One of the great composers of the Post-Romantic Era, Richard Strauss (1864-1949) is known for his tone poems such as Also Sprach Zarathustra, Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, and Death and Transfiguration, as well as operas such as Der Rosenkavalier and Salome. Initially considered a retrograde composer from the dark ages of tonality, he was reappraised as a composer who stretched the tonal system to uncharted limits and presaged the musical developments of the 20th century.

Known for treating friends and acquaintances badly, Strauss was once described by the conductor Hans Knappertsbusch:

I knew him very well. I played cards with him every week for 40 years, and he was a pig.