Huw Dixon

This is my arrangement of the Richard Strauss Song “Das Lied des Steinklopfers” (Song of the Stone Breakers) Op. 49, No. 4, written in 1902. 

I replace the voice line with the synthesiser and violin. 

The Piano part is spread between keyboards, guitars, bass, Glockenspiel and tuba with occasional church organ. The instruments play exactly the same notes as are found in the original score.  I also added some ghostly sounds! The guitar sounds have gone through Guitar rig 7, a native instruments creation which enables you to capture a range of effects. 

I like to take classical pieces and “arrange them” to get something quite different. I called it Nightmare in Berlin because the piece was completed by Strauss in Charlottenburg,  a posh suburb of Berlin where he was living when he wrote this.

My original plan was to do a “Ramstein” style version with lyrics sung as Till Lindemann might sing them. I may do this later, but here is the instrumental version. I started the arrangement in April 2024, and finished the production in pro tools on January 3^rd 2026. I also did a version for brass band, which is how the tuba enmded up in the final version.

I provide an excellent versiom of the original song with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau singing below with Lyrics. In the credits I put down Richard Strauss as composer and we can see a photo of him from 1904 along side the Dr Hu 2.