June 11th, 2019, marks the 155th anniversary of Richard Strauss’s birth. You can tell a lot about a person from the way they spend their birthday. While some let the day pass with no obvious interruptions to their routine, others demand an entire week of celebration. They drop hints months in advance that they’ve never had a surprise party. They may even throw themselves a half-birthday party because “365 days is too long to wait.”
So, we wondered: How would Strauss spend his big day if he were still alive? He celebrated a lot of birthdays — 85, to be exact — so there’s a decent amount of research and inspiration to draw from.
Would he create a Facebook event called “It’s Salo(bout)me” and invite 600 guests to the Imperial Hotel in Vienna? Would he send an evite to his closest friends and family with the subject line, “Aria Coming To My (L)Elek(s)tra 155th Birthday Party in Garmisch?”
Let’s see how this lieder of classical music might spend his big 1-5-5 in New York City …
9am: Breakfast and a Walk to the Museum
Just before 9, it’s rise and shine time for Strauss. He begins his birthday just like any other day: with a simple breakfast of coffee and a buttered bread roll, followed by a 45-minute walk with his wife, Pauline. The skies look a bit grey and it’s just begun to drizzle, but the happy pair takes their daily constitutional rain or shine, and a little precipitation isn’t going to stop them!
Today, however, the pair has a special destination — after all, they are on holiday in NYC! — they’re off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Even when traveling, Strauss feels the unrelenting pull of productivity, whether that means actively composing at the piano, reading a classic work of literature for inspiration, or simply taking in the cultural sights of a new city.
The Met isn’t terribly busy this early, so Strauss is able to explore the art at his leisure. By noon, however, the museum has filled up with visitors from all over the world, and Strauss takes this as his cue to leave. Out into the sunshine, and into a taxi back to the hotel.
1pm: Lunchtime
All of that walking certainly helped Strauss work up an appetite. Though he typically prefers a nice home-cooked meal, today Strauss heads to the hotel restaurant and orders the beef — one of his favorite dishes — though not before requesting that the fatty edges remain untrimmed. There’s a treat waiting for him at the end of the meal, too: vanilla biscuits, made from the same recipe that Anni, his housekeeper, used to make.
2:30 pm: Time for a Nap
After a satisfying birthday lunch, Strauss and Pauline head back to their hotel suite, where Pauline insists that Strauss take his daily afternoon nap. He’s had his fair number of health scares, so his ever-diligent wife always makes sure he takes the best possible care of his body — she even convinced him to quit smoking when he was 75. Strauss is feeling a bit worn down at the moment (at 155 years old, he’s no spring chicken) so he lies down on the sofa and rests for a half hour, music swimming through his head.
3 pm: Work at the Desk
When he awakens, Strauss heads straight to the desk with pencil and paper — it may be 2019, but Strauss isn’t a fan of all these new computerized composition tools. Besides, why would they name that fancy composition software after Sibelius? “Strauss” has a much better ring to it, no?
Strauss has always split his time between composing and conducting. In the fall and winter months, he tends to take on more regular conducting engagements, and in the spring and summer, his compositional output blossoms. Today, he is working on a new set of lieder for soprano Renée Fleming.
5 pm: Another Walk in Central Park
Like clockwork, at 5, Pauline appears beside Strauss and alerts him to the time. Dinner is in an hour (and they have big plans!), but first, it’s time for their second walk of the day. New York City has been an exciting adventure — he’s heard world-class performances, wandered around galleries filled awe-inspiring art, and even met a “naked cowboy.”
The excitement is taking a toll on Strauss though, so it’s time to venture out into nature for an hour. “Nature,” however, is at a premium on a warm June day in Manhattan, so the pair has to take what they can get. Off they go to Central Park, where they happen upon such charming surprises as a statue of William Shakespeare and an impromptu performance by an amateur string quartet. At a quarter-to-six, they’re on their way back to the hotel for the celebratory part of the day ...
6 pm: Dinner Party
Several weeks prior to his trip, Strauss had his party planner send out an invitation to all of his friends and family who might be in or near NYC on June 11th, inviting them to his 155th birthday bash. He’s not the most attention-hungry individual on the planet, but he did once admit, “I fail to see why I cannot make a symphony about myself. I find myself just as interesting as Napoleon or Alexander.” So why not throw a party in honor of himself?!
At 6 pm, the guests arrive and dinner is served. Normally the Strauss family eats their dinner at 7, but Strauss has tickets to a must-see show this evening, so the schedule was adjusted slightly to accommodate this bit of birthday fun. After the delicious meal of veal roast and rosehip jam for dessert (another recipe à la Anni), the conversation and laughter is cut short and Strauss and his wife dash off in a cab for their second-to-last event of the evening.
8 pm: Shakespeare in the Park
They’re off to the Delacorte Theater, where they will be attending opening night of Much Ado About Nothing. While in the cab, Pauline calls her party planner and helps notate each item consumed by their guests over the course of the evening. Ever the socialite, Pauline would never dream of serving a guest the same meal on more than one occasion. She keeps a detailed notebook precisely to avoid this unimaginable faux-pas.
While Pauline chats, Richard grumbles about the traffic and the honking cars surrounding them. At least it’s better than the eight-hour journey he endured on an unheated train from Berlin to Bielefeld back in 1917!
The pair arrive at the Delacorte just in time for the start of the show and enjoy an evening of Shakespearean comedy in the warm evening air.
10:30 pm: A Game of Skat
Back at the hotel, there is a surprise waiting for Strauss: His “ragged skat brothers,” as Pauline refers to them, had traveled to New York to surprise the musician on his birthday. The group had arranged for a table to be prepared in the hotel lobby where they could play their favorite card game until they were too tired to go on — or until most of them had lost all of their money! After a day of music filling his head, Strauss is happy to end his birthday with the only pastime that truly allows him to unwind and get some respite from his work.
Wee Hours of the Morning: Time for Bed
The skat brothers have broken up for the evening and it is now time for bed. It’s been a productive and enjoyable 155th birthday, but this musician needs his sleep if he’s going to be at the Natural History Museum first thing in the morning!