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Don Quixote, Op. 35 is a tone poem by Richard Strauss for cello, viola, and orchestra. Subtitled Phantastische Variationen über ein Thema ritterlichen Charakters (Fantastic Variations on a Theme of Knightly Character), the work is based on the novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. Strauss composed this work in Munich in 1897. The premiere took place in Cologne on 8 March 1898, with Friedrich Grützmacher as the cello soloist and Franz Wüllner as the conductor.^[1]

The score is 45 minutes long and is written in theme and variations form, with the solo cello representing Don Quixote, and the solo viola, tenor tuba, and bass clarinet depicting his squire Sancho Panza. The second variation depicts an episode where Don Quixote encounters a herd of sheep and perceives them as an approaching army. Strauss uses dissonant flutter-tonguing in the brass to emulate the bleating of the sheep, an early instance of this extended technique. Strauss later quoted this passage in his music for Le bourgeois gentilhomme, at the moment a servant announces the dish of "leg of mutton in the Italian style".^[2] Graham Phipps has examined the structure of the work in terms of Arnold Schoenberg's ideas of 'surface harmonic logic' and 'developing variation'.^[3]

Instrumentation

The work is scored for a large orchestra consisting of the following forces: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets in B♭ (2nd doubling E-flat clarinet), bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 6 horns in F, 3 trumpets in D and F, 3 trombones, tenor tuba in B♭ (often performed on euphonium), tuba, timpani, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, wind machine, and strings: harp, violins i, ii, violas (including an extensive solo viola part), violoncellos (including an extensive solo violoncello part), double basses.

Structure

Introduction: Mäßiges Zeitmaß. Thema mäßig. "Don Quichotte verliert über der Lektüre der Ritterromane seinen Verstand und beschließt, selbst fahrender Ritter zu werden" ("Don Quixote loses his sanity after reading novels about knights, and decides to become a knight-errant")
Theme: Mäßig. "Don Quichotte, der Ritter von der traurigen Gestalt" ("Don Quixote, knight of the sorrowful countenance")
Maggiore: "Sancho Panza"
Variation I: Gemächlich. "Abenteuer an den Windmühlen" ("Adventure at the Windmills")
Variation II: Kriegerisch. "Der siegreiche Kampf gegen das Heer des großen Kaisers Alifanfaron" ("The victorious struggle against the army of the great emperor Alifanfaron") [actually a flock of sheep]
Variation III: Mäßiges Zeitmaß. "Gespräch zwischen Ritter und Knappen" ("Dialogue between Knight and Squire")
Variation IV: Etwas breiter. "Unglückliches Abenteuer mit einer Prozession von Büßern" ("Unhappy adventure with a procession of pilgrims")
Variation V: Sehr langsam. "Die Waffenwache" ("The knight's vigil")
Variation VI: Schnell. "Begegnung mit Dulzinea" ("The Meeting with Dulcinea")
Variation VII: Ein wenig ruhiger als vorher. "Der Ritt durch die Luft" ("The Ride through the Air")
Variation VIII: Gemächlich. "Die unglückliche Fahrt auf dem venezianischen Nachen" ("The unhappy voyage in the enchanted boat")
Variation IX: Schnell und stürmisch. "Kampf gegen vermeintliche Zauberer" ("Battle with the magicians")
Variation X: Viel breiter. "Zweikampf mit dem Ritter vom blanken Mond" ("Duel with the knight of the bright moon")
Finale: Sehr ruhig. "Wieder zur Besinnung gekommen" ("Coming to his senses again" – Death of Don Quixote)

$\relative c { \clef bass \key d \minor \partial 2*1 \times 2/3 { r8^"Don Quixote theme" a16 a a8 } \times 2/3 { bes8 f d' } | \times 2/3 { f8 a,4~ } a4 }$

$\relative c { \clef bass \key d \minor \slashedGrace bes8( a16^"Sancho Panza theme" g a bes c8 a'16) r bes8( d,16) r c8( a'16) r }$

In film

The first and second variations are featured in the soundtrack of The Lobster, a 2015 film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.

