‘Demonic, Ecstatic Antiquity’: On the Interpretation of Myth in the Opera ‘Elektra’ by Richard Strauss — Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Abstract

The opera “Elektra” is of particular significance for Richard Strauss. It opens an ancient line in his musical and theatrical legacy and is at the same time the culmination of expressionist tendencies in his work. It also marks the start of Strauss’s collaboration with H. von Hofmannsthal as librettist. The tragedy of Hofmannsthal focuses on trends typical of the new understanding of antiquity in the second half of the 19th century. An interest in the archaic, in ancient cults and rituals representing the irrational aspects of Greek culture, is brought to the forefront. Hofmannsthal’s “Electra” was one of the first literary works to embody the new image of Greece. In the course of work on the opera, a particular role played the treatise on matriarchy in the pre-Hellenistic era “Das Mutterrecht” (1861) by J. J. Bachofen. It acquired unexpected relevance at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries when matriarchy was anxiously perceived as a resurgent world order. Hofmannsthal’s “Electra” appears as the realm of matriarchy. The concentration on the image of the title character, the embodiment on the stage of a short but key segment of her life, the raging of dark passions make Elektra a characteristic phenomenon of expressionist theatre. In Strauss’s opera the role of Elektra is further expanded. With the help of sharp stylistic contrasts in the musical characterization of the heroine, Strauss conveys the dissociation of her personality, her loss of identity. For Strauss, “Elektra” was the culmination of extreme emotional states that demanded the use of the most daring, within his style, compositional means. “Elektra” marks a turning point in the composer’s work. His next opera is “Der Rosenkavalier”, written in an entirely different style. Strauss’s subsequent operas on ancient themes are also very far from the irrationalist and innovative pathos of “Elektra”.