O Schröpferschwarm

Strauss: Krämerspiegel, text Alfred Kerr. In 1903 Richard Strauss signed a contract with Bote & Bock, the major Berlin music publisher, stipulating that his next twelve solo songs be allocated to the firm. Shortly afterwards Strauss was involved in a row with Bock and in vengeance refrained from composing any more songs. In 1918 Strauss applied to Bote & Bock for an annulment of the stipulation, but received a flat refusal and a request that he immediately supply the promised twelve songs. He enlisted the help of the aggressive drama critic Alfred Kerr who produced twelve poems painting an extraordinaily unkind picture of the publishers who refused to print the cycle, which was not generally available until its publication by Boosey & Hawkes in 1959.
With Knut Skram, bass-baritone and Eva Knardahl, piano.
AAD recording.