Richard Strauss

Richard Strauss (1864–1949) was a prominent German composer and conductor of the late Romantic and early Modern eras, renowned for his tone poems such as 'Also sprach Zarathustra' and 'Till Eulenspiegel' and operas including 'Salome' and 'Der Rosenkavalier'. Born to a virtuoso horn player father and from a brewing family mother, he composed over 140 works by age 18 and held key conducting posts in Munich, Weimar, Berlin, and Vienna. His career spanned dramatic historical changes, including two world wars and the Nazi era, during which his political naivety briefly associated him with the regime.