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A STUDY OF RICHARD STRAUSS


POLITICAL LIFE BASED ON HIS
ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS AND
INTER-RELATIONSHIPS

Jin-Hwei Su
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Taiwan
University of Science and Technology

ABSTRACT
Richard Strauss was born in Munich, Germany on June 11, 1864. As
a conductor and composer in the late Romantic era, he acted as a witness to
transitions in both the music world and the political world at the turn of the
century. Under the influence of the New German School, which includes
composers such as Liszt, Wagner and Berlioz, Strauss used tone colors in his
operas, songs, and symphonic works. He was not only a controversial musician,
but also a controversial person politically and displayed conflicting attitudes
toward the Nazi government, his Jewish relations, and his love for European art
culture. In order to provide a foundation to gain better understanding of Straus,
this paper researches into the multiple stages of his life, examines his two opera
works Die schweigsame Frau and Friedenstag , and discusses Strass struggle with
the Nazi Government. This paper provides evidence through literature review that
Strauss is not only an important figure in musical history, but also in political and
world history as a witness and rebel against Nazi tyranny.

Keywords: artistic inspiration, inter-relationships, political life

Introduction
Richard Strauss (1864-1949) was a German conductor and composer in the late Romantic
era. His music acted as an important transition between Romanticism and Modernism. In his life,
Strauss went through both World War I and II, and experienced the most prosperous and unstable
time periods in arts, politics, society, and cultural history. From the premier of his symphonic
poem Don Juan in 1888 to the staging of his opera Der Rosenkavalier in 1911, Strauss works
334 Jin-Hwei Su

are among the most discussed Contemporary pieces. Even though he is now well-known for his
success in symphonic poems, operas works, and conducting, when he was alive, many people
were overwhelmed by his modern approach to music.1 His most famous pieces such as Salome
and Elektra both received an overwhelming amount of criticism following their completions.
Despite the wide range of controversy his works received, Strauss continued to compose music
that, in the end, received recognition and honor within the marks of musical history.
Strauss was not only a controversial musician, but also displayed conflicting personas
regarding his attitude toward the Nazi government, his Jewish relations, and his love for
European art culture. Despite having started with the initial viewpoint of the Nazi government as
the savior of German musical culture, Strauss later realized that the regime was in fact destroying
the culture he cherished.
In the past, many researchers have focused on the principles of Strauss music, and less
on his relationship with the Nazi government, which was a very important stage in the old
composers life. This paper provide evidence that Strauss is not only an important figure in
musical history, but also in political and world history as a witness and rebel against tyranny. It
is the intention of this paper to research into Strauss life (especially the later part), the causes of
his gradual disillusionment with Nazi ideals, and the results of conflicting interests between the
government and the musician.

1. Life of Strauss

1.1 Early inspirations (1864~1885)

Richard Strauss was born in 1864 in Munich, Germany, as the son of Munich Court
Orchestra principal horn player Franz Strauss and the brewer Josephine Pschorr. From a young
age, Strauss had shown great musical talents, excelling in both piano and violin. His fathers
musical taste influenced Strauss a lot during his early years as a musician. Strauss family
had a conservative taste in music, and the young Strauss was not allowed to listen to anything
contemporary (such as Wagner), but instead was strictly monitored to only listen to pieces
composed by Mozart and the classical composers. Strauss never enrolled in musical school, but
he still grew up to be a hard-working and continuous compose. By the time he graduated college,
Strauss was already a renowned composer, and before his 21st birthday he was already called

1 Inthe late Romantic era, composers began to expand the classical tonality music by increasing emphasize on
chromatic elements, extending the range of classic tonal functions, and a decreasing structural dependence on the
central tonality (Samson, 1977). Composers like Wagner, Mahler and Strauss start to apply Chromaticism to enrich
the harmony effect and music style in their compositions.
A Study of Richard Strauss Political Life Based on His Artistic Inspirations and Inter-Relationships 335

Richard the 3rd by the respected German conductor, Bulow. Bulow did not admire Strauss
innovative ideas; rather, the conductor praised the young composers willingness to adhere to the
traditional musical styles.
Under his father, the young Strauss was only allowed to use music composed by classical
composers such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms to reference his own style. It was
not until 1886, when Strauss met the composer and violinist Alexander Ritter, that he began to
delve into Romantic composers such as Berlioz, Liszt, and Wagner. He strayed from his former
traditional styles, and began to explore modern music.2

