Richard Strauss continues the Romantic tradition with…

Richard Strauss continues the Romantic tradition with Wagnerian-style operas and tone poems.

Strauss made his conducting debut at the Bayreuth Festival of 1894, conducting Wagner's Tannhäuser with Pauline singing Elisabeth.

Just prior to their marriage the following September, Strauss left his post in Weimar when he was appointed Kapellmeister, or first conductor, of the Bavarian State Opera where he became responsible for the operas of Wagner.

While working in Munich for the next four years he had his largest creative period period of tone poem composition, producing Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks (1895), Also sprach Zarathustra (1896), Don Quixote (1897), and Ein Heldenleben (1898).

He also served as principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic in 1894–1895.

In 1897, the Strausses’ only child, their son Franz, was born.

Strauss left the Bavarian State Opera in 1898 when he became principle conductor of the Staatskapelle Berlin at the Berlin State Opera in the Fall of 1898; a position he will remain in for fiffteen years.

By this time in his career, he is in constant demand as a guest conductor internationally and enjoys celebrity status as a conductor; particularly in the works of Wagner, Mozart, and Liszt in addition to his own compositions.