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Strauss

Specialty Definition: David Friedrich Strauss

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

David Friedrich Strauss (January 27, 1808 - February 8, 1874), German theologian and man of letters, was born at Ludwigsburg, near Stuttgart.

In his thirteenth year he was sent to the evangelical seminary at Blaubeuren, near Ulm, to be prepared for the study of theology. Amongst the principal masters in the school were Professors Kern and FC Baur, who infused into their pupils above all a deep love of the ancient classics. In 1825 Strauss passed from school to the university of Tübingen. The professors of philosophy there failed to interest him, but he was strongly attracted by the writings of Schleiermacher, which awoke his keen dialectical faculty and delivered him from the vagueness and exaggerations of romantic and somnambulistic mysticism. In 1830 he became assistant to a country clergyman, and nine months later accepted the post of professor in the high school at Maulbronn, having to teach Latin, history and Hebrew.

In October 1831 he resigned his office in order to study under Schleiermacher and Hegel in Berlin. Hegel died just as he arrived, and, though he regularly attended Schleiermacher's lectures,it was only those on the life of Jesus which exercised a very powerful influence upoil him. It was amongst the followers of Hegel that he found kindred spirits. Under the leading of Hegel's distinction, between Vorstellung and Begriff, he had already conceived the idea of his two principal theological works--the Leben Jesu and the Christliche Dogmatik. In 1832 he returned to Tübingen and became repetent in the university, lecturing on logic, history of philosophy, Plato, and history of ethics, with great success. But in the autumn of 1833 he resigned this position in order to devote all his time to the completion of his projected Leben Jesu (1835).

The work produced an immense sensation and created a new epoch in the treatment of the rise of Christianity. In 1837 Strauss replied to his critics (Streuschriften zur Verteidigung meiner Schrift über das Leben Jesu). In the third edition of the work (1839), and in Zwei friedliche Blättler, he made important concessions to his critics, which he withdrew, however, in the fourth edition (1840; translated into English by George Eliot, with Latin preface by Strauss, 1846). In 1840 and the following year he published his Christliche Glaubenslehre (2 vols.), the principle of which is that the history of Christian doctrines is their disintegration. Between the publication of this work and that of the Friedliche Blätter he had been elected to a chair of theology in the university of Zürich. But the appointment provoked such a storm of popular ill will in the canton that the authorities considered it wise to pension him before he entered upon his duties, although this concession came too late to save the government.

With his Glaubensiehre he took leave of theology for upwards of twenty years. In August 1841 he married Agnes Schebest, a cultivated and beautiful opera singer of high repute, but not adapted to be the wife of a scholar and literary man like Strauss. Five years afterwards, when two children had been born, a separation by arrangement was made. Strauss resumed his literary activity by the publication of Der Romantiker auf dem Thron der Cäsaren, in which he drew a satirical parallel between Julian the Apostate and Frederick William IV of Prussia (1847).

In 1848 he was nominated as member of the Frankfurt parliament, but was defeated. He was elected for the Württemberg chamber, but his action was so conservative that his constituents requested him to resign his seat. He forgot his political disappointments in the production of a series of biographical works, which secured for him a permanent place in German literature (Schubarts Leben, 2 vols., 1849; Christian Morklin, 1851; Nikodemus Frischlin, 1855; Ulrich von Hutten, 3 vols., 1858-1860, 6th ed. 1895; H.S. Reimarus, 1862). With this last-named work he returned to theology, and two years afterwards (1864) published his Leben Jesu für des deutsche Volk (13th ed., 1904). It failed to produce an effect comparable with that of the first Life, but the replies to it were many, and Strauss answered them in his pamphlet Die Halben lend die Ganzen (1865), directed specially against Schenkel and Hengstenberg.

His Christus des Glaubens und der Jesus der Geschichte (1865) is a severe criticism of Schleiermacher's lectures on the life of Jesus, which were then first published. From 1865 to 1872 Strauss resided in Darmstadt, and in 1870 published his lectures on Voltaire (9th ed., 1907). His last work, Der alte und der neue Glaube (1872; 16th ed, 1904; English translation by M Blind, 1873), produced almost as great a sensation as his Life of Jesus, and not least amongst Strauss's own friends, who wondered at his one-sided view of Christianity and his professed abandonment of spiritual philosophy for the materialism of modern science. To the fourth edition of the book he added a Nachwort als Vorwort (1873). The same year symptoms of a fatal malady appeared, and death followed on the 8th of February 1874.

