The History of Four Last Songs

Rudi van Dantzig's Four Last Songs is a classic of modern ballet, though what you might not know is the rich history that surrounds its creation.

Although it was first performed in 1977, the piece's origins can be traced as far back as the late 18th century.

The Poems

The titular four songs originally began as poems. Three of the poems, Spring, Summer and When I Go to Sleep were written by 20th century German poet Herman Hesse, whereas the fourth poem, At Sunset, was written by the Romanctic Silesian poet Joseph von Eichendorff.

Hermann Hesse was born in 1877 near the Black Forest in Germany, publishing his first poem collection in 1899. His writing often focused on breaking away from established societies in order to discover a more innate sense of self. 

During World War I, Hesse lived in Switzerland and would consistently denounce German militarism and nationalism in his writing. The German government suppressed his work and as a result, he decided to stay in Switzerland, becoming a citizen in 1923 and remaining there for the rest of his life. 

After the fall of the Nazi party, his novels saw massive success in post-war Germany, then leading to his 1927 novel Der Steppenwolf winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946. After this, he would write approximately 50 poems before his death in 1962, including the three featured in Four Last Songs. 

Joseph von Eichendorff was born in Upper Silesia (now Poland) in 1788 to an aristocratic family. He was a poet, novelist, playwright and literary critic during the romantic period, known mostly for his poems and his novel Memoirs of a Good for Nothing. 

He published his first work in 1807 whilst studying law and shortly after finishing his studies, he would enlist in the military and serve in the Napoleonic Wars. During his time away, the Von Eichendorff aristocratic family faced much hardship, losing their affluence and having to sell their family castle. 

After the war, he would live in Berlin for much of the rest of his life, his writing often nostalgic for his original family home. In particular, he missed the connection to nature, believing that people should find happiness in the beauty of the changing seasons, an idea that would resonate with many musicians throughout history, including Richard Strauss... 

The Songs

Richard Strauss was born in 1864 in Munich, Germany. He was a prolific conductor with a lifelong dedication to music, composing over 200 songs in his lifetime.  

He would compose Four Last Songs towards the very end of his life, shortly after World War II. Strauss lived in Germany throughout both World Wars but managed to remain completely apolitical during both the fall of the Weimar government and the rise of the Nazi party. Already 75 years old when World War II began, he was only interested in working on music, which led to him being appointed president of the State Music Bureau. 

He hoped this position would allow him to work without involving himself in political conflicts, but this proved harder than he thought after the Nazi’s banned his comic opera The Silent Woman, due to it being a collaboration between Strauss and the Jewish theatre maker Stefan Zweig. As the war waged on, Strauss found himself less and less able to remain uninvolved, especially as his daughter-in-law was Jewish. He would spend much of the end of the war using all his influence and connections to prevent the Nazi party persecuting his son, daughter-in-law and their children, which he was successful in. 

Living in Nazi Germany during World War II profoundly affected Strauss, challenging his world view and filling him with a deep sense of melancholy, which was infused into his work. He would die shortly after the war in 1949, and would compose Four Last Songs just before this. Written as individual pieces, Strauss did not intend for them to be performed together, however, they are all very similar and are all contemplations on life coming to a close. They would be published together in 1950 after his death under the title Four Last Songs.

The Ballet

Rudi van Dantzig was born in 1933 in Amsterdam and was an internationally recognized pioneer of modern classical ballet. His dancing career would begin in 1952 at Sonia Gaskell’s Ballet Recital and in 1961, he would join the newly established Dutch National Ballet as Resident Choreographer. He became artistic director of the Company in 1965, a position he held until 1991. Throughout his lifetime, he created over 50 ballets, many of which are still performed worldwide. 

He created Four Last Songs in 1977 and said that he didn’t base the choreography on the text of the individual four poems, but rather “tried to capture the atmosphere that rises from the work as a whole in movement.” However, he believed that the essence of the ballet could be found in an extract of September by Hermann Hesse: 

“Yet summer smiles, enraptured 
by the garden’s dreamy aphasia 
as gold, drop by drop, falls 
from the tall acacia. 

With a final glance at the roses– 
too weak to care, it longs for peace– 
then, with darkness wherever it gazes, 
summer slips into sleep.” 

The ballet perfectly captures the melancholic sentimental mood that’s encapsulated in Strauss’ songs and Hesse and Eichendorff’s poems. Since its creation, it’s become a modern classic, being performed by Companies around the world and has remained part of Dutch National Ballet’s extensive repertoire.

We've been very grateful to have Dutch National Ballet's Sonja Marchiolli with us during rehearsals to help the Company restage the piece. Marchiolli was Principal Dancer with Dutch National Ballet during the creation of Four Last Songs and was one of the piece's original dancers. Her input and guidance in bringing this piece to life has been invaluable. We were also extremely fortunate to have Toer Van Schayk design and paint the backdrop for our restaging. Van Schayk was a frequent collaborator of Van Dantzig's, often as a dancer but also regularly designing the set and costumes for his ballets. Three Short Ballets marks the first time that Four Last Songs has been performed in the UK in over ten years, making it a must-see when it comes to the Linbury Theatre at Royal Ballet and Opera in London early next year. 

This article was creating using the following resources:

• Four Last Songs: the poems that comprise the final song cycle by Richard Strauss - intranslation
• Hermann Hesse biography - Encyclopedia Britannica
• Joseph von Eichendorff biography - Encyclopedia Britannica
• Richard Strauss biography - Encyclopedia Britannica
• Rudi van Dantzig biography - Dutch National Ballet
• Four Last Songs: A musical masterpiece from Richard Strauss - English National Ballet
• Four Last Songs original 1977 programme entry - Dutch National Ballet
• Four Last Songs 2011 programme entry - Dutch National Ballet
• Poem translation by Jame McColley Eilers

Northern Ballet photos by Emily Nuttall, Colleen Mair and Robert David Pearson. Archival image provided by Dutch National Ballet.