Richard Strauss composed the melodrama Enoch Arden (1897) for his colleague Ernst von Possart, who had assisted Strauss in obtaining a post at the Munich Court Opera in 1896. Possart, well known for his recitations, was no doubt grateful for such a contribution to a repertory mostly eschewed by composers of Strauss' stature. Strauss and Possart performed the work together on numerous occasions, and even toured with it.

The poem, written by Alfred Lord Tennyson and published in 1864, tells the story of three children—Enoch Arden, Philip Ray, and Annie Lee—who go their separate ways upon reaching adulthood. Enoch is lost at sea; Annie, having heard nothing for years, gives up hope of seeing him again and marries Philip. Enoch eventually finds his way back but refuses to reveal himself to Annie. She learns his identity only after his quiet death years later.

As dramatic as parts of the narrative are, Strauss refrained from composing an extensive musical backdrop. Given the length of the text, Strauss' musical contribution is relatively minimal: instead of complicating the recitation with an ongoing, elaborate accompaniment, he instead provides musical punctuation and commentary. Throughout, Tennyson's spoken text is unquestionably predominant.

The work is divided into two approximately equal parts, each with a short musical prelude. Strauss assigns leitmotifs to each of the three main characters, drawing on these ideas at various points in the work. Rather than developing themes and motives, as he would in his operas, Strauss uses his musical materials more statically, recalling the "reminiscence motives" of earlier nineteenth century opera. Strauss' language here is plainer, more conservative, than that found in his other contemporaneous works. The harmonies indeed suggest an earlier style, perhaps alluding to the period in which Tennyson's poem was completed some three decades earlier.

Largely because of the very nature of the genre, Enoch Arden succeeds mainly on the basis of the narrator's contribution. Strauss employed a translation of the poem by Adolf Strodtmann, who effectively conveyed the drama of Tennyson's narrative in German. Performances since Strauss' own time often make use of the original English text. One of the more notable recordings of the work is that narrated by the actor Claude Rains, accompanied by Glenn Gould.

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