1.2 Years of successes and failures (1886~1930)

From 1886 onwards, Strauss composing and conducting styles began to rise in popularity
in the musical world. He was able to meet Mahler in 1887 while guest conducting in Leipzig, and
the two immediately took a liking to each other. Strauss had his first gigantic musical triumph
in 1889 from the opera Don Juan, and this marked the publics official acknowledgement of
Strauss as an exceptional composer. The compositions following Don Juan established Strauss
as a traditional stylist who used the strength of the orchestra against the rising modernism in
20th century composing, but Strauss was not one who adhered to the restrains of the classical
period. His incorporation of the classical, big orchestral style and modern thinking can be seen
in his famous opera Salome. After the operas first shocking publication in Dresden in 1905,
Salome, an opera based on the biblical story of John the Baptist, was censored at many places
due to its scandalous content. However, the public liked their operas to be shocking. The spine-
tingling scream that starts Elektra followed Salome, and even though Elektra was not as popular
as Salome, these two operas, both about very stubborn and evil women, received high acclaims
from audiences throughout the world. Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Strauss genius libretto writer,
also cooperated with the composer in one of Strauss most popular operas, Der Rosenkavalier.
However, after Der Rosenkavalier , Strauss popularity began to drop. The public forgot about
him as time went on and the aging composer failed to create anything sensational, and they
were convinced that Strauss was no longer to create anything as mind blowing as Elektra or Der
Rosenkavalier.
During the years of World War I and after, Strauss composed pieces such as Intermezzo,
Schlagobers, Parergon zur Symphonia demestica, and Die agyptische Helena. All of them ended
in dismal failure because they did not fit the confusion that exploded in Germany following World

2 Gilliam,
B., & Yonmans, C. (2001). Strauss, Richard. In S. Sadie (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musician (2nd ed., Vol. 24, pp. 497-527). London: Macmillan Publishers Limited.
336 Jin-Hwei Su

War I. The era that followed World War I is now known as the Age of Anxiety because the whole
world was depressed over their lives and their prospects of the future of humanity. The Treaty of
Paris in 1919 that ended World War I, with the Central Powers (which included Austria-Hungary,
Germany, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria) in defeat, took away German army,
economy, and government. The newly installed Weimer Republic of Germany had no support
from the public, and many strived to bring it down. It is not surprising that Strauss soft, gentle
music didnt appeal to many people. However, in 1928, Strauss and Hofmannsthal thought they
had found the solution to their problem: the opera Arabella. The two held onto the piece like a life
line, and they worked to painstakingly revise the libretto when Hofmannsthal suddenly died of a
stroke in 1929.3

1.3 The Nazi regime and its legacy (1931~1949)

Strauss was left without a libretto writer that could match up to the genius of Hofmannsthal.
Help came, at last, in 1931 in the form of Arnold Zweig, a Jewish writer who had long admired
Strauss. Zweig offered Strauss an adaptation of Epicene (The Silent Woman), and the composer
began to work on the piece in 1933. Strauss renamed the opera as Die schweigsame Frau.
However, two years later, the National Socialist Party (later known as the Nazi) came into full
power. When Hitler was elected as Chancellor, the Third Reich began in full earnest. Strauss
initially thought that the party wouldnt intrude upon his composer life, but he was gravely
mistaken. Hitler had long admired Strauss and Strauss music, and proceeded to sign Strauss
in as the president of the Reich Chamber of Music. There were seven chambers in the Reich
Chamber, together headed by Goebbels, and each chamber controlled an area of artistic output
in the country. Despite ha ving enormous political power, Strauss still lacked an appetite for
politics. However, Strauss found himself entangled in politics as the Nazi began issuing law after
law against Jewish, Gypsies, the mental retarded, the handicapped, and anyone Hitler labeled as
Non-Aryan in his book Mein Kampf. Arnold Zweig was Jewish, and so were Strauss daughter-
in-law and grandchildren. Strauss was left with a difficult decision: he could forsake his family
and friends to gain the favor of the Nazi or he could bear the wrath of the dictatorship. Strauss
chose the latter option with no hesitation. His dedication to those closest to him would prove
to be his downfall, but it also marked him as an exceptional individual who resisted against the
brutality of the regime.4

