Penguin Books Australia

A novel exploration of the 20th-century's most prominent German composer.

The most prominent and popular German composer of the twentieth century, Richard Strauss (1864-1949) remains one of the most controversial figures in the history of music. Though he is now accepted as one of the finest of all orchestral composers, and his operas as the most subtly characterized since those of Mozart, his reputation remains dogged by charges of sensationalism, careerist opportunism and Nazi collaboration.

This powerful study identifies Strauss' life within the context of German history, to reveal the paradoxes that lay beneath his flamboyant public persona; and to deconstruct his work in the light of the personal, artistic, literary and political influences that shaped it.