Donald Macleod explores the music and stories from five distinct years of Strauss's life, from the 19-year-old composer's first forays as a professional composer, to the final works of an old man ...

But none of the names above are as iconic and seminal as Ravel (born 1875) whose name is synonymous with “impressionism” or Richard Strauss (1864) whose opening bars of “Don Juan” are said ...

Donald Macleod sees how an immersion in music across his formative years influenced Richard Strauss's ideas about composition and helped him to establish a career as a conductor.