3 Ibid..
4 Ashley, T. (1999). Richard Strauss (pp. 160). London: Phaidon Press Limited.
A Study of Richard Strauss Political Life Based on His Artistic Inspirations and Inter-Relationships 337

In 1935, the secret police of the Nazi, the Gastapo, intercepted a letter from Strauss to Zweig.
The content of the letter, in summary, contained Strauss criticizing the anti-Semitism policies of
the Third Reich. After reading the letter, Hitler immediately fired Strauss as the president of the
Reich Chamber of Music. The Nazi never issued any punishment on Strauss for his disloyalty
because the old composer was simply too popular. Also, Strauss was a prime example of German
ingenuity, and due to his importance in German culture, much of his disobedience and connection
to the government was not uncovered until after the war.
The years following Strauss dismissal from the presidential seat were calm and uneventful,
with Capriccio, composed in 1941, being his last big piece. Strauss died in 1949, in Garmisch,
Germany, four years after the end of World War II.5

2. Politically Inspired Operas

2.1 Die schweigsame Frau

Die schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman) is based on Ben Jonsons Epicoene, and since its
first premieres, the light and comedic opera was not popular when it premiered. The main reason
is that when the opera was first published, the Nazi regime had just begun its full persecution of
the Jewish ethnicity. The opera naturally was frowned upon due to Zweigs identity as Jewish,
even if the opera itself criticizes nothing remotely related to the regime.
The synopsis of the opera is set around Sir Morosus, a retired naval officer who wishes for
nothing more than a peaceful and quiet retirement. However, his noisy housekeeper annoys him
constantly, so his barber suggest that perhaps Morosus should get married. Morosus objects to
the idea, stating that he is too old to get married. In comes his nephew, Henry, with his operatic
troupe wife, Aminta, and they request that Morosus lets them inherit his fortune. Morosus
refuses on the grounds that Aminta is way too loud to inherit anything, so Henry, the barber, and
Aminta hatch up a plan to trick Morosus into giving them the fortune and to dispel Morosus
fear of sounds. Henry presents Morosus with three pretend-to-be brides, and Morosus chooses
the quietest of them all, who is in fact Aminta in disguise. The two happily marry, but right after
the marriage, the disguised Aminta begins to speak in a hoarse and ugly voice. Scared to near
death, Morosus demands a divorce. However, Aminta is stubborn in her request to remain as
Lady Morosus. Just as Morosus has given up all hope for peace and quiet, Aminta, Henry, and the
barber reveal the trick. Morosus despair transforms into delight as he realizes that this deception

5 Gilliam,
B., & Yonmans, C. (2001). Strauss, Richard. In S. Sadie (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musician (2nd ed., Vol. 24, pp. 497-527). London: Macmillan Publishers Limited.
338 Jin-Hwei Su

has helped him overcome his fear of sound, and Morosus exclaims: A rare delight it is to find a
silent, beautiful girl, but it is more delightful when she belongs to another man.
Despite its comedic theme and light humor, Die schweigsame Frau in fact expresses Strauss
frustration with the Nazi imposition upon artist culture in Germany. The main character of the
opera fears sounds, and that symbolizes the fear of the regime for its citizens to hear what
may be real or against the regime. Music is beautiful, Morosus claims, once it has stopped.6
Morosus, fearing sounds, considers silence to be the best voice of all. That can be interpreted as
Strauss reflection that the regime considers silence to be the number one rule of the regime. His
prediction would come true in the last phases of the regime, when the only music that could reach
the German public was performed by the strictly regulated Berlin Philharmonic.
Other examples of Strauss dissatisfaction with Nazi persecution of Jewish people can
be seen during the course of orchestrating this opera. After the death of his first librettist,
Hofmannsthal, Strauss thought that he would never be able to find another librettist as brilliant as
Hofmannsthal. However, in October 1931, through the introduction of Anton Kippenberg, Strauss
met Arnold Zweig and claimed Zweig as his librettist.7
In January of 1933, after two years of working and discussing between the two, Zweig
finally accomplished the whole libretto for Die schweigsame Frau. Upon its completion, Zweig
wrote: plaudite, amici, comoedia finita est (applaud, my friend, the comedy is over. Strauss
replied his appreciation by using words from his song Ich trag meine Minne (I carry my love),
Opus 32 No.1.8
However, their celebration was short lived, as the Hitler regime began its systematic
persecution of the Jewish race. Due to Zweigs Jewish ethnicity, the librettist thought that Strauss
would stop working on Die schweigsame Frau with him. Strauss had other ideas. He never
considered the Nazi to be a commander, at least not to him, of any sort, and ignored the Anti-
Semitic laws. Being one of the greatest of German composers, the Nazis eagerly needed Strauss
reputation and support to win the support of the German people. The Nazi still read over the
libretto of Die schweigsame Frau, but found it to be irrelevant to any German political issues. The
Reich Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, complied to the premier of the opera. However,
Goebbels instructed the theater company to purposefully leave off Zweigs name on the program.
Strauss, enraged, changed the program on the last minute, and put the Jewish librettists name

