INTERTEXTUAL DIALOGUE IN PARERGON ZUR SYMPHONIA DOMESTICA BY RICHARD STRAUSS. REFLECTIONS ON 100 YEARS OF MUSICAL HERITAGE

Abstract

In the 20th century, as war injuries profoundly affected the future of many young individuals including musicians, a new image of the performing artist emerged: the one-handed pianist. An urgent need arose for a new keyboard repertoire, resulting in the creation of piano literature for left hand and orchestra. 2025 marks one hundred years since the completion and premiere of Parergon zur Symphonia Domestica, op. 73, Richard Strauss’s first piano concerto for the left hand. Commissioned by the one-armed Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein, the resultant work drew attention for its distinctive title, referencing Strauss’s autobiographical tone poem written twenty-two years prior. By virtue of its title, Strauss’s op. 73 implies that its meaning is not inherent to the work itself, but rather shaped by its connection to Symphonia Domestica, engaging in an intertextual dialogue with it. The purpose of this article is to highlight the relationship between the new composition and its original model, by examining how the borrowed musical material was integrated and transformed in Parergon, with old musical ideas reshaped and given new expressions.