Program Notes
Encore –
RICHARD STRAUSS/LEOPOLD GODOWSKY
“Ständchen,” Op. 17, No. 2
This beautiful song transcription was included on the CD as an encore; the musical merits of the piece make up for the inferior recording quality. It serves as a cyclical link to the theme of the CD – a simple reiteration of the pleasures of melody and song.
A literal translation of the poem by Adolf Friedrich von Schack appears here.
Open up, open up, but softly, my child,
so that no one is woken from slumber.
The stream scarcely ripples, in the wind scarcely
a leaf quivers in the bushes and hedges.
So softly, my girl, that nothing stirs,
just put your hand softly to the latch.
With steps as light as steps of elves
as they skip over the flowers,
fly lightly out into the moonlit night
and slip towards me in the garden.
Around us the blossom slumbers by the purling stream,
giving fragrance in its sleep; only love is awake.
Sit down, there is a mysterious twilight here
beneath the lime trees,
the nightingale overhead shall
dream of our kisses
and the rose, when it wakes in the morning,
shall colour deeply at the ecstasies of the night.
Although the music follows an AAB formula, Strauss devotes over half of the music to the B section, choosing to linger over the intimate energy of the third stanza. Like Mendelssohn’s “On the Wings of Song,” Strauss set a surprisingly similar text to a magical accompaniment of florid arpeggios. Like Ravel’s “Ondine,” Strauss’s song portrays a seductive song of the night. And like Liszt’s realization of Norma, Godowsky weaves a texture more complex and virtuosic than the original. Godowsky claimed, “There are few things so flawless that they cannot be improved.” Whether or not one believes this to be true, Godowsky’s transcription of “Ständchen” is a gemstone of the piano literature.
The works on "On Wings of Song"
- Mendelssohn: "On Wings of Song"
- Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit
- Mozart: Sonata in E-flat major, K. 282
- Grieg: "Air" from Holberg Suite
- Liszt: Reminiscences of Norma
- Bach/Anderson: "Erbarme Dich" from St. Matthew Passion
- Encore - Strauss/Godowsky: "Standchen"
