I have now finished reading Matthew Boydon's book on Richard Strauss.  With
regard to comparable recent English publications on the composer, I can
only compare it to "Richard Strauss and his World" (Ed.  Gilliam), "Richard
Strauss" (Master Musicians Series - Michael Kennedy) and Omnibus' "Richard
Strauss" (David Nice).

Billy Kitson wrote how Boydon had got "stuck into Strauss, the Hitler
sympathiser".  He raises questions as to inter alia how 'authoritative'
Boydon's book is.

In fairness to Boydon, there are no clear answers to such questions.  As
a start it becomes evident that Boydon has included a very great deal of
not readily accessible material on Strauss even to those like myself who
pretend (should that now read in the past tense??!) to have some interest
in the man and his music.

Before responding to Kitson, can anyone on the list supply what Boyden
seems to have left out of the quotation from Strauss' diary I include below
as quoted by him in its entirety.  (p.217)

I must confess did a double take the other night when I read it!  The entry
of May 18 1911 Boyden seems to use as reflecting Strauss' thoughts on the
passing of Gustav Mahler".  My surprise came not at any commentary vis a
vis Mahler, but Strauss' views apropos his Alpensinfonie!  The full quoted
entry by Boyden reads:-

   "The death of this aspiring, idealistic and energetic artist is a
   heavy loss.  (I) read Wagner's memoris with emotion.  (I) read German
   history of the age of Reformation, Leopold Ranke:  this confirmed
   very clearly for me that all the elements that fostered culture at
   that time has been a spent force for centuries, just as all great
   political and religious movements can only have a truly fruitful
   influence for a limited period.  The Jew Mahler could still find
   elevation in Christianity.  The hero Richard Wagner came back to it
   as an old man through the influence of Schopenhauer.  It is absolutely
   clear to me that the German nation can only attain new vigour by
   freeing itself from Christianity ....  I shall call my Alpensinfonie
   the Antichrist, since it embodies:  Moral purification through one's
   own strength, liberation through work, worship of eternal, glorious
   Nature".

In Boyden's excerpt, after the words " from Christianity" come " ...  ".

Has anything been left out by Boyden - or were the " ...  " from the diary
itself? Boyden seems to have otherwise been exact, - witness his inclusion
of the word "I" in brackets indicating they are *his* rather than from the
diary itself.

In fairness to Boyden, it would appear, given the above attention to
details, that the " ... " was Strauss' quite literally writing " ... "
after the sentence? Alas his diary is not as accessible as dear Cosima's
or Richards' are.

If anyone on the list has the German version, I would be most interested
to know what the original entry read.  I am no linguist, but am fluent in
German and dare I say, somewhat keen to read it as written by Strauss.
And what if anything has been omitted by Boyden.

I did find it somewhat surprising that a person who has obviously spent a
great deal of research in writing a readable book, has seemed quite
oblivious to qualifying by other extracts or whatever what on earth Strauss
was getting at calling his Alpensinfonie "the Antichrist"???

In Gillham, an essay by Michael Steinberg mentions how "it was clearly
the Nietzsche in Richard Strauss that led him (in turn) to Holderlin" -
presumably here with regard to Strauss' music to the three hymns, viz Hymn
to Love, Return to the Homeland and Die Liebe that Steinberg then explores
without any reference to the above diary entry.  (Three Holderlin Hymns -
Op.  74).

Finally Michael Kennedy in his excellent work seems - if the above
diary entry is a complete one - to, at least on the surface commit an
unintentional irony when he wrote how Eine Alpensinfonie has deeply
impressive passages, "not only as majestic sound, but in their Brucknerian
(!) evocation of the grandeur and remoteness of the Alps which Strauss
could see from Garmisch".  "Brucknerian"?? With such a diary entry? Hey?
Tsk Tsk.

My request for information on the complete diary entry - if that is, Boyden
has left something out in the excerpt in his book - is a serious one and I
feel may add to our knowledge of Strauss.  And any critique of the book
itself.  Either way.

Ivan Himmelhoch
Melbourne, Australia.
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