Richard Strauss’s Don Juan, Op. 20 is a tone poem composed in 1888—when the composer was just 24—and first performed by Strauss himself in Weimar on 11 November 1889. Inspired by Nikolaus Lenau’s verse drama Don Juans Ende, the...

Death and Transfiguration (Tod und Verklärung), Op. 24, is a symphonic poem composed by Richard Strauss between 1888 and 1889 and premiered in 1890. It portrays the final moments of an artist on his deathbed, reflecting on his life’s struggles...

Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs, composed in 1948, represents the culmination of the composer’s career and a profound reflection on life and mortality. Scored for soprano and orchestra, these four songs—Frühling (Spring), September,...