1. Richard Strauss

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Mother  Richard Strauss’ mother’s name was not given.  His mother came from the prominent brewing family of Pschorr.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Famous Works  http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SLuW- GBaJ8k http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SLuW- GBaJ8k  http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_um5yLJ x-RM http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_um5yLJ x-RM

9. Sources  http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/to pic/568524/Richard-Strauss http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/to pic/568524/Richard-Strauss  http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_um5yLJ x-RM http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_um5yLJ x-RM