This article deals with the tectonic principles in Richard Strauss ś works, taking account of his first six operatic compositions. These principles diverge notably in the individual works. Salome and Electra are so-called symphonic operas – apart from use of the orchestral apparatus, they are characterised especially by the applied tectonic and formal principles, adopted partially from so-called absolute music. Principally this means the sonata-form elements which we encounter in these operas – thematic dualism, tonal planning and tonal equalisation. In The Knight of the Rose and Ariadne on Naxos, as regards tectonics there is a tendency towards the classical model of so-called number opera, though on a different qualitative level – to a greater extent there is a prominence of song and a traditionally conceived periodicity.
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