STRAUSS, RICHARD ( b. M├╝nich, Germany, 11 June 1864; d. Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 8 Sept 1949 )
Strauss was both an instrumental and opera composer. He also achieved fame in his lifetime as an opera conductor. Unlike Wagner, whose successor he has been called, he made his reputation as a composer in the concert hall.
He first gained notice when he directed Wagner's Tannhäuser at Bayreuth in 1894. His own first opera, Guntram appeared in the same year. Both this and his next work, Feuersnot, (The Need for Fire), were well received. Salome, based on Oscar Wilde's infamous play, was not. The music and the subject outraged his audiences who considered them equally decadent.
Elektra, which followed, was another intense piece, notable for its use of the Wagnerian leitmotiv. By contrast, Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose) (1911) is a comic love-story. Much loved for its music, story and characterisation, it continues to hold its place in the operatic repertoire.
Strauss's next operas, Ariadne auf Naxos (1912) and Die Frau ohne Schatten ( The Woman without a Shadow ) (1919), were also products of his long association with the librettist, Hofmannsthal. His relationships with librettists were good throughout his career. He also enjoyed working with singers and, besides his operatic output, wrote many lieder.
His later operas are still frequently revived in Germany, but have not achieved international success. His last opera, Capriccio (1942) takes as its subject the old question of whether good operatic writing gives priority to words or music.
Strauss suffered during the Second World War and was declared an outlaw by the Nazis. After the war ended he moved to Switzerland, where his health began to fail. His final compositions were Four Last Songs, written for orchestra and soprano.
