Tension and Release Part 2 of 2

Sexual connotations are abundantly expressed in classical music, but they are often more subtle to the casual listener’s ear than sexual suggestions in more contemporary music genres. In contrast to the graphic lyrical or physical imitation of sex in popular music, classical music employs the basic pattern of tension and release, arousal and relief created through the use of musical elements such as imitation, timbre, intensity, rhythm and register.

An excellent example of the representation of desire, arousal, and sexual tension in classical music is “Dance of the Seven Veils,” in Richard Strauss’ opera, Salome.  Based on Oscar Wilde’s play, the opera is the Biblical story of spurned love, incestuous arousal and murder. Stepdaughter of Herod Antipas, Salome becomes enamored of John the Baptist.  The prophet spurns her, and in a fit of pique, Salome determines to have him murdered.  Salome performs an erotic striptease for her stepfather at a palace banquet, and he grants Salome her wish. Tympani and brass begin the dance with a fanfare that foreshadows the lust and desire that the dance will provoke in Herod.  Violins, oboes and flutes seemingly tease and caress sensual phrases out of the night air.  Quick, light descents down scales imitate the one-by-one removal and falling away of silken veils, revealing more and more of Salome and increasing Herod’s desire. Triangle, castanets and finger cymbals provide exotic color for the erotic dance.  Heavy, engorged horn leitmotifs sound occasionally and imply the affect the dance is having on the concupiscent king.  Rhythm and intensity wax and wane during the course of the dance, increasing the tension and imitating the king’s craving for the relief that is just out of reach as Salome tantalizes Herod.  At last, the final veil is removed, and percussion and horns explode in energetic frenzy as the music rises in crescendo and at last, peaks.  Release of the king’s distended desire is imitated and symbolized by the brief, oboe and flute duet, which holds the listener’s ear in splendid relief until a concluding orchestral exhalation of satisfaction. 

I wonder if those wishing to protect America against what they considered lewd in popular music in the eighties would have sought a “Parental Advisory” label on Strauss’ work if they had understood the vocabulary of classical music?