When he returned, he led the orchestra in the Court Theatre of Munich and then went to Weimar for two years, and this former young classicist was now hailed as the leader of modern composers! He produced, here, three tone poems: _Macbeth_, _Don Juan_ and _Tod und Verklärung_ (_Death and Transfiguration_) (1888–1890). Then, on account of illness (1892) he went to Greece, Egypt and Sicily. During this tour, he wrote _Guntram_, which he produced on his return to Weimar. He became interested in the Bayreuth festivals and in 1894 he conducted a production of _Tannhäuser_, after which he married Pauline de Ana who played Elizabeth. Before this, he had made her the heroine of his first opera, _Guntram_ (1893). Not long after this he gave up the Weimar post and went to Munich with his bride. He became the conductor there and at the same time, led the Berlin Philharmonic concerts until the double work and commuting became too much for him. He gave up Berlin and Arthur Nikisch succeeded him,—the same Arthur Nikisch who later took the baton of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in America. In 1899 he became the leader of the Royal Opera in Berlin in which city he decided to live and from there made trips all over the world including the United States, first in 1904 and later, after the World War. During his last tour, we heard him play the piano for his songs which are unsurpassed in beauty, and conduct some of his own orchestral works with skill and enthusiasm. He is tall and slender, with kindly blue eyes, rather informal in manner. He has the air of a happy man even if he has received some of the harshest criticism from friends and foes that any composer has had from earliest times. His wife used to sing his songs in public. He is fond of games, especially the card game “skat” and like the true grandson of a brewer enjoys his glass of beer. STRAUSS’S CONTRIBUTION TO MUSIC Among Strauss’ greatest works are his operas _Electra_, _Salome_ and _Der Rosenkavalier_ and his nine tone poems. Despite all the harsh things critics have said of him, Strauss has always maintained that, although he did not write in accepted forms, he felt that the form should always be suitable to the subject, for “as moods and ideas change so must forms.” This, Ernest Newman said in defence of Strauss, and it may be applied to all arts. So Strauss is not formless but like Proteus, has many forms. Cecil Gray said, “he seems to have an irresistible itch to provoke the amazement and the horror of the multitude.” This is quite true, especially in _Salome_, _Electra_ and _Der Rosenkavalier_ in which opera he went back to Mozart form as a model. It seems incredible that a man who could write the noble songs that he has written should have chosen such unpleasant plots for his operas! In _Tod und Verklärung_ (_Death and Transfiguration_) he was distinctly a follower of Liszt. His friend Alexander Ritter is said to have written the poem after the music.