Of Till Eulenspiegel's 'Merry Pranks' By Richard Strauss

Introduction:

Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, After the Old Rogue’s Tale, Set for Large Orchestra in Rondo Form is a tone poem written by Richard Strauss. A tone poem is a "one-movement orchestral genre that develops a poetic idea, suggests a scene, or creates a mood" (Cole). Therefore, by definition, Till is a piece that tells a story. To what extent does Richard Strauss effectively use music to narrate the stories of Till Eulenspiegel? Strauss uses multiple aspects of music to convey not only various stories of Till, but also to convey the character of Till himself.

My band program performed this piece during my sophomore year of high school, and I played fourth horn. In order for our ensemble to understand the message we were supposed

6, mezzo forte (mf) in m. 14, and so on) and the “Till” motif being passed through the orchestra “(…from the oboes, mm. 21-25, to the clarinets, mm. 26-30, to the bassoons and lower strings, mm. 31ff., and so on)” builds anticipation for a perfect authentic cadence. Strauss reaches the dominant chord in m. 29, which is “prolonged in a cumulative crescendo” (Hepokoski 21). The “forte (f) and fortissimo (ff) interruptions and restarts of the V7 in mm. 39-45, ending with a fermata-paused dominant-pitch in octaves…only heighten the expectation for a promised cadential conclusion” (Hepokoski 22). However, instead of arriving at the cadence, Strauss introduces the second motif (Excerpt 1.3), “Das war ein arger ‘Kobold,’” in m. 46 (Hepokoski 19). “The impact of mm. 46-49 lies in the sudden shift of timbre, the unexpected isolation of a single, squeaky voice, mf, and the chuckling, lustig impudence of the motive itself” (Hepokoski 22). In having Till play a trick on the audience by denying them the cadence they were expecting, Strauss not only provides another example of Till’s failure to conform to society’s expectations, but he also shows Till’s prankster nature for the first time. This motif is often repeated to signal Till pulling a

Not only does he use the literal tones being played, but he also uses the style, the rhythm, and the volume of these tones. He weaves themes throughout, incorporates different styles of music, and manipulates the form of the piece. In short, Strauss effectively accomplishes the purpose of a tone poem by telling the story of Till Eulenspiegel. By doing so he is able to communicate a story, a part of German culture, to people all across the world. Telling a story via music makes it universal, able to cross cultural boundaries and spread cultures throughout the world. Thus people can better understand those of different societies, tying people around the world closer