Classical Hour
Simone Young Richard Strauss

Strauss: Tod und Verklärung

"Dying is just as I composed it in Tod und Verklärung," Richard Strauss (1864–1949) is said to have remarked in his final hours in 1949. The work was composed in 1888/89. The fact that he remembered it 60 years later shows how much it meant to him.

Tod und Verklärung depicts the death of an artist. Through the music, we are taken through the final part of an old man's life, the struggle between life and death as he sees his life pass before him, and finally a moving and reconciliatory ending. The tone poem is divided into four sections and showcases Strauss's exceptional ability to create orchestral colours.