Strauss's mind was almost exclusively analytical and critical, without depth of religious feeling or philosophical penetration, or historical sympathy; his work was accordingly rarely constructive. His Life of Jesus was directed against not only the traditional orthodox view of the Gospel narratives, but likewise the rationalistic treatment of them, whether after the manner of Reimarus or that of Paulus. The mythical theory that the Christ of the Gospels, excepting the most meagre outline of personal history, was the unintentional creation of the early Christian Messianic expectation he applied with merciless rigour to the narratives. But his operations were based upon fatal defects, positive and negative. He held a narrow theory as to the miraculous, a still narrower as to the relation of the divine to the, human, and he had no true idea of the nature of historical tradition, while, as FC Baur complained, his critique of the Gospel history had not been preceded by the essential preliminary critique of the Gospels themselves.

Authorities

Strauss's works were published in a collected edition in 12 vols., by E Zeller (1876-1878), without his Christliche Dogmatik. His Ausgewahle Briefe appeared in 1895. On his life and works, see Zeller, David Friedrich Strauss in seinem Lebes und seinen Schriften (1874); A Hadsrath, D.F. Strauss und der Theologie seiner Zeit (2 vols., 1876-1878); FT Vischer, Kritische Gänge (1844), vol. i., and by the same writer, Altes und Neues (1882), vol. iii.; R Gottschall, Literarische Charakterkopfe (1896), vol. iv.; S Eck, D. F. Strauss (1899); K Harraeus, D. F. Strauss, sein Leben und seine Schriften (1901); and T Ziegler, D. F. Strauss (2 vols., 1908-1909).

This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "David Friedrich Strauss."

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Johann Strauss II

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Johann Strauss II (or Johann Strauss Jnr.) (October 25, 1825 - June 3, 1899) was an Austrian composer known especially for his waltzes, and in particular for An der schönen, blauen Donau (The Blue Danube).

Johann Strauss II was the son of Johann Strauss I, himself a composer. His brothers Josef Strauss and Eduard Strauss were also composers, but Johann II is the most famous of the family. He was known in his lifetime as "the waltz king," and the popularity of the waltz in Vienna through the 19th century is due in large part to him. Some of his polkas and marches are also well known, as is his operetta Die Fledermaus.

Strauss was born in Vienna. His father did not want him to become a musician, but he studied the violin secretly as a child. It was only when his father left the family when Johann II was 17 that he was able to concentrate fully on a career as a composer. Strauss went on to surpass his father's fame, and become the most popular of all waltz composers, extensively touring Austria, Poland and Germany with his orchestra. He also made visits to Russia, Great Britain, France, Italy and the United States. He was much admired by prominent composers of the day, including Johannes Brahms, who was also a personal friend.

Johann Strauss II died from pneumonia in Vienna and was buried there in the Zentralfriedhof.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Johann Strauss II."

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Richard Strauss

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864 - September 8, 1949) was a German composer of classical music particularly noted for his tone poems and operas. He was also a noted conductor.

He was born on June 11, 1864 in Munich, Germany, the son of Franz Strauss who was the principal French horn player at the Court Opera in Munich. He received a thorough, but conservative, musical education from his father in his youth, and began to compose at a very early age. In 1882 he entered Munich University, but left a year later to go to Berlin. There he studied briefly before securing a post as assistant conductor to Hans von Bülow taking over from him at Munich when he resigned in 1885. His compositions around this time were quite conservative, in the style of Robert Schumann or Felix Mendelssohn, true to his father's teachings. This began to change when he met Alexander Ritter, a noted violinist and the husband of one of Richard Wagner's nieces. It was he who first got Strauss seriously interested in the music of Wagner.

This newly found interest resulted in what is widely regarded as Strauss' first piece to show his mature personality, the tone poem Don Juan. When this was premiered in 1889, half of the audience cheered while the other half booed. Strauss knew he had found his own musical voice, saying "I now comfort myself with the knowledge that I am on the road I want to take, fully conscious that there never has been an artist not considered crazy by thousands of his fellow men." Strauss went on to write a series of other tone poems, including Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus spake Zarathustra) in 1896, well known today for its use in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Around the end of the 19th century, Strauss turned his attention to opera. His first two attempts in the genre, Guntram in 1894 and Feuersnot in 1901 were critical failures. However, in 1905 he produced Salome (based on the play by Oscar Wilde), and the reaction was as passionate and extreme as it had been with Don Juan. When it opened at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, there was such a public outcry that it was closed after just one performance. Doubtless, much of this was down to the subject matter, but Strauss had also used dissonance in a way that was rare at that time in the opera house.

