Richard Strauss

Though his extensive professional life bridged an era of unprecedented upheaval across global politics, society, and culture, Richard Strauss maintained a fundamentally Romantic outlook well into the era of television, jet propulsion, and nuclear weapons.

The Munich-born composer entered the world in 1864 as the son of Franz Joseph Strauss, principal hornist of the Munich Court Orchestra. Early demonstrations of musical talent, coupled with rigorous instruction in piano, violin, theory, harmony, and orchestration, enabled him to create works of remarkable refinement and sophistication upon reaching maturity. His principal mentors were his father, a staunch musical traditionalist, and family friend Ludwig Thuille, a composer associated with the Munich School. At age seventeen he completed the Serenade for 13 Winds, Op. 7 (1881), prompting conductor Hans von Bülow to declare him “by far the most striking personality since Brahms.” Bülow subsequently offered Strauss both his initial commission and an assistant conductor post. Acquaintances introduced him to the philosophies of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche as well as the music of Wagner and Liszt, after which he pursued an extensive conducting and composing career that carried him throughout Europe and the United States.

From the outset, the orchestra revealed itself as Strauss’s essential expressive vehicle. The 1886 “symphonic fantasy” Aus Italien inaugurated a sequence of compositions that marked both a decisive stage in his development and a cornerstone of late German Romantic literature. Although he did not originate the tone poem, he elevated the form to its highest achievement. Pieces such as Don Juan (1888–1889), Ein Heldenleben (1897–1898), and Also sprach Zarathustra (1895–1896)—whose opening minutes gained widespread recognition through their inclusion in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey—demonstrated an unmatched ability to harness orchestral color for dramatic effect.

After assuming the conductorship at Berlin’s Hofoper at the turn of the twentieth century, Strauss directed his energies more completely toward opera, producing a series of enduring stage works that remain central to the repertory. Among the most celebrated are Salome (1903–1905), Elektra (1906–1908), and Der Rosenkavalier (1909–1910). In 1919 he became co-director of the Vienna Staatsoper, only to resign five years later when partner Franz Schalk objected to managing day-to-day operations during Strauss’s frequent absences for guest engagements and honors. The malignant political climate of the 1930s drew the politically inexperienced composer into uneasy association with the Nazi propaganda apparatus, ultimately estranging him from both regime officials and their adversaries. Following World War II he was allowed to resume activities, though on a far smaller scale than before; declining health, financial strain, and the destruction of cultural landmarks he cherished—Goethe’s house in Weimar and the opera houses of Dresden, Munich, and Vienna—marked his final period. Compositions such as the Oboe Concerto (1945) and the eloquent Four Last Songs (1948) nevertheless affirmed Strauss’s steadfast commitment to his distinctive musical idiom.