Paul Johnson

And Another Thing | 28 March 2009

Richard Strauss: the Bavarian Joker in the Pack

issue 28 March 2009

Richard Strauss died 60 years ago this year. Not only is he one of my top ten favourite composers, he is also the one I would most like to be cast away with on an island so that I could pluck out the heart of his mystery. His subtleties are infinite, especially his constant, minute innovations, always designed to improve existing models but rejecting crude revolutions, so noisily intrusive in his time.

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