Elektra

The Music of Vengeance

Polytonality and Dissonance in Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal 's Elektra

I . Introduction

January 25 , 1909 marked a historic event in music , as the Dresden State Opera first staged Elektra , an opera in one act composed by Richard Strauss , based on a Hofmannsthal libretto in German . Now known as a classic representation of the genre , Elektra also celebrated the beginning of a successful and enduring collaboration between the two artists

The opera 's plot is taken from the original Greek tragedy by Sophocles and

discusses its prevalent themes of murder , betrayal , and vengeance The score supplied by Strauss further emphasizes this focus through a host of instrumentations exclusive to Elektra , and succeeds in conveying and eliciting the corresponding emotions throughout the entire performance . Noted are some of the strongest definitive elements of a tragedy , in this case , the desperation and vengeance embodied by the title character such a showcase produced the now famous Elektra chord termed as a dissonant signature chord of complex nature

II . Desperation and Vengeance in the Plot

The themes are rightly executed , given the premise provided - the murder of Agamemnon , Elektra 's father . The connivance of Agamemnon 's wife , Clytemnestra , and her lover Aegisthus in killing Agamemnon is enough to produce the first indications of revenge , as expected of the children - Elektra , Chrysothemis , and Orestes . The main character Elektra , unlike most female protagonists , personifies negative quality of passion , in terms of avenging her father 's death . Her emotions and motivation overpower the characters of her siblings - the deeply traditional Chrysothemis , and the long-absent Orestes . Wild and consumed by her lust for the blood of her mother and her lover , Elektra cuts a truly horrific image and representation that is compounded by the arrival of news that her brother Orestes had died in a faraway land she had planned for Orestes to execute the intricate and firm plans for revenge that she had brainstormed . She had no hope in the weak Chrysothemis , who refused to be part of Elektra 's madness . But when Orestes arrives , negating the original declaration of his demise Elektra arms him with the axe that Clytemnestra had used in the murder - and eventually , Orestes kills both his mother and Aegisthus . The passion for vengeance that had completely defined Elektra 's being were the same causes of her own death , as she fell under a spell of utter satisfaction , demonstrated by a wild dance . She falls dead on the same ground where she had wasted all this time in desperation , awaiting the arrival of Orestes

The plot 's high and low points are built up to a set climax , the final recollection of Elektra 's obsession . This point takes place as she recognizes Orestes , arriving after spreading false news of his death to mislead Clytemnestra and Aegisthus , and is executed as a masterpiece in spontaneity and emotional outburst in song . This trumps all the applied punctuations in the opera , where all of the characters were made to push the...