Richard Strauss: Composer and Conductor

Richard Strauss (1864–1949) was a German composer and conductor, and one of the most important musical figures of the late Romantic and early modern eras. Born in Munich, he was the son of the distinguished horn player Franz Strauss and received an extensive musical education from childhood.

Alongside his career as a composer, Strauss became an internationally celebrated conductor. He held important positions in Munich, Berlin and Vienna and conducted many of Europe’s leading orchestras and opera houses.

As a composer, he achieved fame with tone poems such as Don Juan, Also sprach Zarathustra, Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche and Ein Heldenleben. His operas Salome, Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier and Ariadne auf Naxos established him as one of the great masters of modern opera.

Strauss was also an important recording artist, leaving valuable documents of his interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven and his own works. He died in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on 8 September 1949, leaving an immense legacy as both composer and conductor.