At the first special concert to mark its 500th anniversary, the Bavarian State Orchestra offered not only Richard Strauss’ “Metamorphoses for 23 Solo Strings” but also lesser-known works by the composer.
The “Metamorphoses for 23 Solo Strings”, Richard Strauss’ harrowing late masterpiece, composed in view of his war-ravaged hometown of Munich, is often performed. They therefore also decided the first anniversary concert of the State Orchestra in the National Theater, which this year can look back on 500 years of history, about which a opulent book has been published. The two sonatinas for 16 wind instruments (flutes, clarinets, horns and bassoons), which were written immediately before, are rarely found on concert programmes. The second piece in E flat major is called “Froehliche Werkstatt” (Froehliche Werkstatt), while the first piece in F major, now played as a counterpart to the “Metamorphosen”, is ironically called “From the workshop of an invalid”.