6 Ashley, T. (1999). Richard Strauss. London: Phaidon Press Limited.


7 Anton Kippenberg (1874-1950) is an amateur music lover and the managing director of the Insel book-publishing
firm.
8 Mann, W. (1966). Richard Strauss: A Critical Study of the Operas (pp. 275). New York: Oxford University Press.
A Study of Richard Strauss Political Life Based on His Artistic Inspirations and Inter-Relationships 339

onto the program. Despite their previous promises, Hitler and Goebbels failed to show up to the
premiere of Die schweigsame Frau after the program change.

2.2 Friedenstag

Strauss twelfth opera, Friedenstag (Peace Day), is among the most controversy operas of
the 20th century. When it was first produced, Friedenstag was regarded as the manifestation of
National Socialist ideals in art. However, upon closer examinations, scholars began to pick out
Strauss and Zweigs cries of protest against the regime within the opera. With the last days of
the Thirty Years War as backdrop, the plot of Friedenstag reaches the climax with an argument
between a militarist commander and a pacifist commander on opposite sides of the war. Enraged
by their opposing views, the commanders are prepared to fight each other to the death until the
militarist commanders wife steps in to stop the quarrel. She reminds the two men and soldiers
that peace is an honorable and worthy option. The opera ends with the opposing sides embracing
each other and celebrating the end of the war, the peace that everyone had been waiting on for
30 long, war filled years. The theme of peace was forcefully injected into the opera by Zweig,
who clashed head on with Strauss over the main ideals within the production. Strauss originally
planned to include a scandalous love affair between the militarist commanders wife and his
lieutenant, but Zweig was so angered by the proposal that he didnt even bother to respond to a
follow-up letter by Strauss, who wished to expand upon that subplot of the opera. Zweig stated
that:
I have thought about your plan carefully. But I find the tie-in between the heroic element
and love episode a bit too operatic in the unfortunate sense of the word.9 Then, Zweig reminded
Strauss firmly that the main theme of the opera was not drama, but sacrificing oneself to peace
and mutual understanding between former adversaries.
After the original sketches of Friedenstag were completed, Zweig finally decided that
working with Strauss, with his identity as a Jewish German, had become too dangerous for
both men. Thus, Arnold Gregor entered the picture as a sort of false identity for Zweig. Many
scholars argued whether Friendenstag was a work between Zweig and Strauss, or Gregor and
Strauss. The conclusion was that the three men worked on this opera collectively, with Strauss
always trying to thwart Gregors part in the collaboration, and Zweig forever reminding the
stubborn old opera writer about just how powerful the Nazi party is against them. Gregor soon

