Author Description

Product DescriptionBL Second edition includes expanded biographical section and discussion of Strauss's music Richard Strauss's long life spanned nearly a century, from the consolidation of Wagner's fame in the 1860s to the age of post-serialism and the dawn of electronics when he died in 1949. For 79 of his 85 years he composed―songs, chamber music, a series of brilliant tone-poems, and the great ballets and operas which he created for the legendary stars of Dresden and Vienna. He was also one of the outstanding conductors of his time, directing opera companies in Weimar, Munich, Berlin, and Vienna. His life was rich in controversy, from the `outrage' caused by the operas Salome and Elektra to the years under the Nazi regime. In his survey of the music, rejecting the generally-accepted view that Strauss's genius declined in his middle years, Michael Kennedy traces refinements of style from the early 1920s to Strauss's late works. The first edition of this book was published by Dent in 1976.About the AuthorMichael Kennedy has been Chief Music Critic on the Sunday Telegraph since 1989. From 1960 to 1986 he was Northern Editor of the Daily Telegraph and the paper's music critic from 1950 to 1989. He was awarded an OBE in 1981. He is the author of numerous books including studies of Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Walton, and also The Oxford Dictionary of Music (2nd edn 1994); Mahler (J.M. Dent, Master Musicians series, 1981, 2nd edition 1993, OUP, 1994) and Portrait of Walton (OUP, 1990)