Strauss' next opera was Elektra, which took his use of dissonance even further. It was also the first opera in which Strauss collaborated with the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The two would work together on numerous other occasions. For these later works, however, Strauss moderated his harmonic language somewhat, with the result that works such as Der Rosenkavalier (The Cavalier with a flower) (1910) were great public successes. Strauss continued to produce operas at regular intervals into the 1930s.

There is much controversy surrounding Strauss' role in Germany after the Nazi Party came to power. Some say that he was constantly apolitical, and never cooperated with the Nazis completely. Others point out that he was an official of the Third Reich, and that although his post was largely ceremonial, he should have spoken out against the Nazis. Many have pointed out that Strauss' grandchildren were part-Jewish, and suggested that this may have stopped him speaking out. Strauss took a risk in refusing to remove from the publicity for the premiere of Die schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman) the name of its Jewish librettist, Stefan Zweig. There are also suggestions that he attempted to use his official position to protect Jewish friends and colleagues.

In 1948, Strauss wrote his last work, the Four Last Songs for high voice and orchestra. All his life he had produced lieder, but these are probably the best known. Strauss' harmonic and melodic language was looking somewhat old-fashioned by this time, when compared to the work of younger composers. Nevertheless, the songs have always been popular with audiences and performers.

Richard Strauss died on September 8, 1949 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Note. Richard Strauss was not related to, and should still less be confused with, Johann Strauss or his sons, Viennese composers of popular waltzes.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Richard Strauss."

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Strauss

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Strauss, the German word for ostrich, is also the surname of a number of composers:

The musical family most often referred to as the Strauss family consists of:

• Johann Strauss I (1804 - 1849), popularizer of the waltz
• Johann Strauss II (1825 - 1899), son of Johann I, known as the "Waltz King", composer of An der schönen, blauen Donau (The Blue Danube)
• Josef Strauss (1827 - 1870), son of Johann I
• Eduard Strauss (1835 - 1916), son of Johann I
• Johann Strauss III (1866 - 1939), son of Eduard

There are also:

• Franz Strauss (1822 - 1905), horn player and composer
• Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949), son of Franz

• Cristoph Strauss (around 1580 - 1631), unrelated to all the above

Oscar Strauss was the birth name of Oscar Straus (1870 - 1949), composer of the operetta The Chocolate Soldier. He dropped the last S from his name to make it clear he was not related to any of the above.

Note also:

• the anthropologist, Claude Levi-Strauss
• the political philosopher of Straussianism, Leo Strauss

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Strauss."

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Photo Album: Strauss

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	[Dr. Robert McE. Schauffler] / P. Credit: National Library of Medicine; photo by Strauss Peyton..		Operating in the South China, March 1965. It had recently launched strikes against North Vietnam. Carriers present are (clockwise from bottom): Ranger (CVA-61), Yorktown (CVS-10), Coral Sea (CVA-43) and Hancock (CVA-19). The guided missile cruiser Canberra (CAG-2) is in the center of the formation. The destroyer screen includes: England (DLG-22), Gurke (DD-783), Rodgers (DD-876), Walker (DD-517), O'Bannon (DD-450), Somers (DD-947), Jenkins (DD-447), John A. Bole (DD-755), Higbee (DD-806), Buck (DD-761), Joseph Strauss (DDG-16) and Small (DD-838). This photograph was specially posed, and does not represent a normal operating formation. Credit: NAVY.
	Admiral Joseph Strauss, three-quarter length portrait, seated, facing left, in uniform. Credit: Library of Congress.		Sara Mildred Strauss. Credit: Library of Congress.
	View from Abraham Strauss House to light house. Credit: Library of Congress.		Farewell tour of Eduard Strauss, Imperial Court musical director and his famous orchestra from Vienna. Credit: Library of Congress.
	Wir brauchen keine Demokratie : wir brauchen Strauss. Credit: Library of Congress.		Franz Josef Strauss, CSU. Credit: Library of Congress.
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.

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