Review his life

Richard Strauss was born June 11, 1864, Munich, Germany. He is the son of the principal horn player of the Munich Court Orchestra, Franz Strauss. Strauss started composed his first piece when he was six years old and by his 18th Birthday, he had composed over 140 works. With the premieres of “Don Juan” in 1888 Strauss’ fame as a composer grew. In 1887 he met the soprano Pauline de Ahna, who was to prove a major influence during his career. They married in 1894.

With the arrival of the twentieth century, Strauss turned more into opera. He composed his famous opera Salome, Elektra, and Der Rosenkavalier around these decade. When the political situation in Europe became severe in the 1930s, it led Strauss involved as the Nazi propaganda machine, and the composer eventually alienated both the Nazis and their opponents. He began to have serious health problems, his financial situation had been compromised, Throughout his last years, works such as the Oboe Concerto (1945) and the gorgeously expressive Four Last Songs (1948) attest to Strauss' unwavering confidence in his singular musical voice. After the celebrations of the composer's 85th birthday, Strauss began to suffer from heart failure. He died at the age of 85 on 8 September 1949.

Strauss have represented the late blossoming of German Romanticism after Richard Wagner, in which pioneering subtleties of orchestration are combined with an advanced harmonic style.