Von Hofmannsthal and Strauss around 1915
Last week I made an error in attributing a Simenon introduction to John Banville. Now I have a real Banville/classics/media link: Hugo von Hofmannsthal's Lord Chandos Letter (to which John Banville provided an introduction). Last week, NPR reported that von Hofmannsthal's heirs are in a dispute with the publisher of Richard Strauss's music. Von Hofmannstal was the librettist for several of Strauss's operas, including Elektra and Der Rosenkavalier. Though the story is about royalty payments (not very sexy), the reporter attempts to recast it as a debate about who really is the author of an opera. Is it the librettist or the composer? I happen to think there is an interesting story in the vagaries of copyright law. But what tantalized me, really, was the mention of Strauss's role in the creation of the German music copyright system, and the provision he himself included in his contracts (but I'm one of the few who does find copyright law a sexy topic).
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