# Ruhe, meine Seele!

"Ruhe, meine Seele!", Op. 27, No. 1, is the first in a set of four songs composed by Richard Strauss in 1894. It was originally for voice and piano, and not orchestrated by Strauss until 1948, after he had completed one of his Four Last Songs, "Im Abendrot". The words are from a poem "Ruhe, meine Seele!" (Rest, my soul) written by the poet Karl Henckell.

## History

Strauss composed the song in May 1894, and that September he gave it as a wedding present to his wife the soprano Pauline de Ahna.

## Related songs

Timothy L. Jackson has noted that Strauss had composed the song "Ruhe, meine Seele!" for piano and voice in 1894 but did not orchestrate it until 1948, just after he had completed "Im Abendrot" and before he composed the other three of his Four Last Songs. Jackson suggests that the addition of "Ruhe, meine Seele!" to the Four Last Songs forms a five-song unified song cycle, if "Ruhe, meine Seele!" is performed as a prelude to "Im Abendrot", to which it bears motivic similarity.

## Instrumentation and accompaniment

The instrumentation is: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets in B♭, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in C, 3 trombones, tuba, 3 timpani, celesta, harp and the orchestral string section.
The accompaniment has sombre and ambiguous harmonies, with contrasting calm and tempestuous episodes, but ends peacefully in the home key of C major.

## Lyrics

| Ruhe, meine Seele! | Rest thee, my Soul |
| Nicht ein Lüftchen Regt sich leise, Sanft entschlummert Ruht der Hain; Durch der Blätter Dunkle Hülle Stiehlt sich lichter Sonnenschein. Ruhe, ruhe, Meine Seele, Deine Stürme Gingen wild, Hast getobt und Hast gezittert, Wie die Brandung, Wenn sie schwillt. Diese Zeiten Sind gewaltig, Bringen Herz Und Hirn in Not – Ruhe, ruhe, Meine Seele, Und vergiß, Und vergiß, Was dich bedroht! | Not a breath of wind is stirring, Hill and Dale are wrapped in slumber; Golden through the sheltering foliage Summer's Midday sunbeams peep. Rest thee, rest thee troubled spirit, Thou hast suffered laboured, toiled, Thou hast fought and thou has trembled, like the stormbeat, ocean wild. These times are momentous, head and heart must trouble bear – Rest thee, rest thee troubled spirit and forget all thy sufferings will soon be over! |

## Opus 27

The other songs of Opus 27 are:
* Op. 27 No. 2 "Cäcilie" (Wenn du es wüßtest)
* Op. 27 No. 3 "Heimliche Aufforderung" (Auf, hebe die funkelnde Schale)
* Op. 27 No. 4 "Morgen!" (Und morgen wird die Sonne wieder scheinen)

## Recordings

Richard Strauss recorded it twice with himself accompanying on the piano. In 1919 with the baritone Heinrich Schlusnus and again in 1944, with the baritone Alfred Poell.

## References and notes

* ↑ Trenner, Franz (2003) Richard Strauss Chronik, Verlag Dr Richard Strauss, Wien, ISBN 3-901974-01-6, p. 116.
* ↑ This is discussed in the essay "Ruhe, meine Seele! and the Letzte Orchesterlieder" by Timothy L. Jackson, in Richard Strauss and his World by Bryan Randolph Gilliam. Strauss orchestrated "Ruhe, meine Seele" just after completing "Im Abendrot" but before completing the other of the Four Last Songs: "Frühling", "Beim Schlafengehen" and "September". The author suggests that the five songs form a unified song cycle, with reasons for "Ruhe, meine Seele!" to be performed as a prelude to "Im Abendrot".
* ↑ Jackson, Timothy L. "Ruhe, meine Seele! and the Letzte Orchesterlieder". In: Gilliam, Bryan Randolph (ed). Richard Strauss and His World. Princeton University Press, 1992. pp. 90–137.
* ↑ Richard Strauss Lieder, Complete Edition Vol. IV, London, 1965, Boosey & Hawkes
* ↑ "Ruhe, meine Seele!", in Moderne Dichter-Charaktere, p. 288, Leipzig 1885
* ↑ English Lyrics by John Bernhoff, Richard Strauss, Lieder Album (Universal edition 1343-9), Band 2 Number 8. 1904, Leipzig Jos.Aibl Verlag G.M.B.H.
* ↑ Getz, Christine (1991), The Lieder of Richard Strauss, chapter 10 in Mark-Daniel Schmid, Richard Strauss Companion, Praeger Publishers, Westfield CT, 2003, ISBN 0-313-27901-2, page 376.