Selected recordings

1932 – Alfred Wallenstein (cello), René Pollain (viola), Thomas Beecham (conductor), New York Philharmonic – Columbia
1933 – Enrico Mainardi (cello), Karl Reitz (viola), Richard Strauss (conductor), Staatskapelle Berlin – Decca
1938 – Emanuel Feuermann (cello), Carlton Cooley (viola), Arturo Toscanini (conductor), NBC Symphony Orchestra – MJA (Concert: October 22, 1938)
1941 – Oswald Uhl (cello), Philipp Haas (viola), Richard Strauss (conductor), Bavarian State Orchestra – Deutsche Grammophon (Strauss conducts Strauss, released in 2014)
1941 – Gregor Piatigorsky (cello), Vladimir Bakaleinikov (viola), Fritz Reiner (conductor), Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra – Columbia
1943 – Joseph Schuster (cello), William Lincer (viola), Leonard Bernstein (conductor), New York Philharmonic (CBS Radio broadcast: November 14, 1943. Released in 1983. An Historic Recording Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Bernstein's New York Philharmonic Debut)
1945 – Leonard Rose (cello), William Lincer (viola), George Szell (conductor), New York Philharmonic – Documents (Milestones of a Cello Legend: Leonard Rose, released in 2019)
1949 – Paul Tortelier (cello), Leonard Rubens (viola), Thomas Beecham (conductor), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – HMV, EMI
1953 – Frank Miller (cello), Carlton Cooley (viola), Arturo Toscanini (conductor), NBC Symphony Orchestra – RCA (NBC broadcast: November 22, 1953. Released in 1956)
1954 – Pierre Fournier (cello), Ernst Morawec (viola), Clemens Krauss (conductor), Vienna Philharmonic – Decca
1955 – Gregor Piatigorsky (cello), Joseph de Pasquale (viola), Charles Munch (conductor), Boston Symphony Orchestra – RCA
1959 – Samuel Mayes (cello), Joseph de Pasquale (viola), Pierre Monteux (conductor), Boston Symphony Orchestra – West Hill Radio Archives (Concert: January 23, 1959) Pierre Monteux with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, released in 2010
1959 – Antonio Janigro (cello), Milton Preves (viola), Fritz Reiner (conductor), Chicago Symphony Orchestra – RCA
1959 – Paul Tortelier (cello), Giusto Cappone (viola), Rudolf Kempe (conductor), Berlin Philharmonic – HMV, EMI
1961 – Pierre Fournier (cello), Abraham Skernick (viola), George Szell (conductor), Cleveland Orchestra – Epic Records
1963 – Lorne Munroe (cello), Carlton Cooley (viola), Eugene Ormandy (conductor), Philadelphia Orchestra – Columbia Masterworks
1964 – Mstislav Rostropovich (cello), Lazar Dvoskin (viola), Kirill Kondrashin (conductor), Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra – EMI
1966 – Pierre Fournier (cello), Giusto Cappone (viola), Herbert von Karajan (conductor), Berlin Philharmonic – Deutsche Grammophon
1968 – Jacqueline du Pré (cello), Herbert Downes (viola), Adrian Boult (conductor), Philharmonia Orchestra – EMI
1969 – Emanuel Brabec (cello), Josef Staar (viola), Lorin Maazel (conductor), Vienna Philharmonic – Decca
1970 – Lorne Munroe (cello), William Lincer (viola), Leonard Bernstein (conductor), New York Philharmonic – Columbia Masterworks
1973 – János Starker (cello), Richard Parnas (viola), Antal Doráti (conductor), National Symphony Orchestra Washington DC, live in New York
1974 – Kurt Reher (cello), Jan Hlinka (viola), Zubin Mehta (conductor), Los Angeles Philharmonic – Decca
1974 – Paul Tortelier (cello), Max Rostal (viola), Rudolf Kempe (conductor), Staatskapelle Dresden – EMI
1975 – Mstislav Rostropovich (cello), Ulrich Koch (viola), Herbert von Karajan (conductor), Berlin Philharmonic – EMI
1978 – Tibor de Machula (cello), Klaas Boon (viola), Bernard Haitink (conductor), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – Philips
1980 – David Geringas (cello), Erich Sichermann (viola), Klaus Tennstedt (conductor), NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra – NDR
1981 – Miklós Perényi (cello), László Bársony (viola), János Ferencsik (conductor), Hungarian National Philharmonic – Hungaroton
1985 – Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Burton Fine (viola), Seiji Ozawa (conductor), Boston Symphony Orchestra – CBS Masterworks
1986 – Lynn Harrell (cello), Robert Vernon (viola), Vladimir Ashkenazy (conductor), Cleveland Orchestra – Decca
1987 – Antônio Meneses (cello), Wolfram Christ (viola), Herbert von Karajan (conductor), Berlin Philharmonic – Deutsche Grammophon
1991 – Heinrich Schiff (cello), Dietmar Hallman (viola), Kurt Masur (conductor), Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra – Philips
1991 – János Starker (cello), Oscar Lysy (viola), Leonard Slatkin (conductor), Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra – RCA
1991 – Franz Bartolomey (cello), Heinrich Koll (viola), André Previn (conductor), Vienna Philharmonic – Telarc
1991 – John Sharp (cello), Charles Pikler (viola), Daniel Barenboim (conductor), Chicago Symphony Orchestra – Erato
1992 – Steven Isserlis (cello), Cynthia Phelps (viola), Edo de Waart (conductor), Minnesota Orchestra – Virgin Classics
2001 – Steven Isserlis (cello), Hermann Menninghaus (viola), Lorin Maazel (conductor), Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra – RCA
2003 – Thomas Grossenbacher (cello), Michel Rouilly (viola), David Zinman (conductor), Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich – Arte Nova
2003 – Mischa Maisky (cello), Tabea Zimmermann (viola), Zubin Mehta (conductor), Berlin Philharmonic – Deutsche Grammophon
2004 – Jan Vogler (cello), Sebastian Herberg (viola), Fabio Luisi (conductor), Staatskapelle Dresden – Sony
2013 – Alban Gerhardt (cello), Lawrence Power (viola), Markus Stenz (conductor), Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne – Hyperion
2019 – Daniel Müller-Schott (cello), Christopher Moore (viola), Andrew Davis (conductor), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra – ABC Classics
2019 – Kian Soltani (cello), Miriam Manasherov (viola), Daniel Barenboim (conductor), West–Eastern Divan Orchestra – Peral Music
2019 – Louisa Tuck (cello), Catherine Bullock (viola), Vasily Petrenko (conductor), Oslo Philharmonic – LAWO
2021 – Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello), Tabea Zimmermann (viola), François-Xavier Roth (conductor), Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne – Harmonia Mundi

References

^ Mark-Daniel Schmid, The Richard Strauss Companion. Praeger (Westport, Connecticut, USA; 2003), p. 111 (ISBN 0-313-27901-2).
^ Keppler, Philip Jr. (1956). "Some Comments on Musical Quotation". The Musical Quarterly. XLII (4): 473–485. doi:10.1093/mq/XLII.4.473.
^ Phipps, Graham (Spring 1986). "The Logic of Tonality in Strauss's Don Quixote: A Schoenbergian Evaluation". 19th-Century Music. 9 (3): 189–205. doi:10.2307/746526. JSTOR 746526.