Oxalys . Sophie Karthäuser

Richard Strauss (1864-1949) completed the septet version of 'Metamorphosen' just before the version for string orchestra, in the spring of 1945. Although the work is largely steeped in the late-Romantic string idiom, the eighty-year-old Strauss managed to endow the piece with an exceptional harmonic and melodic richness. It was to be his last major work. Actually, it also returns to themes from earlier compositions, and there are even echoes of Beethoven's funeral march from the 'Eroica'. The grandeur of Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) and his importance to the music life of our century is now almost universally acknowledged. During his short life, however, opinion was much more divided. Both the man and his music had to overcome considerable resistance, especially in highly conservative circles in Vienna. Mahler himself used to swear his time would come: a prophecy that seems to have been borne out by history. Many people can identify with the quintessential romantic that Mahler undoubtedly was. His inner conflict has become the modern condition. 'The earth is beautiful, but the world is a terrible place': this insight is evident in all his works. When Erwin Stein produced a version of Mahler's Fourth Symphony for twelve musicians and a soprano in 1921, he succeeded in capturing the essence of this masterpiece. This was quite a feat, considering that he left out more than eighty per cent of Mahler's original orchestra.