9 Strauss, R., Zweig, S., Knight, M., & Lowinsky, E. E. (1977). A Confidential Matter: The Letters of Richard Strauss
and Stefan Zweig, 1931-1935 (pp. 59). Berkeley, USA: University of California Press.
340 Jin-Hwei Su

succumbed himself to the role of being a figure head like individual for Zweig, as seen in his
letter to the Jewish librettist: I will from now on only show Strauss material that I have already
talked over with you beforehand and which has your express approvalI regard myself, in this
whole matter, simply as the executor of your will.10
It had been mentioned that the main theme of peace was devised by Zweig, and in a large
sense, the entire opera was an extension of Zweigs strong sense of pacifism in the midst of war
torn Europe. The idea of the opera was presented to Strauss on August 21, 1934, soon after the
rise of Hitler to the position of chancellor of Germany earlier on August 20th, 1934. Earlier in
summer, the Nazi was already beginning to show its anti-dissenter policies with the raid left
wing Nazi members. The raid was dubbed Night of the Long Knives, referring to the execution
of multiple high ranking members of a disobeying faction within the Nazi party. Unlike Strauss,
whose motivation to produce Friedenstag was to show displeasure with the Nazis reaction to
the production of Die schweigsame Frau, Zweig held a much more personal association with the
theme of peace within the opera. The librettist wrote that Friedenstag was a proclamation of
peace as the greatest and most glorious goal realizable by mankind.11
Despite Friedenstag being, in all means, the creative work of Zweig alone, Strauss consent
and support of its final production marked the conductor as an advocator of peace. Even though
the two mens motivations were different, the end result was that an opera celebrating peace was
born amidst the sweltering atmosphere of war in Germany. Strauss support for the production of
the opera shows his resentment against the Nazi party, and extends to his disillusionment with the
Nazi party.

3. Strauss struggle with the Nazi government

During the World War II era, The Nazi Regime was known for its persecution of the Jewish
race in Europe. The debate over whether music used by the Nazi, and in turn the composer of the
music, actually is a supporter of Nazi in Germany. Composers like Strauss, has been subjected
to extreme criticism. Strauss continued to associate himself with the Jewish ethnicity as the war
continued, not only because his son married a Jewish woman, but also because Strauss worked
closely with a Jewish librettist and continued to play music that was labeled as non- Aryan. All

10 Birkin, K. (Ed.). (1991). Stefan Zweig and Joseph Gregor, Correspondence 1921-1938 (pp. 219). Dunedin: University
of Otago. Translated in Birkin, K. (1989). Friendenstag and Daphne: An Interpretive Study of the Literary and
Dramatic Sources of Two Operas by Richard Strauss (pp. 72). New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.
11 Birkin, K. (1989). Friendenstag and Daphne: An Interpretive Study of the Literary and Dramatic Sources of Two
Operas by Richard Strauss (pp. 94-95). New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.
A Study of Richard Strauss Political Life Based on His Artistic Inspirations and Inter-Relationships 341

of these contradicted with Germanys political stance at the time, and caused a commotion in the
Nazi supporting media.

3.1 Strauss fight against the Nazi government on his family issue

Along with Strauss many twisted relationships within the government, the collective
German hatred toward people of the Jewish ethnicity finally reached Strauss and his family.
Strauss daughter- in- law, Alice, was Jewish, and his two grandsons (Richard and Christian),
were half Jewish. When the media finally caught wind of Strauss half Jewish family, Strauss
inquired Goebbels (the director of all the Reich Chambers) helper, Drewes (who worked for
Goebbel in musical policy issues), to hide Alices identity as a Jewish woman from the German
public and ensure that his two grandchildren would not be segregated because of their Jewish
inheritance. In the midst of juggling this tremendous family responsibility, Strauss composed
a music piece specifically in honor of the Japanese government, expecting they would be able
to interpose in his family issues if the situation required it.12 Aside from Strauss own efforts in
keeping the Nazi government at bay, he also got help from his admirers and friends. One example
was when the district commander of Vienna and a fan of Strauss music, Baldur von Schirach
helped Strauss with his family problems.13 Another example was when Strauss son, Franz, were
arrested and put into Gestapo custody for two days along with his wife, Alice. In this instance,
Schirach used his influence in the police quarters to free the husband and wife. Strauss strong
will to protect his Jewish family further heightened the German citizens doubts about Nazi
governments persecution of people of the Jewish ethnicity.

