Richard Strauss
Early Life

(1864-1949)
 Strauss was born in Munich, Germany.
He was born on June 11, 1864.
 His first piano lesson was at the age of
four. He also began violin studies four
years after that.
Father
Strauss’ father was Franz Strauss
 Franz was the principal French-horn
player of the Munich Court Orchestra
and was recognized as Germany’s
leading virtuoso of the instrument.

Mother

Richard Strauss’ mother’s name was not
given.

His mother came from the prominent
brewing family of Pschorr.
Father’s Influence
Strauss’ had a musical upbringing by his
father.
 Through his father’s connections,
Strauss met the leading musicians of the
day.
 For example, the conductor Hans von
Bülow, who commissioned Strauss’s
Suite for 13 Winds for the Meiningen
Orchestra.

Bülow
Bülow invited Strauss to conduct
Strauss’ Suite for 13 Winds first
performance in Munich in November
1884.
 Bülow offered Strauss the post of
assistant conductor at Meiningen.
 Thenceforward Strauss’s eminence as a
conductor paralleled his rise as a
composer.

First Composing

Alexander Ritter urged Strauss to
abandon classical forms and to express
his musical ideas in the medium of the
symphonic.

After mastering this, he conducted the
first performance of his symphonic poem
Don Juan.
Famous Works

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SLuWGBaJ8k

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_um5yLJ
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Sources

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/to
pic/568524/Richard-Strauss

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_um5yLJ
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