Richard Strauss - Deutsche Motette, Op. 62

Composed in 1913, for four solo voices and 16-voice chorus a cappella.

Text by Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866) :

Die Schöpfung ist zur Ruh' gegangen, o wach in mir!
Es will der Schlaf auch mich befangen, o wach in mir!
Du Auge, das am Himmel wachet mit Sternenblick,
Wenn mir die Augen zugegangen, o wach in mir!
Du Licht, im Äther höher strahlend als Sonn' und Mond;
Wenn Sonn' und Mond ist ausgegangen, o wach in mir!
Wenn sich der Sinne Thor geschlossen der Außenwelt,
So laß die Seel' in sich nicht bangen, o wach in mir!
Laß nicht die Macht der Finsternisse, das Grau'n der Nacht
Sieg übers innre Licht erlangen, o wach in mir!
O laß im feuchten Hauch der Nächte, im Schattenduft
Nicht sprossen sündiges Verlangen, o wach in mir!
Laß aus dem Duft von Edens Zweigen in meinem Traum
Die Frucht des Lebens niederhangen o wach in mir!
O zeige mir, mich zu erquicken, im Traum das Werk
Geendet, das ich angefangen, o wach in mir!
In deinem Schoße will ich schlummern, bis neu mich weckt
Die Morgenröte deiner Wangen; o wach in mir!

-

In slumber all the world reposeth, wake Thou in me!
Night's prison house round me closeth, wake Thou in me!
Thou starry eye, in heaven that keepest watch and ward,
When death mine eye for ever closeth, wake Thou in me!
Thou light on high, whose radience far outshineth sun and moon
When sun and moon in gloom are shrouded, wake Thou in me!
When sleep has closed to all the world the gates of sense,
Let not my soul with fear be clouded, wake Thou in me!
Let not the powers of darkness rule, let not the dreadful night,
Be o'er the light within victorious, wake Thou in me!
Let not in noisome breeze of twilight, in mists of night
Desire of sin be born vainglorious, wake Thou in me!
The fruit of life that once to beauty in Eden grew
Let me behold, my dreams adorning, wake Thou in me!
Show to my dreams my task fulfilled - for Thee I wrought it.
Grant me but this, my prayer not scorning, wake Thou in me!
Fain in Thy bosom would I slumber, till I shall wake,
In roseate splendours of Thy morning - wake Thou in me!

Strauss was working on his Alpine Symphony when he completed the Op. 62. Both pieces use highly chromatic tonality in a way that suggests the great, mountainous landscape found in Germany and Austria. The Deutsche Motette has especially wide chords, rich in nuance, and demonstrating the composer's astonishing harmonic control. This score was written for 16 voices and solo quartet. The text is by Rückert, entitled "Die Schöpfung ist zur Ruh gegangen" (All creation is at rest). The general feeling of the piece is one that is both reeling from spectacle and restful. Strauss' 1913 score has an innate love of the land to it, firing the imagination with sounds like wind, angular melodies like mountaintops, and dense middle voices that enrich the impression of terrain. It is not, by many credible definitions, a tone poem because it does not musically play out a narrative. But it does make for an ideal depiction of the mountainous countryside that many Germanic artists felt a mystical connection with throughout the nineteenth century. The piece begins quietly, dreamily, until "Lass nicht die Macht der Finsternis" (Allow not the powers of darkness) cues the livelier triplet rhythms. Toward the conclusion, "O zeig mir" (Show me) begins an astonishing display of fugal writing for voice. The work concludes as a lullaby, and the brilliance of the composer's often-sly modern allusions is evident; the implied, audible depiction of the countryside is to be admired in the same manner as one admires the music. The evocative impressions the composer creates compel audiences to moon over the visuals that are implied, but the writing of the music is so lush, so immaculately thought out, that the marveling is redirected towards the music itself. It is a sort of playful conceit, one that successfully conveys Strauss' oddly furtive, urbane brilliance. (AllMusic)

Performers : Rundfunkchor Berlin, Michael Gläser, Nicolas Fink, Iwona Sobotka, Christa Mayer, Dominik Wortig, Konrad Jarnot.

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