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Death and Transfiguration
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<p><i>Death and Transfiguration</i> (German: <i>Tod und Verklärung</i>), <a href="/facts/Opus_number/yRkssWfG">Op.</a> 24, is a <a href="/facts/Tone_poem/ADXY66pH">tone poem</a> for orchestra by <a href="/facts/Richard_Strauss/NjuRNBGm">Richard Strauss</a>. Strauss began composition in the late summer of 1888 and completed the work on 18 November 1889. The work is dedicated to the composer's friend Friedrich Rosch. </p><p>The music depicts the death of an artist. At Strauss's request, this was described in a poem by his friend <a href="/facts/Alexander_Ritter/lD1zhfcq">Alexander Ritter</a> as an interpretation of Death and Transfiguration, after it was composed. As the man lies dying, thoughts of his life pass through his head: his childhood innocence, the struggles of his manhood, the attainment of his worldly goals; and at the end, he receives the longed-for transfiguration "from the infinite reaches of heaven". </p>