[caption id="attachment_75977" align="alignright" width="236"] 1918 portrait of Strauss by Max Liebermann[/caption] June 11th is the 150th birth anniversary of German composer and conductor Richard Strauss.  Born on this date in 1864, he lived until 1949.  He was an important figure in the musical developments of the late Romantic and early modern eras.  He expanded the range of orchestral writing by both increasing the size of the orchestra and by enriching the complexity of harmonic language. This evening's Symphony @ 7 will be two hours long so I can bring you two of the larger orchestra works, as well as four songs for soprano and orchestra.  From 1897, we'll hear Don Quixote, a large tone poem for cello and orchestra, inspired by the  early 17th novel by Cervantes, and in the second hour, from 1914, Josephlegende (The Legend of Joseph), a one-act ballet based on the Biblical story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife.  In between, we'll have four of his loveliest songs, composed between 1894 and 1933. Join me this evening for both familiar and rare music from Richard Strauss on Classical 101.
Today is the 150th Birth Anniversary of Richard Strauss
