STRAUSS Richard (1864-1949).

  2. Result
  3. STRAUSS Richard (1864-1949).
  4. Lot n° 249 
Lot n° 249
Go to lot
Estimation :
10000 - 12000 EUR
Result without fees
Result : 11 100EUR
STRAUSS Richard (1864-1949).
AUTOGRAPHIC MUSICAL MANUSCRIT for Elektra¸ [ca. 1906]; 2 pages in-fol. (33 x 24.5 cm) of a bifeuillet (the 2nd sheet blank). Rare sheet of sketches for the opera Elektra. Interesting working sketches that shed light on the early genesis of the opera, composed by Richard Strauss between 1906 and 1908, on the text of the play by Hugo von HOFMANNSTHAL (1903), the musician's first collaboration with the writer. The premiere took place on January 25, 1909 in Dresden. This sheet (numbered "4") presents the first sketches of the themes of the work, written in pencil on 12-stave paper. They are written on two staves (six systems per page), without words or instrumentation, for a total of 36 bars, with a few names of characters: "Orest" and "Klytem[nästra]", and a few rare lines or titles: "Ein Weib" and "Triumph". They are very different from the final version of the opera. Four different sketches can be distinguished: the first, occupying the whole of the first page (plus 3 bars of conlusion on the following page), with a passage crossed out and deleted by 8 bars, bears the indication "Orest. Lento", beginning in D minor, at 4/4, seems to be a first draft of the scene where Elektra recognizes Orestes whom she believes to be dead. This is followed, on the 2nd page, by a series of 5 bars under the line "ein Weib?", in G minor, at 3/4, for the scene where Klytämnestra asks Elektra the name of the beast to be slain ("Den Namen sag' des Opfertiers"), and Elektra replies, "Ein Weib?" (a woman?, who is none other than her mother Clytemnestra). Then come 7 bars entitled " Triumph ", beginning in C minor, at 6/4, probably for the final scene. Finally, 6 bars marked " Klytem ", again in C minor, at 4/4, presenting the theme symbolizing Elektra's triumph and the murder of her mother Clytemnestra and her lover Ægisthus, probably for the big scene between Elektra and Klytämnestra.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue