Which of the Strauss tone poems (Salome, Elektra and Aus Italien don't
count) is the worst? Don Quixote, Don Juan, and Till Eulenspiegel are most
often considered the best; here are some nominees for the other side of the
Strauss coin:

The Alpine symphony has received critical pitons for many years.  For one
thing, it first began to be heard when Strauss was already being considered
passe, i.e., not Modernist enough.  For another, its title "symphony"
implies a more cohesive structure than the highly incidental program music
allows.  Those who impute greatness only to "absolute" music have the most
to criticize here, since it about the time of the Alpine symphony that
Strauss boasted he could easily describe even a knife and fork in music.

The Domestic symphony is in the same non-absolutist boat, thanks to its
detailed program.  Worse, however, is the fact the program isn't less
innocuous than a hike.  Strauss' very mastery of description shoots him
in the foot with the literal climax to the work which earlier commentators
were too shamed or offended to call "orgasmic." Norman Del Mar can go no
farther than referring to it as "disagreeable" while he quotes Romain
Rolland as calling it "something unexpected and moving--all in extremely
bad taste." This sensationalism, which didn't hurt the success of Salome,
just didn't belong in the concert hall for some.  Compounding the problem
is the irony of the grandiose orchestral scale used on an utterly homely
subject, something easily translated into Strauss hubris by detractors.

"Also Sprach Zarathustra" wasn't very popular either until a fake ape threw
a bone in the air.  It suffers, along with the famous piano concerto of
Tchaikovsky, by blowing its wad right up front with the "Sunrise" crescendo
inspired by the opening to Wagner's Ring.  There is really nowhere to go
after this but start over after an awkward break - and this happens a second
time half way through when a fortissimo reprise of the "Sunrise"
conveniently shuts up the discussion.  Then, there are the philosophical
details that sound like claptrap compared to the beauty of the music.  As
aptly posited by Michael Steinberg, "Nietzsche's theme is a kind of rivalry
of life and wisdom, represented as jealous women.  Strauss =85 was probably
thinking of the pretty feet and ankles Nietzsche describes."  A musical
head much farther from the clouds than in the Alpine symphony!

Then there's "Macbeth," the first of the line but rarely heard.  Perhaps
its problem is the orchestration, while excellent, shows none of the
innovations Strauss was to introduce in every subsequent score.  The sound
just isn't Straussian enough.

How to decide? Well, for me, first and foremost, must be the quality of
the melody and development.  Melodies must be attractive and bear singing
to oneself for years and years after initial acquaintance; development
must bring on new insights upon every pleasurable rehearing.

Using these admittedly subjective criteria, I'd say the third worst is
"Macbeth." There's an arresting Kingship theme, but the rest are no more
worth singing than the "disgust" motiv from "Zarathustra."

Second worst, for all its brilliant orchestration, has got to be the
Alpine symphony.  I'm a mountaineer myself, and the piece perfectly
describes many experiences I've had, but only the "mountain" theme itself
lingers in the mind, not much better than the Kingship theme.  There is
plenty of development in the work, but there's not the inevitability of
it that graces the middle orchestral interlude in Salome.

And worst of all? Not the Domestic symphony!  It's the one I listen to the
most.  Not for its sex scene, but for the halarious "epilog," a movement
which has never been given its due because hardly anyone, it seems, hears
its massive tongue in cheek.  It's so preposterously inflated, with seven
or eight endings, that I still can't stop giggling after all these years.
When the final F major chord strikes (best in the Jarvi version), I still
cheer to the skies.

Not Zarathustra, because for all its failings--and its seriousness is one
of them--it still has a few good tunes, marvelously developed.

No, for me the worst is ...  "Ein Heldenleben," rated near or at the top
by many.  For me, all it has going for it is the sarcastic music depicting
the Hero's enemies, the same sort of stuff in the Salome Jewish arguments.
All of the tunes fall flat for me.  Without the humor--heavy handed though
it be in other Strauss works--all that shines through is the same hubris
that others decry the Domestic symphony for.

Who out there sings "Ein Heldenleben" tunes more often than those found in
other Strauss tone poems?

Jeff Dunn
Alameda, CA
[log in to unmask]