Richard Strauss’ Suite in B-flat Major for winds, a work that was a major contributor to the growth of the young composer’s career, premiered in Munich on November 18, 1884, in the year it was written, with the composer conducting the Meiningen Orchestra. The commission came about after Hans von Bülow, a renowned German conductor, pianist, and composer of the Romantic era, met and conducted the young Strauss' Serenade in E-flat for 13 Instruments, Op. 7. He liked the work so much that, in the winter of 1883-1884, he requested another piece with the same instrumentation. Von Bülow wrote Strauss, giving him a detailed plan for what he hoped would be another multi-movement work for an ensemble consisting of 13 instruments. The letter arrived too late for Strauss to follow all his suggestions completely, but he did incorporate some of the eminent conductor’s ideas in his four-movement Suite, Op. 4, written for the same 13 instruments as the Serenade. For the premiere of the Suite, Strauss conducted his new work without having had a rehearsal with the orchestra. It was actually the first major performance that Strauss ever conducted; it effectively gave a boost to his musical career. Six months later, von Bülow offered young Strauss the post of assistant conductor at Meiningen.
The Suite looks forward to Strauss’ symphonic works, which he began to compose immediately after completing this work. In fact, Strauss’ handling of the instruments in the Suite could be said to be nearly symphonic at times; nevertheless, the Suite has been somewhat less successful with listeners than his Serenade, perhaps because it is not as melodic. The Suite’s four movements open with a Praeludium, marked Allegretto, which begins with a short motive that dominates this straightforward sonata-allegro movement. Although there is a contrasting second theme, there is very little development; nevertheless, Strauss includes rhythms and fragments of the two themes throughout the movement. He uses a similar design in form and style as he had in the earlier Serenade, maybe because this choice may have been a way for him to confirm his handling of ensemble writing before he composed the more varied music of the other movements. Here, his technique is very secure, and he is able to demonstrate his increasing maturity in idiomatic writing for individual instruments as well as his awareness of texture.
The gentle, second-movement Romance, marked Andante, is the most concertante of the movements. (Concertante means music containing one or more solo parts, typically less prominently than in a concerto). Here, Strauss gives the clarinet a prominent role, beginning early with a cadenza-like passage followed by a plaintive melody. He also gives lyrical solos to other instruments to reinforce the contrast with the clarinet’s role.
The first two movements look somewhat backward to the Serenade, but the final two move in the direction of Strauss’ mature symphonic style. The third-movement Gavotte, marked Allegro, is playful, spirited, and winning, and it does not have much resemblance to the 18th-century French court dance of the same name that originated in Bretagne. Rather, this movement has the feeling of a scherzo, even though Strauss composed it in duple meter.
The finale, Introduction and Fugue, is an impressive compositional and instrumental tour-de-force. The Introduction begins andante cantabile, with the plaintive melody from the Romance second movement. The Fugue, marked Allegro con brio, written in ternary (ABA form), begins with the main theme in the first horn.
The Suite for Winds is scored for 13 wind players: two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, and four horns.
Program notes by © Susan Halpern 2025