Death and Transfiguration, Op. 24 (Tod und Verklarung)

The fourth in a set of tone poems that Richard Strauss (1864-1949) wrote before his career as an opera composer, DEATH AND TRANSFIGURATION (TOD UND VERKL?RUNG) portrays the death of an artist and the struggle and flight of the soul as it achieves its final resting place. Under the spell of Wagner, Strauss had originally titled it LIEBESTOD UND VERKL?RUNG after the final scene in TRISTAN UND ISOLDE. Completing the work in 1889, the composer conducted its premiere at the Eisenach Festival on June 21, 1890. He observed that "dying is just the way I composed it", reflecting on the work at the end of his life. Instrumentation: 3.2+EH.2+BCl.2+CBsn: 4.3.3.1: Timp. Perc(1): 2Hp: Str (9.8.7.6.5 in set).