Ruizhe Ye, Class 17, Senior 2, Shenzhen Middle School Instructed by Mercy Ye

I have been listening to many works of Richard Strauss. Always impressed by his skillful application of leitmotifs and complex counterpoint, I have long anticipated the performance of his “Don Quixote Op.35” on the 2020-21 season’s final concert by Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SZSO) and the conductor Lin Daye.

The work starts with the Don Quixote theme and a clownish rising scale in D major. Flutes and oboes finish the first phrase with a fantastic major sixth chord to kick off the man’s vagary — he is a knight who is on his way to rescue his lover from the evil power. Responding to the established Don Quixote theme, a solo violin continues that wild imagination with a new phrase. The dreamy oboe theme then confirms his obsession with fantasy.

Trumpets abruptly puncture the romance with an almost atonal passage, which urges the music to become increasingly intense. The falling arpeggio of flutes then emerges and dissolves in the juxtaposition of the oboe theme and Don Quixote theme.

I was already astonished by Strauss’ mature counterpoint techniques to hold all these materials together, but there was more to come. The French horn flies over the atonal violin solo with a new motif resembling the “Don Quixote” theme. Then, the magnificent climax splashes forward unceasingly like roaring waves, with flutes, clarinets, trumpets, and strings all joining in.

The use of this splendid and dazzling counterpoint was unparalleled in Strauss’ time. The music energy keeps accumulating and suddenly explodes — with a bang from the cymbals and trombones — and the introduction ends.

The bewildering counterpoint along with the atonal violin solo was a stroke of genius, a perfect reflection of the knight’s conflicted mind. Furthermore, the later part of the piece, especially the atonal sheep-imitation in variation II and the usage of the wind machine, was innovative.

In 1897, few composers appreciated Strauss’ “deviation,” but he did not give in to the opposition. He knew clearly that he was on the path treaded first by his German-Austrian predecessors, such as Liszt and Wagner, and was eager to broaden it with his own feet. To make way for his avant-garde aesthetics of late romanticism, Strauss would try any rebellious techniques — just like the stubborn Don Quixote.

At the end of this symphonic poem, a cello solo plays the Don Quixote theme slowly for the very last three times and slides to the note D to represent the peaceful death of the knight. But the music doesn’t end there. Flutes make their final descending arpeggio with a hopeful ending chord by the entire orchestra. For me, it is an announcement that the spirit of Don Quixote never diminished, and Strauss gained this chivalrous courage through the work — he became a Don Quixote of his time.

Tears began to well up in my eyes as the sorrowful ending dawned. The hardship in life, the ruthlessness of reality, and the remoteness of my dreams bombarded my mind. As a college applicant, can I be courageous enough to hold on to my dream — to pursue the majors I love, or shall I give in to the reality — to apply for schools of a higher rank and majors that are less competitive?

I don’t know the answer yet, but I was told, “There is mercy for the dreamers, who keep their heads in the clouds and feet on the ground.”