Die heiligen drei Könige (The three Holy Kings) Op.56 No.6

Richard Strauss (1864–1949)

Die heiligen drei Könige (The three Holy Kings) Op.56 No.6   

One of Richard Strauss’s few religious songs, Die heiligen drei Könige is also one of the few conceived originally for voice and orchestra rather than for voice and piano. There is an arrangement for voice and piano but, obviously, it is nowhere near as colourful as the present version. It begins in the dark on lower strings as the three kings from the east look for the road to Bethlehem and brightens up only a little before the first entry of the voice. But where it begins to shine – with brilliant celesta, harp. trumpet and woodwind sounds – is where they catch sight of the star that will lead them to their destination. When they get to the stable the oxen bellow on the brass and the child cries on shrill wind and strings. The long, expressively melodious and beautifully scored orchestral postlude represents the fervent song of the three kings as they pay their homage.