AGATE

The “Kritische Ausgabe der Werke von Richard Strauss”, financed by the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, has been conducted since 2011 under the direction of Prof. Dr. Hartmut Schick at the Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU) in Munich. Cooperation partners are the Richard Strauss Institute and the Richard Strauss Archive in Garmisch-Partenkirchen as well as the LMU’s Humanities IT Group. The editorial team consists of six senior editors and several assistants. A project committee and an advisory board accompany the issue. Born in Munich, Richard Strauss (1864–1949) was one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. In terms of the regular presence of his stage and concert works, as well as their popularity with traditional audiences, he is by far the most successful. Nonetheless, almost none of his approx. 500 compositions is presently available in an edition that meets scholarly standards of source criticism.

Within a period of 25 years, the project will present the most important genres and groups of works under the name “Richard Strauss Werke. Kritische Ausgabe” in about 50 volumes, including music and critical commentary, supported by an international consortium of publishers. The edition takes into account variants, alternative versions, revisions etc., and also evaluates historical orchestral parts (as well as many other sources) that were used in performances under the direction of Strauss himself. The new scores will also form the blueprint for the production of new performance materials. A supplementary digital offer is the online platform www.richard-strauss-ausgabe.de with synoptic comparisons of lyrics as well as extensive document collections, encompassing the most important source materials (letters, reviews, prompt books etc.) and documenting a work’s genesis comprehensively. One year after publication, the text parts of the volumes will also be made available here.