Richard Strauss: Mourning a Destroyed Culture
Chapter 1

The magic of tone poems

Chapter 2

Scandals and shocking operas

Chapter 3

The silver age of Vienna

Chapter 4

The twilight masterpieces

YOUR GOAL

Master of The works of Richard Strauss

Ch 4 · The twilight masterpieces
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schopenhauer Mourning a destroyed culture

Sep 7

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schopenhauer The Four Last Songs

At the sunset of his life, a melody from sixty years ago returns.

Sep 7

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schopenhauer The final farewell to song

Sep 7

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A playful debate on words and music

schopenhauer Strauss's last opera, Capriccio, is a clever conversation piece about whether words or music are more important in art.

Sep 7

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The final farewell to song

schopenhauer Written at age 84, Strauss's final completed works are a peaceful, soaring meditation on life and death.

Sep 7

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Strauss Sunset Play
BETA

schopenhauer Match musical clues to his famous works to discover the plays of Richard Strauss.

Sep 7

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Fun Fact

Final words: On his deathbed in 1949, Strauss remarked that dying was exactly like the music he wrote for Death and Transfiguration sixty years earlier.

Sep 7

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Glossary
swan song (noun)
A person's final creative work or performance before retirement or death. Richard Strauss composed his Four Last Songs in 1948 as a final, deeply personal musical farewell.

Sep 7

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Gossip

What makes an opera truly great?

Sep 7

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Quiz

How old was Richard Strauss when he composed his serene Four Last Songs in 1948?

Sep 7

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schopenhauer The soprano voice as his instrument

Sep 7

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Quiz

What is the central debate argued by the characters in Strauss's final 1942 opera Capriccio?

Sep 7

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schopenhauer A playful debate on words and music

Sep 7

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Quiz

For how many solo string instruments did Richard Strauss compose his tragic 1945 masterpiece Metamorphosen?

Sep 7

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Quiz

In which German city did Strauss's final opera Capriccio premiere in 1942?

Sep 7

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Quiz

Which German composer's famous Funeral March is quoted near the end of Strauss's Metamorphosen?

Sep 7

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Quiz

What major global conflict was ending when Strauss wrote his elegiac piece Metamorphosen?

Sep 7

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Quiz

Which poet wrote three of the texts used by Strauss in his Four Last Songs?

Sep 7

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Quiz

Which vocal range did Richard Strauss favor most throughout his life, writing his most famous melodies for it?

Sep 7