RICHARD STRAUSS            1864 - 1949

Sextet from 'Capriccio'

Capriccio was Strauss's thirteenth and last opera.

Although the whole work was not finished until February 1941, the introductory sextet was completed in July of the previous year, and given its first performance by members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the house of Baldur von Schirach, the Nazi controller of Vienna at the time, who was known to be sympathetic towards Strauss as well as being very musical.

The opera itself may be described as a 'Comedy of Manners' but there is little to suggest this in the sextet, with its economy of scoring and gravity of feeling.

The opening sequence, which moves to the dominant key as early as the second bar, contains all the basic material in a group of phrases which are so homogeneous in character that they flow in and out of each other with the utmost ease. From this is built a miniature sonatina, whose development section includes dramatic tremolo effects and rushing passages for the first violin and first viola.

The recapitulation remains in the home key, and in the opera leads to the curtain rising and a sextet playing on stage.