- Josephslegende (or The Legend of Joseph) is a one-act ballet written between 1912-14, around the same period as Strauss produced Ariadne auf Naxos and An Alpine Symphony. Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Harry von Kessler wrote the libretto.
- The work premiered at the Paris Opera in 1914, choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky (who also conducted L’après-midi d’un faune and Le Sacre du Printemps.
- The plot of the ballet is is a parable about struggles between good and evil based on the familiar Old Testament story of Joseph.1
- Many years later, in 1947, Strauss arranged a “symphonic fragment” of the ballet for reduced orchestra.2
Sources
- Notes in accompanying booklet, Strauss: Josephs Legende, Naxos 8.574551, 2024, compact disc.
- Norman Del Mar, Norman, Richard Strauss: A Critical Commentary on His Life and Works II (Faber & Faber) 133, 144–145.
Cut IDs
46026