(_4th Period._) "Tod und Verklärung"--Tondichtung (op. 24, 1889), is classified with the opera "Guntram" for embodying a certain reactionary trend on the part of the author. There is no lack of intricate polyphony, daring harmonic combinations, complex rhythm, startling contrasts, monumental climaxes, and clever orchestral devices; but in these works Strauss has exercised more restraint than in the preceding "Macbeth" and "Don Juan," whereas the acme of his extreme realism was not reached until after he began his following and mightiest series of symphonic poems beginning with "Till Eulenspiegel." To quote the refined language of Herman Klein: "In 'Tod und Verklärung' is depicted the death struggle of a man before whose mental vision there passes the panorama of a wasted life followed by the man's transfiguration, as his redeemed soul passes out of earthly existence into a higher state." Of the three themes from "Tod und Verklärung" appended below, it is interesting to note that the first of these (No. 8) was subsequently interwoven into the introductory theme of "Ein Heldenleben," and appears as the third phrase of the _Motiv_ representing "Der Held." (See page 113, example 22, bars 6 and 7.) [Music: No. 8.] [Music: No. 9.] [Music: No. 10.] Strauss has not been so conspicuously successful with his operas as with his orchestral works,[67] but the following themes from "Guntram" disclose the general nature of his operatic conceptions. [Footnote 67: See footnote on page 118 in reference to Strauss' latest dramatic production.] [Music: No. 11.] [Music: No. 12.] [Music: No. 13.] [Music: No. 14.] (_5th Period._) The most radical exposition of modern orchestration is discovered in the fifth period of symphonic creations beginning with "Till Eulenspiegel's lustige Streiche"--nach alter Schelmenweise in Rondo-Form (op. 28, 1895)[68] and culminating thus far in "Ein Heldenleben." Of the following two themes from "Till Eulenspiegel," No. 16, representing the titular character, is a brilliant specimen of horn-writing, as embodied in the Rondo. [Footnote 68: Appendix, Ex. 102, 103.] [Music: No. 15.] [Music: No. 16.] Flowing cantilena, perverted rhythmic effects and still another illustration of virile horn-writing are presented in the following examples from the musical exposition of Zarathustra's philosophy under the title of "Also sprach Zarathustra"--Tondichtung frei nach Nietzsche (op. 30, 1896).[69] [Footnote 69: Appendix, Ex. 97 to 101.] [Music: No. 17.] [Music: No. 18.] [Music: No. 19. Credo in unum Deum] Among the most characteristic of Richard Strauss' pictorial themes are the following two from his portrayal of Cervantes' rueful hero: "Don Quixote"--phantastische Variationen über ein Thema ritterlichen Characters (op. 35, 1897): [Music: No. 20.] [Music: No. 21.] XI.