Sisterly Conflict: Music and Text in Richard Strauss' Elektra (1909)

Autores/as

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/rm.v20i2.169716

Palabras clave:

Richard Strauss, Elektra, Chrysothemis, Music and Text, Perspectival leitmotif

Resumen

This paper undertakes a careful musical and lyrical analysis of Chrysothemis’ first interaction with her sister (“Elektra!/Ich kann nicht sitzen und ins Dunkel starren”) in Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s 1909 opera Elektra. The paper’s fundamental claim is that Chrysothemis is portrayed differently by Strauss and Hofmannsthal: where the text brings the sisters together by means of a cross-pollination of images that emphasizes their shared heritage as daughters of Klytämnestra, the music – through abrupt shifts in style, melodic development, and harmony – prefers to present the sisters in diametrically opposing poles with respect to the family tragedy. By way of exploring the tensions between music and text in Elektra, the paper also investigates the ontological status of Klytämnestra’s leitmotifs as they come into view and argues that proper classification of their role – as well as an understanding of leitmotivic perspectivism – is essential in diagnosing an imbalance of power between Elektra and Chrysothemis vis-à-vis the orchestra.

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Biografía del autor/a

  • David Gomiero Molina, University of Chicago

    Originally from Brazil, David G. Molina is a Joint Ph.D. candidate in the Committee on Social Thought and the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Chicago. His research is dedicated primarily to Russian and Soviet Cinema; Andrei Bely and Russian Silver Age poetry; artistic cross-pollination in Russia (literature and music, cinema and visual art); allusion and intertextuality; and the theory and practice of literary translation. Having received an M.A. in Philosophy from the University of Chicago in 2017, Molina also works on productive parallels between continental philosophy and Russian art. His dissertation engages in a Hegel-inspired reading of Kira Muratova’s oeuvre with an eye to the way in which her work sheds light on failures of intersubjective knowledge among self-conscious subjects.

Referencias

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BAYERLEIN, Sonja. Die Drei Frauengestalten in der Opera Elektra. Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 1996.

BONNELLIER, Rosaline. “Le poète et l’opéra : à propos d’Elektra, tragédie en un acte d’Hugo von Hofmannsthal, musique de Richard Strauss (1909) », L’Esprit du temps, vol 129, no. 4, 2014, p. 159-170.

CHESSICK, Richard. “On the Unique Impact of Richard Strauss’ Elektra.” American Journal of Psychotherapy, Vol. XLII, no. 4, 1988, p. 585-596.

CRAFT, Robert. Current Convictions. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977.

DAHLHAUS, Carl. Die Musik der 19. Jahrhunderts. Wiesbaden: Akademische Verllagsgesellschaft Athenaion, 1980, p. 291-293.

DEL MAR, Norman. Richard Strauss: A Critical Commentary on his Life and Works: Volume One. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1962.

KIVY, Peter. “Musical Morality.” In Antithetical Arts: On the Ancient Quarrel between Literature and Music, 215-34. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.

KRAMER, Lawrence. “Fin-de-siècle Fantasies: Elektra, Degeneration and Sexual Science.” Cambridge Opera Journal, Vol. 5, No. 2, 1993, p. 141-165.

PUFFET, Kathryn Bailey. Derrick Puffet on Music. New York: Routledge, 2001.

PUFFETT, Derrick. “The Music of Elektra: Some Preliminary Thoughts” in Richard Strauss: Elektra. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.

STRAUSS, Richard. Elektra. New York: Dover Publications, 1991, comp. 1906-8.

TARUSKIN, Richard. “The Danger of Music and the Case for Control.” In The Danger of Music and Other Anti-Utopian Essays, 168-180. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008.

WIKSHALAND, Stale. “Elektra’s Oceanic Time: Voice and Identity in Richard Strauss.” 19th-Century Music, vol. 31, no.2, 2007 p. 164-174.

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Publicado

2020-12-20

Número

Vol. 20 Núm. 2 (2020): Dossiê: Música em quarentena

Sección

Artículos

Licencia

Derechos de autor 2020 David Gomiero Molina

Creative Commons License

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Cómo citar

Sisterly Conflict: Music and Text in Richard Strauss’ Elektra (1909). (2020). Revista Música, 20(2), 99-118. https://doi.org/10.11606/rm.v20i2.169716