Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche

Richard Strauss composed his fourth orchestral tone poem in 1895, and its full title is something of a tongue twister: Till Eulenspiegel’s merry pranks, after the old rogue’s tale, in Rondo form, for large orchestra. But even that might have been something of a leg-pull. Strauss loved to tease, and in medieval German folklore Till was a prankster—a free-spirited practical joker, never happier than when mocking pomposity in all forms. To Strauss—who once boasted that if he chose, he could depict a knife and fork in music—Till must have seemed an irresistible subject for musical storytelling, and although Till Eulenspiegel is Strauss’s shortest tone poem, it’s one of his most eventful. The story’s not hard to follow. “Once upon a time," announce the strings, gently, “there was a merry rascal called Till Eulenspiegel"—then Till springs to life in a dashing horn solo. From here on, if the music sounds jaunty or raucous, we're probably hearing Till (he likes to deliver his punchlines with a squeaky figure for clarinets) and if it's sombre or pompous, we're in the presence of his enemies (they favour bassoons and low brass). He flirts with the girls, too (solo violin). It can’t last, of course, and Till’s capture and hanging are graphically portrayed. But Strauss—like his madcap hero—has one last trick up his sleeve.