Cäcilie (Strauss)

Cäcilie
Lied by Richard Strauss
Lady Lilith by Rossetti (1866).
English	Cecilia or Cecily
Catalogue	Op. 27 number 2, TrV 170.
Text	Poem by Heinrich Hart
Language	German
Composed	September 9 1894
Dedication	Pauline de Ahna, composer's wife.
Scoring	Voice and piano

"Cäcilie", Op. 27 No. 2, is the second in a set of four songs composed by Richard Strauss in 1894.

The words are from a love poem "Cäcilie" written by Heinrich Hart (1855–1906), a German dramatic critic and journalist who also wrote poetry. It was written for the poet's wife Cäcilie.

German pronunciation: [tsɛːˈtsiː.liːə], or UK English as "Cecilia".

Strauss composed the song at Marquartstein on 9 September 1894. , the day before his wedding to the soprano Pauline de Ahna. All four of the Opus 27 songs, including Cäcilie were given as a wedding present to her.

The song was originally written with piano accompaniment in the key of E major, but later orchestrated in his 'heroic' key of E♭. The instrumentation is: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B♭, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in E♭, 2 trumpets in E♭, 3 trombones, tuba, 3 timpani, harp and the orchestral string section.

The tempo direction is "Sehr lebhaft und drängend".

Strauss, in his rich and lively orchestration, included parts for a solo string player from each section.

The change of key a semitone down from E to E♭ explains why, from bar 34 on the violas are asked to play the note B, a semitone below the lowest note normally possible on the instrument. At this point Strauss asks half the violas to tune this string down a semitone.