A Hero's Life, Op. 40 (German: Ein Heldenleben) is a tone poem by Richard Strauss. The work was completed in 1898, and heralds the composer's more mature period in this genre. The piece is said to depict a hero fighting his enemies.
Read more about A Hero's Life: Structure and Analysis, Dedication and Performances, Instrumentation, Recordings
Famous quotes containing the words hero and/or life:
“Boswell, when he speaks of his Life of Johnson, calls it my magnum opus, but it may more properly be called his opera, for it is truly a composition founded on a true story, in which there is a hero with a number of subordinate characters, and an alternate succession of recitative and airs of various tone and effect, all however in delightful animation.”
—James Boswell (1740–1795)
“Yet they that know all things but know
That all this life can give us is
A child’s laughter, a woman’s kiss.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)