The author of this book attempts to interpret Strauss's development through the one most substantial branch of his music, his operas.

"The history of twentieth-century opera is dominated by the towering figure of Richard Strauss; and it is now possible to assess his musical and dramatic achievement in its true context. William Mann's brilliant study is the first exhaustive survey in the English language of Strauss's fifteen operas. It is a book at once scholarly and accessible, penetrating and witty, illuminating and critical. From the early Guntram, written in the shadow of Wagner's all-pervading influence, to Capriccio, Strauss's last word and exquisite, neo-classical commentary on the relationship of words and music in opera, Mr. Mann conducts the reader through each of the fifteen operas, analyzing each work in fascinating detail, examining Strauss's lifelong preoccupation with the unity of music and libretto and throwing new light on the unique relationship between the composer and the sensitive withdrawn poet, von Hofmannsthal. The grammar and individuality of Strauss's musical language are explained with exceptional clarity and illustrated with over 400 music examples in the text. Richard Strauss was the last of the giants of opera in the grand manner, part romantic, part traditionalist, unequaled in his mastery of orchestration, unsurpassed certainly in his exquisite writing for the female voice; the true successor of Wagner, but more truly the twentieth-century evocation of the spirit of Mozart. William Mann has written a superb and authoritative study of the operas of this remarkable, though erratic, man."--Dust jacket.

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