3.2 Strauss contradiction with the German political stance and Jewish ethnicity

Strauss other conflict with the Nazi involved his co-worker: the Jewish librettist Arnold
Zweig. After the death of Hofmannsthal, Strauss first brilliant libretto writer, in 1929, Strauss
employed the writer Arnold Zweig. Zweig admired Strauss music, and the two worked closely
together until Zweigs suicide in 1942.14 During the Nazi regime, Zweig and Strauss exchanged
letters regarding the government as well as the progression of their opera. Being Jewish, Zweig
had always worried about the safety of interacting with one another. However, Strauss was
ignorant of his own position in Nazi politics, and tried to convince Zweig that he didnt care at
all for their government. The two argued about Strauss position stuck position between German

12 Kater, M. H. (2000). Composers of the Nazi Era: Eight Portraits. New York: Oxford University Press.
13 Ashley, T. (1999). Richard Strauss. London: Phaidon Press Limited.
14 Ibid..
342 Jin-Hwei Su

artistic culture and the Nazi , as seen from one of the letters Zweig wrote caringly to Strauss:

Sometimes I have the feeling that you are not fully aware and this does you honor of
the historical greatness of your position. Everything you do is destined to be of historical
significance.For this reason it seems inappropriate to me that something in your life, in
your art, should be done in secrecy. Even if I were to refrain from ever mentioning that I
am writing something for you, later it would come out that I had done so secretly. And that,
I feel, would be beneath you.15

Strauss disagreed, as shown by what he wrote back to Zweig:

I am confident this government would place no obstacles in the way of a second Zweig
opera and would not feel challenged by it if I were to talk about it with Dr Goebbels, who is
very cordial with me. But why now raise unnecessary questions that will have taken care of
themselves in two or three years?16

The manner in which Strauss disregarded the influence Nazi government can have on
German life could be seen in his words. However, after having read one of Strauss many
exchanges with Zweig that had been found by the Gastapo, Hitler immediately fired Strauss from
the presidential seat of music. Despite that, Strauss kept protecting Zweig and continued the fight
against the Nazi government.

3.3 Strauss rebellion against the Nazi government

Even when Strauss supported the Nazi government, he despised politics . The only reason
he would ever entangle himself into political mess was for the things he loved, and that was
precisely what Strauss did. He thought the contemporary compositions were crude and unrefined,
and had strong national pride.17 He wanted a stronger government, one that the Nazi party
successfully provided. However, he was neither against Jewish people nor supported the Aryan
nationalism. When the position of musical director of the Reich Chambers of Music was given to
him, Strauss saw this as a chance to empower German musical culture.
Throughout World War I, many artists were pacifists and showed timidity in the face of war
against other nations, and that caused artistic culture to become heavily downgraded. Strauss
wanted to restore his countrys artistic culture to its former glory, and saw the degradation of

15 Kennedy,M. (1999). Richard Strauss: Man, Musician, Enigma (pp. 292). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
16 Ibid.,
(pp. 293).
17 Boyden, M. (1999). Richard Strauss. England: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
A Study of Richard Strauss Political Life Based on His Artistic Inspirations and Inter-Relationships 343

European musical culture. It broke his heart, and he vowed to bring back the glory days of
musicians and artists. In order to achieve this goal, Strauss broadened the international association
for artists in all the different departments. He fought for the restoration of European culture by
creating the Society for International Co-operation Amongst Composers (SICC), becoming the
president of the Reich Chamber of Music, and presenting himself at the Salzburg Festival in 1934.
Strauss was praised by Nazi supporters as Aryan due to his pure lineage and great fame
among nations. Hence, Goebbels, minister of Reich Chamber of Propaganda and a strong
supporter of Nazi ideals, thought that having the popular composer as president would convince
people the legitimacy of the Nazi government. As being a man whose only wishes was to see the
rise of German music and artistic tradition, Strauss wasnt concerned with the publicity. However,
Nazis plans of putting Strauss in a position of power was just what Strauss wished for.
Near the end of Strauss presidency as the Reich Chamber of Music, it was apparent that the
Nazi was angry with the level of rebellion Strauss exhibited. The support he gave to Non-Aryan
subjects was a clear sign of rebellion that the Nazi itched to quell.

3.4 Strauss battle hymn against Nazi

Aside from refusing Jewish people their many civil liberties, the Nazi government also
refused to broadcast any work done by non-Aryan composers. For instance, the Nazi required
that symphonies composed by Jewish composers such as Mendelssohn, Mahler, and Debussy, to
be substituted by Aryan music. Strauss hated the restriction because many works by his favorite
composers could no longer be heard by the public. Despite his position as head of the Reich
Music Chamber, his signature was usually not on any official documents and laws regarding the
ban of certain types of music as a sign of protest against the bans.18 The Nazi was upset about
Strauss show of obstinacy, but they allowed his actions to go unpunished because they had to
depend on his popularity to win over the hearts of the German people and the world.
Strauss was one of the founders of the Salzburg Festival.19 In 1934, Austrians began to
protest against the gradual increase of Nazism in their country, and upon the rise of the unrest, the
Nazi government banned multiple German composers, Strauss included, from appearing in the
festival.20 However, Strauss was determined to appear, and went as a fellow audience member
in a performance of his opera piece, Elektra. Following the performance of this piece, Strauss

18 Ibid..
19 Salzburg Festival is one of the largest musical festivals in Europe, continuing on still today, featuring the worlds
greatest conductors and musicians. (Shemanski, 1985).
20 Meyer, M. (1993). The Politics of Music in the Third Reich. New York: Peter Lang.
344 Jin-Hwei Su

was acknowledged by the conductor on stage and was invited onstage to an enthusiastic applause
from the audience.
Besides being a founder of the Salzburg Festival, Strauss also formed the Professional
Association of German Composers.21 The association was created with no apparent political
intention, and was meant to be used as a tool to nurture musical talent in young musicians.
Strauss assumed that the Nazi cared for the regeneration of German music culture, but he soon
found that his assumption was based on erroneous naivety. In his anger, Strauss composed his
1935 piece, Die Schweigsame Frau. The opera was focused on the ability of artistic comedy to
lighten the surrounding tragedies of war.22 The theme of the opera could be described by this
one quote from the production: Mutton may not dress as lamb, nor advantage be gained without
corresponding disadvantage; prejudice, as well as pride, goeth before a fall.23 The opera showed
Strauss disillusionment with the Nazi government, and his realization of the real nature of what
his position meant to the totalitarian regime.

Conclusion
Strauss music style reflected a mixture, and sometimes conflict, of techniques from different
eras. Much like his life, his operas include both traditional and contemporary elements.
In his life, Strauss had experienced severe changes in the German government, and through
it all, he had developed the flexibility needed as a musician to survive in the turbulent era of the
early 1900s. He witnessed the ruins of European music culture as war raged on in his native
homeland, and had a strong sense of responsibility, as a famous German composer, to build up
the respects of the forgotten arts and artists.
Strauss had a patriotic heart for German culture, and he mistook the Nazi as a savior of
Germany. However, with the rise of prejudice against non-Aryans and the general war fever of
the German masses, Strauss broke from his illusions and turned against the governmental power
he deeply trusted. He saw the cruelty of the government in their oppression of his Jewish family,
friends, and the degradation of freelance musical expression. He resolutely declared that If I had
had my way. There would never have been a war.24 Strauss disobeyed Nazi rules blatantly

21 Shemanski, F. (1985). A Guide to World Fairs and Festivals. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
22 Mann, W. (1966). Richard Strauss: A Critical Study of the Operas. New York: Oxford University Press.
23 Ibid..
24 Ibid..
A Study of Richard Strauss Political Life Based on His Artistic Inspirations and Inter-Relationships 345

and fearlessly, and however selfish his reasons for the disobedience were, he was a rebel in a
personal but powerful way. Even if Strauss supported the Nazi regime at the start, he gradually
grew weary and spiteful toward the World War II rulers of Germany. Most people know him as
the controversial composer of operas such as Elektra and Salome, but few knows of his influence
and connection to the Nazi regime during the Third Reich. Strauss life is not only a story of
musical excellence and achievement, but also of perseverance and endurance in the face of
tyranny.
346 Jin-Hwei Su

References
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of Richard Strauss and Stefan Zweig, 1931-1935 (pp. 59). Berkeley, USA: University of
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Shemanski, F. (1985). A Guide to World Fairs and Festivals. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Jin-Hwei Su is an Associate professor of Department of Humanities and Social Sciences,


National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan.

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National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
2013, 9(4), 333-347

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