Symphonic poems brought great success to Richard Strauss, but in the 20th century, he rarely turned to instrumental genres – the composer’s main area of interest was opera. One of the most popular writers at that time was Oscar Wilde. Therefore, it does not seem surprising that Strauss turned to his work. The idea was suggested by the Austrian poet Anton Lindner, who showed the composer Wilde’s play, Salome. Strauss himself revised Wilde’s play into a libretto, using a German translation by Hedwig Lachmann (Kramer, 1990). He sought the maximum concentration of action, excluding everything that seemed insignificant to him. The composer did not doubt that this piece was born for music. The below discussion will show the peculiarities of the mentioned opera from the perspective of its characters, meanings, and musical essence.
For Wilde – and after him for Strauss – this plot becomes an occasion to look into the dark depths of the human soul, to subject depravity to artistic “research”. Unlike the Gospel, in the play and opera, Salome is not the instrument of a mother who wants to take revenge on Jokanaan (John the Baptist). The courage and determination of this man kindle passion in the heart of Salome – but it is passion, not love. Strauss presented her as a true daughter of debauchery – she has an irresistible desire to kiss Jokanaan on the lips – and satisfies it when she is served the severed head of the prophet on a platter. Such a dark passion horrifies even Herod Antipas – and he orders the soldiers to kill his stepdaughter; the heroine dies, crushed by shields.
The one-act opera with a thorough development reminds one of those symphonic poems, the creation of which glorified Strauss. Some features make Salome related to Wagner’s operas – the system of leitmotifs and the continuous development of themes (Kramer, 1990). However, from the point of view of Strauss himself, this was a step forward compared to Wagner. The role of the orchestra is quite large, and yet the leading role belongs to the vocal parts, in which the whole variety of speech intonations is expressed (Hulscher, 1997). From my perspective, indeed, the scope is impressive – from a passionate whisper to a scream, melancholic romance intonations at the beginning of the opera to the utmost ecstasy in the last aria of Salome. Giving the leading role to singing, the composer even refuses the orchestral introduction. Still, there is a detailed orchestral episode in the score – the Dance of the seven veils, with the help of which Salome subdues Herod (Kramer, 1990). The ballet performance as the culmination of the opera was a truly innovative solution.
I noticed that Salome’s role seems to be defined by three conditions; the first criteria is a dramatic soprano voice, which is normally associated with older voices. This contradicts the second criteria, a 16-year-old’s sex appeal. Third, there is a necessity to perform a sexy woman’s dance abilities. It goes without saying that the ideal mix is quite rare. Catherine Malfitano, who played Salome in the movie of 1997, dedicated much effort to meeting such harsh requirements (Hulscher, 1997). Then, to embody the dark passions that dominate the characters (primarily Salome), the composer uses many dissonant harmonies, extremely chromatic harmony, and bitonic complexes. These dissonances and “inflated” intonations characterize the world of Herod afflicted with vice, which is opposed by the image of the emerging Christian faith, personified by Jokanaan (Hulscher, 1997). This hero is characterized by choral harmonies and decisive intonations based on quarter moves. It should also be noted that Strauss was a talented harmonist. In Salome, he pushed the discourse of keys to its limits. The harmonic structure of the opera is extremely complicated, almost to the point of polytonality, in which actors sing in various keys at different moments.
References
Hulscher, H. (1997). Salome [Film]. BBC.
Kramer, L. (1990). Culture and musical hermeneutics: The Salome complex. Cambridge Opera Journal, 2(3), 269–294.