Der Rosenkavalier – Guide to Research

Strauss, Richard and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Der Rosenkavalier. Berlin: Fürstner, 1910. Reprint, Dover, 1987.

The orchestral score.

Strauss, Richard and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Der Rosenkavalier, arr. Otto Singer. Berlin and Paris: Fürstner, 1911. Reprint, Dover, 1987. 

Arrangement for piano and voice. Otto Singer prepared piano reductions and arrangements for many of Strauss’s works. He should not be confused with his father Otto Singer (1833–94), who played a prominent role in American musical life.

Strauss, Richard and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Der Rosenkavalier, arr. Otto Singer. Berlin and Paris: Fürstner, 1911.

Arrangement of the complete opera for piano solo (no voices). The German text is printed above the staff, even when the corresponding vocal lines are not reflected in the piano arrangement.

Strauss, Richard and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Der Rosenkavalier, arr. Carl Besl. Paris: Fürstner, 1912. Copyright reassigned Boosey and Hawkes, 1943.

Arrangement for piano and voice. Besl’s reduction was apparently published to meet popular demand for a piano score that would not be as difficult as Singer’s. Strauss’s musical language being what it is, this version will still be challenging to many players.

Lear, Evelyn, ed. Selections from “Der Rosenkavalier”; a Master Class with Evelyn Lear. New York: G. Schirmer.

This edition contains the best-known excerpts from the score, in the piano-vocal arrangement by Besl. Lear, who sang all three principal roles for female voice in Rosenkavalier, offers running commentary with musical and dramatic advice for performers, such as would be given in a master class, and a literal English translation.

Strauss, Richard and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Der Rosenkavalier, ed. Adrian Kech. Vienna: Verlag Dr. Richard Strauss; London: Boosey & Hawkes; Leipzig: Peters; Mainz: Schott. In preparation.

This orchestral score, not yet published, is part of the ongoing critical edition of Strauss’s works.

The books below are in German only. Information about translations into other languages is here.

The text of the opera itself has been transmitted in four versions, none of them exactly the same: the piano-vocal score; the orchestral score (Orch in the table below); the Fürstner libretto (L); and Hofmannsthal’s “book edition” (Book).

The first three are quite similar, though not identical. The fourth version, the book edition, or Buchausgabe, that Hofmannsthal published separately, differs more substantially. It does not include the small changes and cuts which Strauss made himself to Hofmannsthal’s text, or two sections he requested from Hofmannsthal: the Act I trio (“Nein, Er agiert mir”), and the Act II duet (“Mit Ihren Augen voll Tränen”). It does include the familiar ending to Act II (quite different from Hofmannsthal’s original conception) and the final duet (“Ist ein Traum”), both requested by Strauss.

There are also the following related pieces of writing from Hofmannsthal’s pen:  preliminary outlines for the opera; extensive drafts of the text itself; the original version of Act II; two brief essays on the opera (the “Ungeschriebenes Nachwort” and “‘Der Rosenkavalier’: Zum Geleit”); and a scenario for the 1926 Rosenkavalier film.

Finally, while they were at work on the opera, Strauss and Hofmannsthal enlisted the help of the artist Alfred Roller. Roller designed the costumes and sets for the premiere, and wrote a production book which describes his designs and gives detailed notes on stage direction.

DTV	Hofmannsthal, Hugo von. Der Rosenkavalier. Berlin: S. Fischer, 1911. Reprint, Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 2004.                   The “book edition” (Buchausgabe).
Fürstner	——. Der Rosenkavalier. Berlin: Fürstner, 1911.                   The libretto.
GW	——. Der Rosenkavalier, ed. Bernd Schoeller. In Dramen: Operndichtungen, vol. 5 of  Hofmannsthal: Gesammelte Werke in Einzelbänden. Frankfurt: S. Fischer, 1979.
SW	——. Der Rosenkavalier, ed. Dirk O. Hoffmann and Willi Schuh. Vol. 23 of Hofmannsthal: Sämtliche Werke. Frankfurt: S. Fischer, 1986.              This volume is from the critical edition of Hofmannsthal’s works-what has been called the “gold standard” for Hofmannsthal scholars. The complete genesis of the text is traced, with all drafts and variants, in a way that is exhaustively thorough, but compact.
Artemis	——. Der Rosenkavalier, ed. Dieter Lamping with Frank Zipfel. In Dramen und Opernlibretti, vol. 2 of Hofmannsthal: Gesammelte Werke. Düsseldorf and Zurich: Artemis und Winkler, 2004. With footnotes on foreign and difficult words, an afterword, and a bibliography
Reclam	——. Der Rosenkavalier, ed. Katharina Hottmann. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2008.            With footnotes on foreign and difficult words, an afterword, and a bibliography.
Pahlen	Pahlen, Kurt. Richard Strauss: “Der Rosenkavalier.” Opern der Welt. Munich, Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, 1980.            Text and running commentary, on facing pages. There are numerous comments on the music, with notated examples, and notes on difficult words.
Fassungen	Schuh, Willi, ed. “Der Rosenkavalier”: Fassungen; Filmszenarium; Briefe. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer, 1971.              The text is based on the orchestral score. Discrepancies with the book edition are noted, in a less complicated form than in the Sämtliche Werke volume. Also: correspondence, photographs, and on the endpapers and slipcase, costume sketches (the book is very attractive from a visual standpoint).
Hollitzer	Hoffmann, Dirk O., ed. Der Rosenkavalier: Textfassungen und Zeilenkommentar. Vienna: Hollitzer, 2016. Hoffmann here draws on his Sämtliche Werke edition, but simplifies much of its scholarly apparatus, and considers recent research. The texts of the book edition and the libretto are presented in parallel columns, with footnotes on difficult words. Extensive analysis of the history of the text, line-by-line annotations and bibliography.

(to come)