RICHARD STRAUSS Till Eulenspiegel, Einmal Anders! arr. Franz Hasenöhrl
Tania Villasuso, clarinet
Maggie O'Leary, bassoon
Jonathan McCammon, horn
Ade Williams, violin
William Langlie-Miletich, double bass

Performed on Friday, February 15, 2019
Field Concert Hall, Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia

Till Eulenspiegel is a fanciful European folklore character, who is rumored to have lived a life of pranks and merriment in the 1300s. Richard Strauss brings Till and his escapades to life as Till rides around town, stirring up mischief. We hear him laughing at the prim and proper townspeople, who are represented by musical clichés. All seems merry and comical until the people decide Till must pay for his mockery of them and behead him. However, Till rises again in the coda, ensuring that the pranks will live on! When asked about the piece, Strauss commented that he “just wanted to give the people in the concert hall a good laugh for once.”

Richard Strauss originally wrote Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks) as a tone poem for orchestra, and it has since been adapted for quintet by Franz Hasenöhrl as Till Eulenspiegel, einmal anders! (Till Eulenspiegel, Another Way!). With these five instruments, Hasenöhrl preserves the magical core of Strauss’s larger piece. We hear the two main themes immediately at the beginning as the violin sings out the “once upon a time” theme and the horn enters with the lilting theme of Till’s character. These themes are developed and woven together throughout the piece, telling the comedic tale of Till’s escapades, demise, and surprising end.
—Hannah Horine

Learn more about this work:    • Graduation Recital, Langlie-Miletich,...  

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