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Who is Till?
Composer Richard Strauss is perhaps best known for his tone poems — music that tells a story or evokes a character. Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche celebrates a legendary prankster from fourteenth century Germany. Literally translated it is "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks". In the piece we hear some of the character of Till, as well as his adventures and eventual capture.
RESOuRCES
An energetic live recording.
A great illustrated children’s book (ages 5–9) about Till.
HIGHLIGHTS
Richard Strauss composed Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks) in 1894-95 when he was just 30 years old.
Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks is a tone poem - a story told in music – for full orchestra. It tells the story of a 14th century German folk hero who got into all sorts of mischief.
This tone poem features two main themes. The first, an off kilter swaying melody with sharp punctuation at the end, is primarily heard in the French horn. The second, a cheeky short motive that falls down before bouncing up, is primarily represented in a very high pitched clarinet. Each of these themes represent characteristics of Till.
Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks lasts for about 15 minutes and is scored for a large orchestra of 3 flutes and piccolo, 3 oboes and English horn, 2 B-flat clarinets plus E-flat clarinet and bass clarinet, 3 bassoons and contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, triangle and large ratchet (my personal favorite!), plus the usual string section of violins, VIOLAS ( 😎), cellos, and basses.
Explore the music
The music starts in the strings with a soft and gentle introduction of what will become the high pitched clarinet cheeky Till theme. It’s like the beginning of a child’s fairy tale.
Shortly after this the French horn brings the first iteration of the off kilter swaying melody. Then this melody begins to be tossed around the rest of the orchestra as the story gets started.
The first time we hear the high pitched clarinet version of the cheeky Till theme it sounds a bit like mocking laughter.
Basically from here the music tells various stories of Till’s adventures on horseback, causing chaos in a marketplace, mocking clergymen (in this case a very wholesome sounding viola section), flirting with women, and making fun of scholars (played here by some furrowed brow bassoons).
This goes on for a while in a vignette style until we hear some pretty stark sounding music. Till has finally been arrested. He is brought before a judge and sentenced to death. At this point the music turns dark in the orchestra and the mocking cheeky theme in the high pitched clarinet becomes at first manic and then desperate.
After a dramatic pause the opening softer strings version of the theme returns in an unsettling memory of the child’s tale opening to close our story of Till.
Nerd assignments
What does a folk hero sound like?
This music is about a real person, Till Eulenspiegel, whose antics made him a legendary German folk hero. Some of the music is used to characterize Till, while other moments seem to represent his story. Think about musical sounds that could represent an American folk legend, such as John Henry or Molly Pitcher. What could his main theme sound like? [maybe strong and loud with lots of brass, etc.] Take a moment to write down these ideas or share some of them with a friend.
A rascal’s consequences.
Till Eulenspiegel was a prankster who got into a lot of trouble. Richard Strauss chose to characterize him with the clarinet playing music that sounds a little mocking, like laughter. Near the end of the piece Till is captured and we hear his theme three times in the midst of some very serious sounding music. There is a capture scene included in Richard Strauss's music. Each time we hear the clarinet theme it sounds a bit different – mocking, desperate, etc. In one moment it’s pretty obvious this is the capture music based on what’s happening all around the clarinet theme. How do you think that music might sound? What instruments might be used?
Create your own musical prank!
Richard Strauss's musical idea for the legendary rascal Till Eulenspiegel included lots of surprises. Till enjoyed playing tricks and Strauss wanted to communicate this through music. Think of some types of surprises. What kinds of sounds would make a convincing musical interpretation of surprise?
Any surprise or prank needs a state of normalcy to begin with. If you can, find a friend or family member or a bunch of students if you’re a teacher. First create a musical texture using voices or instruments that seems to go on undisturbed, without dramatic change. Now rehearse and perform these 30 second textures. Record these so you can listen and evaluate.
Now discuss what might disrupt or disturb the texture they created. Think of some ways to inject these sounds into the texture in ways that seem mischievous or aggressive. Practice, perform, and record the musical pranks with the texture you already created. Compare the texture recording to the texture with pranks recording. How did your ideas work? What worked best and why? What different ideas would you try?
How do you think this activity might help you listen for musical surprises in Till Eulenspiegel?
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