Richard Strauss

Richard Georg Strauss (b. Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, 11 Jun. 1864 - Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, 8 Sep. 1949) was a German composer and conductor.

## Works[edit]

He is known for the orchestral tone poems that fill his early years, a number of operas, many of which are still regularly performed, and lieder (songs).

Frequently heard tone poems include:

* Don Juan (1889)
* Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration) (1888–89)
* Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks) (1895)
* Also sprach Zarathustra (1896) Its introduction was used in the opening scene of "2001, a Space Odyssey"
* Don Quixote (1898) (For cello and orchestra)
* Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life)(1899)
* Symphonia Domestica (Domestic Symphony), Op. 53 (1904)
* Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), (1915) (His largest orchestral work - a musical interpretation of a day-trip up a mountain, beginning with a superb dawn).

His operas (many of which are famous vehicles for the female voice) include:

* Salome (1905) (from the play by Oscar Wilde)
* Elektra (1909)
* Der Rosenkavalier, (The Knight of the Rose) (1910) (The closest he came to writing a "Viennese" style opera like his (unrelated) namesakes - waltz and all)
* Ariadne auf Naxos, (1912)
* Die Frau ohne Schatten, (The Woman without a Shadow) (1918)
* Intermezzo (1923)
* Arabella (1932)
* Capriccio (1941)

He wrote more than 200 songs, many with orchestra and mostly for soprano, the most appreciated of which are:

* "Morgan!"  (Morning)
* "Zueignung" (Dedication)
* "Frühling", "September", "Beim Schlafengehen" and "Im Abendrot", which make up "Vier letzte Lieder", or "Four Last Songs".

Other works: He wrote two horn concertos (his father was a horn player) and an oboe concerto, which are still in the repertoir. Other works are rarely heard.

## See also[edit]

* Franz Liszt
* Georges Bizet
* Charles Gounod
* Music

## External links[edit]

* Richard Strauss - an overview of the classical composer
* Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59