Der Rosenkavalier – Guide to Research

As the Strauss literature is voluminous, and widely available, only a very few titles are listed here.

Del Mar, Norman. Richard Strauss. London: Barrie and Jenkins, 1978. Repr. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1986.

A chronological survey of Strauss’s life and works, in three volumes. The primary emphasis is musical, not biographical. Der Rosenkavalier is discussed in vol. 1, pp. 334–420.

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Gilliam, Bryan. The Life of Richard Strauss. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Gilliam discusses Rosenkavalier on pp. 87–93.

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Kennedy, Michael. Richard Strauss: Man, Musician, Enigma. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Kennedy discusses Rosenkavalier on pp. 161–72.

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Kristiansen, Morten and Joseph E. Jones, eds. Richard Strauss in Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.

Thirty-six essays, each exploring some context in which Strauss figures, e.g. “Strauss as Reader,” “Hofmannsthal,” “Bayreuth,” “Reception.” etc. Provides a useful overview of current thinking in Strauss studies.

Schmid, Mark-Daniel, ed. The Richard Strauss Companion. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2003.

This is a collection of essays on various aspects of Strauss. There are many references to Rosenkavalier, but no sustained examination. Scott Warfield’s “Selected Bibliography” is a very helpful guide to further study.

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Werbeck, Walter, ed. Richard Strauss Handbuch. Stuttgart and Weimar: J. B. Metzler, 2014.

Bryan Gilliam’s essay on Rosenkavalier is on pp. 183–94. The opera is mentioned elsewhere in the book in other connections, e.g. Strauss’s relation to Mozart, to his librettists, etc.

Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Broch, Hermann. Hugo von Hofmannsthal and His Time: The European Imagination, 1860–1920. Translated by Michael P. Steinberg. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984. Originally published as Hofmannsthal und seine Zeit. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1975.

Broch is one of 20th-century Austria’s most important writers. This book is a work of cultural criticism, not a biography or detailed literary study.

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Dangel-Pelloquin, Elsbeth and Alexander Honold. Hugo von Hofmannsthal: Grenzenlose Verwandlung. Frankfurt: S. Fischer, 2024.

The longest, amplest, and most ambitious biography of Hofmannsthal, providing both biographical information and literary criticism.

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Erken, Günther. “Hofmannsthal-Chronik: Beitrag zu einer Biographie.” Literaturwissenschaftliches Jahrbuch 3 (1962): 239–313.

This is a chronological listing of events in Hofmannsthal’s life as a writer: publications, writing projects (whether finished or not), premieres, travels, etc.

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Hemecker, Wilhelm and Konrad Heumann, ed. Hofmannsthal. Orte. Vienna: Paul Zsolnay Verlag, 2014.

Twenty essays, each devoted to a significant place in Hofmannsthal’s life (Salesianergasse, the University of Vienna, Venice, Paris, etc.) and his relation to it. A valuable book, especially since biographical writing about Hofmannsthal (not abundant in any case) tends to lack the sort of detail included here. The Rosenkavalier premiere is discussed in the essay on Dresden, by Claudia Bamberg and Ilija Dürhammer.

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Hofmannsthal, Hugo von. The Whole Difference. J. D. McClatchy, ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002.

A Hofmannsthal anthology, including Act I of Rosenkavalier in the Holme translation. McClatchy’s introduction contains useful biographical and critical information.

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Hömig, Herbert. Hugo von Hofmannsthal: Eine Lebensgeschichte. Münster: Aschendorff, 2019.

This is the first full biography of Hofmannsthal; thus, information scattered among many sources is here presented as a continuous narrative for the first time.

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Kovach, Thomas E., ed. A Companion to the Works of Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2002.

The introduction contains an excellent summary of Hofmannsthal’s life, and a survey of issues in contemporary Hofmannsthal scholarship.

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Mayer, Matthias and Julian Werlitz, ed. Hofmannsthal Handbuch. Stuttgart and Weimar: J. B. Metzler, 2016

A comprehensive guide to Hofmannsthal’s life and writings. Sigrid Nieberle’s essay on Rosenkavalier is on pp. 246–50, and includes a bibliography of twenty-two items.

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Mayer, Matthias. Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Stuttgart and Weimar: J. B. Metzler, 1993.

In German. This is an introduction to Hofmannsthal’s oeuvre, with an account of his life on pp. 1–12, concentrating almost entirely on his writings and professional relationships. The section on Rosenkavalier points out various subtleties of the text; there is a select Rosenkavalier bibliography (eleven items).

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Volke, Werner. Hofmannsthal. Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1967.

In German. This short biography (192 pages) quotes extensively from the words of Hofmannsthal and his acquaintances, and contains many black-and-white illustrations. Rosenkavalier is mentioned on pp. 122–24.

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Wienzierl, Ulrich. Hofmannsthal: Skizzen zu einem Bild. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 2007.

This is not a biography, but a series of biographical “sketches for [Hofmannsthal’s] portrait,” in which his shortcomings and inner conflicts are brought to the fore. The book is organized in three large sections: Hofmannsthal’s relation to Jewishness, to noble rank, and to “the mystery of friendship and love.” Weinzierl seems to say that Harry Kessler’s contribution to Rosenkavalier has been unjustly minimized, first by Hofmannsthal himself, then by later scholars.

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CORRESPONDENCE

Strauss, Richard and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Briefwechsel. Zurich: Atlantis, 1952.

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