Composed as the Second World War was coming to a close, Richard Strauss’ Metamorphosen is an interesting study for 23 solo string instruments. Commissioned by the founder and then-director of the Basler Kammerorchester, Paul Sacher, Metamorphosen was premiered by the Collegium Musicum Zürich in January 1946.
Although Sacher conducted the premiere, Strauss conducted the final rehearsal with the orchestra to make sure his piece had come together how he had wanted. The ambitious work, composed near the end of Strauss’ life, shows his full maturity as a composer.
Metamorphosen can be seen as being in three general sections: slow introduction – slightly quicker central section – original slow tempo to close. Strauss uses five main themes in Metamorphosen, which highlight his main influences when composing the work. The five themes are described as:
1 – The opening chord sequence
2 – Three short notes followed by a long note
3 – A direct Beethoven Eroica quote from the Marcia Funebre movement
4 – Triplet sequence in the minor
5 – A main lyrical theme that is featured throughout the whole piece
Metamorphosen has been likened to Strauss’ tone poem Death and Transfiguration. Toward the end of this piece, the voices begin to dwindle alongside the dynamic of the music. The final minute of music is written poignantly and with Strauss’ most mature style trickling on until the very last chord, which unites the lower strings with dignity, just as they were found at the beginning of the piece.
Here is conductor Mariss Jansons leading a performance of this work:
