Hyperion's generally strong complete cycle of the songs of Richard Strauss has been rather oddly organized: most of the individual releases have been devoted to a specific period or theme, but the program is rounded out with basically unrelated songs. So it is here. Most of the album features songs by the youthful Strauss, in fact the very youthful Strauss in tracks 2-6, composed when Strauss was between six and nine years old. For the 1870 Weihnachtslied (Christmas Song, track 2), Strauss' mother had to write the words ...
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Hyperion's generally strong complete cycle of the songs of Richard Strauss has been rather oddly organized: most of the individual releases have been devoted to a specific period or theme, but the program is rounded out with basically unrelated songs. So it is here. Most of the album features songs by the youthful Strauss, in fact the very youthful Strauss in tracks 2-6, composed when Strauss was between six and nine years old. For the 1870 Weihnachtslied (Christmas Song, track 2), Strauss' mother had to write the words under his notated musical lines. These pieces nevertheless faithfully reflect the music Strauss was being taken to hear in recital halls and opera houses, and they will be worth the price of admission for Strauss lovers. Much of the music dates from Strauss' teenage years, and often it has an attractive fearless quality: sample Die Drossel (track 8), which opens with a unique wandering piano line representing the song of the titular thrush. Other songs show Strauss absorbing the legacy...
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