Don Quixote, Op. 35 is a tone poem by Richard Strauss for cello, viola, and orchestra. Subtitled Phantastische Variationen über ein Thema ritterlichen Charakters, the work is based on the novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. Strauss composed this work in Munich in 1897. The premiere took place in Cologne on 8 March 1898, with Friedrich Grützmacher as the cello soloist and Franz Wüllner as the conductor.
Notable quotes
“Acontece tener un padre un hijo feo y sin gracia alguna, y el amor que le tiene le pone una venda en los ojos para que no vea sus faltas, antes las juzga por discreciones y lindezas y las cuenta a sus amigos por agudezas y donaires.”
— A father may have a child who is ugly and lacking in all the graces, and the love he feels for him puts a blindfold over his eyes so that he does not see his defects but considers them signs of charm and intelligence and recounts them to his friends as if they were clever and witty.
“Of good natural parts and of a liberal education.”
— Ch. 8.
“It is past all controversy that what costs dearest is, and ought to be, most valued.”
— Ch. 11.
“You can see farther into a millstone than he.”
— Ch. 28.
“Many count their chickens before they are hatched; and where they expect bacon, meet with broken bones.”
— Ch. 55.
“Puede haber amor sin celos, pero no sin temores.”
— There can be love without jealousy, but not without fear.
Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.
Article
Don Quixote, Op. 35 is a tone poem by Richard Strauss for cello, viola, and orchestra. Subtitled Phantastische Variationen über ein Thema ritterlichen Charakters (Fantastic Variations on a Theme of Knightly Character), the work is based on the novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. Strauss composed this work in Munich in 1897. The premiere took place in Cologne on 8 March 1898, with Friedrich Grützmacher as the cello soloist and Franz Wüllner as the conductor.
The score is 45 minutes long and is written in theme and variations form, with the solo cello representing Don Quixote, and the solo viola, tenor tuba, and bass clarinet depicting his squire Sancho Panza. The second variation depicts an episode where Don Quixote encounters a herd of sheep and perceives them as an approaching army. Strauss uses dissonant flutter-tonguing in the brass to emulate the bleating of the sheep, an early instance of this extended technique. Strauss later quoted this passage in his music for Le bourgeois gentilhomme, at the moment a servant announces the dish of "leg of mutton in the Italian style". Graham Phipps has examined the structure of the work in terms of Arnold Schoenberg's ideas of 'surface harmonic logic' and 'developing variation'.
Contents
Instrumentation
The work is scored for a large orchestra consisting of the following forces: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets in B♭ (2nd doubling E-flat clarinet), bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 6 horns in F, 3 trumpets in D and F, 3 trombones, tenor tuba in B♭ (often performed on euphonium), tuba, timpani, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, wind machine, and strings: harp, violins i, ii, violas (including an extensive solo viola part), violoncellos (including an extensive solo violoncello part), double basses.
Structure
Introduction: Mäßiges Zeitmaß. Thema mäßig. "Don Quichotte verliert über der Lektüre der Ritterromane seinen Verstand und beschließt, selbst fahrender Ritter zu werden" ("Don Quixote loses his sanity after reading novels about knights, and decides to become a knight-errant")
Theme: Mäßig. "Don Quichotte, der Ritter von der traurigen Gestalt" ("Don Quixote, knight of the sorrowful countenance")
Maggiore: "Sancho Panza"
Variation I: Gemächlich. "Abenteuer an den Windmühlen" ("Adventure at the Windmills")
Variation II: Kriegerisch. "Der siegreiche Kampf gegen das Heer des großen Kaisers Alifanfaron" ("The victorious struggle against the army of the great emperor Alifanfaron") [actually a flock of sheep]
Variation III: Mäßiges Zeitmaß. "Gespräch zwischen Ritter und Knappen" ("Dialogue between Knight and Squire")
Variation IV: Etwas breiter. "Unglückliches Abenteuer mit einer Prozession von Büßern" ("Unhappy adventure with a procession of pilgrims")
Variation V: Sehr langsam. "Die Waffenwache" ("The knight's vigil")
Variation VI: Schnell. "Begegnung mit Dulzinea" ("The Meeting with Dulcinea")
Variation VII: Ein wenig ruhiger als vorher. "Der Ritt durch die Luft" ("The Ride through the Air")
Variation VIII: Gemächlich. "Die unglückliche Fahrt auf dem venezianischen Nachen" ("The unhappy voyage in the enchanted boat")
Variation IX: Schnell und stürmisch. "Kampf gegen vermeintliche Zauberer" ("Battle with the magicians")
In film
The first and second variations are featured in the soundtrack of The Lobster, a 2015 film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.
Selected recordings
1932 – Alfred Wallenstein (cello), René Pollain (viola), Thomas Beecham (conductor), New York Philharmonic – Columbia
1933 – Enrico Mainardi (cello), Karl Reitz (viola), Richard Strauss (conductor), Staatskapelle Berlin – Decca
1941 – Oswald Uhl (cello), Philipp Haas (viola), Richard Strauss (conductor), Bavarian State Orchestra – Deutsche Grammophon (Strauss conducts Strauss, released in 2014)
1941 – Gregor Piatigorsky (cello), Vladimir Bakaleinikov (viola), Fritz Reiner (conductor), Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra – Columbia
1943 – Joseph Schuster (cello), William Lincer (viola), Leonard Bernstein (conductor), New York Philharmonic (CBS Radio broadcast: November 14, 1943. Released in 1983. An Historic Recording Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Bernstein's New York Philharmonic Debut)
1945 – Leonard Rose (cello), William Lincer (viola), George Szell (conductor), New York Philharmonic – Documents (Milestones of a Cello Legend: Leonard Rose, released in 2019)
1949 – Paul Tortelier (cello), Leonard Rubens (viola), Thomas Beecham (conductor), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – His Master's Voice
1953 – Frank Miller (cello), Carlton Cooley (viola), Arturo Toscanini (conductor), NBC Symphony Orchestra – RCA (NBC broadcast: November 22, 1953. Released in 1956)
1954 – Pierre Fournier (cello), Ernst Morawec (viola), Clemens Krauss (conductor), Vienna Philharmonic – Decca
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Variation X: Viel breiter. "Zweikampf mit dem Ritter vom blanken Mond" ("Duel with the knight of the bright moon")
Finale: Sehr ruhig. "Wieder zur Besinnung gekommen" ("Coming to his senses again" – Death of Don Quixote)
1955 – Gregor Piatigorsky (cello), Joseph de Pasquale (viola), Charles Munch (conductor), Boston Symphony Orchestra – RCA
1959 – Samuel Mayes (cello), Joseph de Pasquale (viola), Pierre Monteux (conductor), Boston Symphony Orchestra – West Hill Radio Archives (Concert: January 23, 1959) Pierre Monteux with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, released in 2010
1959 – Antonio Janigro (cello), Milton Preves (viola), Fritz Reiner (conductor), Chicago Symphony Orchestra – RCA
1959 – Paul Tortelier (cello), Giusto Cappone (viola), Rudolf Kempe (conductor), Berlin Philharmonic – His Master's Voice
1961 – Pierre Fournier (cello), Abraham Skernick (viola), George Szell (conductor), Cleveland Orchestra – Epic Records
1963 – Lorne Munroe (cello), Carlton Cooley (viola), Eugene Ormandy (conductor), Philadelphia Orchestra – Columbia Masterworks