Josephs Legende

File:Leonide Massine as Joseph in the "Legend of Joseph" (1914). Cover Photo of the Journal "Comoedia Illustre.".jpg as Joseph in La Légende de Joseph (1914)]]

Josephs Legende (The Legend of Joseph), Op. 63, is a ballet in one act for the Ballets Russes based on the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife, with a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Harry von Kessler and music by Richard Strauss. Composed from 1912 to 1914, it premiered at the Paris Opera on 14 May 1914.{{cite Grove|last1=Gilliam|first1=Bryan|last2=Youmans|first2=Charles|title=Strauss, Richard (Georg)|year=2001|id=40117}} {{subscription}}.

Composition

Hugo von Hofmannsthal first proposed Josephs Legende to Strauss as a {{lang|de|Zwischenarbeit}} (interim work) between Ariadne auf Naxos and Die Frau ohne Schatten. Composition began in June 1912, but in a letter of 11 September Strauss confided that the work was not progressing as quickly as he expected: "The chaste Joseph himself isn't at all up my street, and if a thing bores me I find it difficult to set it to music. This God-seeker Joseph – he's going to be a hell of an effort!"{{cite book |title=A Working Friendship: The Correspondence between Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal|translator1=Hanns Hammelmann|translator2=Ewald Osers|publisher=Random House |year= 1961 |page=142}}{{cite book |title=The Ballet Collaborations of Richard Strauss |last=Heisler|first=Wayne|publisher=University of Rochester Press|year=2009 |pages=46, 63f}}

Strauss drew on earlier sketches for his abandoned ballet Die Insel Kythere and wrote for an outsized orchestra with exotic instrumental colouring including four harps, large and small cymbals, four pairs of castanets, heckelphone, and a contrabass clarinet.{{cite book |title=Richard Strauss: A Critical Commentary on His Life and Works II|last=Del Mar|first=Norman|author-link=Norman Del Mar |publisher=Faber & Faber |year=2009 |orig-year=1969 |pages=133, 144–145}}

Instrumentation

Josephs Legende is scored for the following instruments:

;Woodwinds:

:1 Piccolo

:4 Flutes (3rd doubling 2nd piccolo)

:2 Oboes

:1 Cor anglais (doubling 3rd oboe)

:1 Heckelphone

:1 Clarinet in D

:2 Clarinets in A

:1 Bass clarinet in A

:1 Contrabass clarinet (doubled by either 2nd clarinet or clarinet in D)

:3 Bassoons

:1 Contrabassoon

;Brass:

:6 Horns

:4 Trumpets

:4 Trombones

:1 Tenor tuba

:1 Bass tuba

;Percussion:

:Timpani (2 players)

:Glockenspiel

:Xylophone

:Large and small cymbals

:4 Castanets

:4 Harps

;Strings:

:1st, 2nd, and 3rd violins (10 players each)

:1st and 2nd violas (8 players each)

:1st and 2nd cellos (6 players each)

:Double basses

Performance history

File:Strauss1914London.jpg

With Diaghilev as impresario, Nijinsky as choreographer and creator of the title role – replaced after his marriage and fall from grace by Fokine and Massine – costumes by Léon Bakst and Alexandre Benois, scenic design after Veronese by Josep Maria Sert, and Strauss conducting the premiere, the initial run lasted seven performances.

This was shortly followed by a further seven in London in June conducted by Richard Strauss (UK premiere 23 June) and Sir Thomas Beecham, who had loaned the money for the commission to Diaghilev.{{sfn|Heisler|2009|page=240}}{{cite journal|title=75 Jahre seit der 'Deutschen Uraufführung' von Josephs Legende|language=de|last=Lesnig|first=Günther|journal=Richard Strauss-Blätter|year=1996|volume=36|pages=3–51|publisher=Hollitzer Verlag |doi=10.2307/j.ctvg8p316.3|jstor=j.ctvg8p316.3}}{{Page range too broad|date=December 2024}} With the looming war, Strauss never received his fee of 6,000 francs.{{cite book |title=Richard Strauss: Man, Musician, Enigma|last=Kennedy|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Kennedy (music critic) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |page=208}}

Later choreographers included George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, and John Neumeier, but none of their versions was considered more successful.Michael Oliver, [https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/31594/page/63 Review of "The Unknown Richard Strauss, Volume 13" (CD)], Gramophone, December 2001, p. 63.

Symphonic fragment

In 1947, Strauss prepared a symphonic fragment from Josephs Legende for reduced orchestra.{{sfn|Del Mar|2009|pages=148–150}} This was premiered in February 1949 in San Antonio under Max Reiter.

Recordings

=Audio=

Staatskapelle Dresden, conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli (Deutsche Grammophon){{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/friday_review/story/0,3605,343063,00.html |title=The man who dared to monkey with Beethoven |last=Greenfield|first=Edward|author-link=Edward Greenfield|date=14 July 2000|newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=31 January 2012}}
Budapest Festival Orchestra, conducted by Iván Fischer (Channel Classics Records){{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/apr/13/classicalmusicandopera.shopping |title=Strauss: Josephslegende; Budapest Festival Orchestra/Fischer|last=Ashley|first=Tim |date=13 April 2007|newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=31 January 2012}}
The first complete recording of the work was performed in 1987 by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Hiroshi WakasugiJosephs Legende, Op. 63, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Hiroshi Wakasugi. Nippon Columbia, 1988

=Video=

1977: Judith Jamison (Potiphar's wife), Kevin Haigen (Joseph), Karl Musil (The angel), Franz Wilhelm (Potiphar), and members of the Vienna State Ballet. Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Heinrich Hollreiser; choreography and direction by John Neumeier; scenery and costumes by Ernst Fuchs; after a production by the Vienna State Opera. Studio production, filmed by Unitel, 1977.[https://www.naxosvideolibrary.com/title/A05001703 Josephs Legende (1977)], Naxos Video Library.