems is clearly indicated by the fact that Strauss dedicated the fi rst four works in this genre exclusively to members of this circle: Ritter came first (Macbeth), followed by Thuille (Don Juan), Rösch (Tod und Verklärung) and Seidl (Till Eulenspiegel).

- from the preface by the editor