Strauss' Serenade (Ständchen) from his 6 Lieder, Op. 17 has been arranged for viola solo and piano by the world-famous violist Donald McInnes, who held a professorship at the University of Southern California from 1985 to 2014 and is known in virtually every corner of the artistic world for his appearances with major orchestras, recitals, chamber music participation, and numerous master classes.

Strauss composed his Op. 17 songs to poems by Adolf Friedrich von Schack between 1885 and 1887. During this period Strauss became the conductor of the Munich Court Opera. His early experience in the opera house influenced him not only as an opera composer, but also as a composer of lieder. Strauss' songs often have an operatic sweep about them, as well as a clear sense of climax and dramatic pacing. The Serenade from his Op. 17 songs is no exception, with its sweeping solo line and shimmering piano part.

Download and print the score today to gain access to this expertly edited arrangement of Strauss' Serenade (Ständchen), Op. 17, No. 2 for viola and piano!

Below is the original German text by Adolf Friedrich Graf von Schack and the English translation by Lawrence Snyder and Rebecca Plack for Richard Strauss' Serenade:

Mach auf, mach auf, doch leise mein Kind,
Um keinen vom Schlummer zu wecken.
Kaum murmelt der Bach, kaum zittert im Wind
Ein Blatt an den Büschen und Hecken.
Drum leise, mein Mädchen, daß nichts sich regt,
Nur leise die Hand auf die Klinke gelegt.

Mit Tritten, wie Tritte der Elfen so sacht,
Die über die Blumen hüpfen,
Flieg leicht hinaus in die Mondscheinnacht,
mir in den Garten zu schlüpfen.
Rings schlummern die Blüten am rieselnden
Bach Und duften im Schlaf, nur die Liebe ist wach.

Sitz nieder, hier dämmert's geheimnisvoll
Unter den Lindenbäumen,
Die Nachtigall uns zu Häupten soll
Von unseren Küssen träumen,
Und die Rose, wenn sie am Morgen erwacht,
Hoch glühn von den Wonnenschauern der Nacht.


Open up, open, but softly my dear,
So as to wake no one from sleep.
The brook hardly murmers, the wind hardly shakes
A leaf on bush or hedge.
So, softly, my maiden, so that nothing stirs,
Just lay your hand softly on the doorlatch.

With steps as soft as the footsteps of elves,
Soft enough to hop over the flowers,
Fly lightly out into the moonlit night,
To steal to me in the garden.
The flowers are sleeping along the rippling brook,
Fragrant in sleep, only love is awake.
  
Sit, here it darkens mysteriously
Beneath the lindens,
The nightingale over our heads
Shall dream of our kisses,
And the rose, when it wakes in the morning,
Shall glow from the wondrous passions of the night.