Ein Heldenleben: Tone Poem for Orchestra, Op. 40

by Richard Strauss

One of the twentieth century's most celebrated composers, Richard Strauss created a series of masterful tone poems that are fundamental to the repertoire of all major Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegel, Don Quixote, Also Sprach Zarathustra, Tod und Verklärung, and this work, Ein Heldenleben.
Conceived as a companion piece to Don Juan, Ein Heldenleben calls for a huge orchestra, including eight horns, five trumpets, quadruple woodwinds, and a full complement of percussion and strings. At the center of the story stands Strauss himself, in a thinly disguised self-portrait of a besieged composer who goes to war with the critics in a mighty orchestral battle that delights both musicians and audiences.
Ideal for use in the classroom, at home, or in the concert hall, this affordable, high-quality, conveniently sized volume will be the edition of choice for all lovers of great music.

144 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2002

About the author

Richard Georg Strauss was a German composer and conductor best known for his tone poems and operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt. Along with Gustav Mahler, he represents the late flowering of German Romanticism, in which pioneering subtleties of orchestration are combined with an advanced harmonic style.