Norman Del Mar (1919-1994) was universally recognised as a leading authority on the music of Richard Strauss, and his masterly three-volume study of his life and works remains a classic. Volume Three spans from 1934 to Strausss death in 1949, taking in the last five operas, the late instrumental music, all the songs from early youth to the Vier letzte Lieder, and concluding with eight appendixes of works, dates and opus numbers, and a meticulous index. Deploying a well-nigh encyclopaedic knowledge, Mr Del Mar acquits himself brilliantly of his task of disentangling and reassembling the numerous strands that make up the backcloth of poetry and philosophy which Strauss, while not always understanding every intricacy, yet needed as a constant reference map for his composing. The three volumes of this magnificent book should be studied by all lovers of the late-romantic music, amateurs and professionals alike . a monumental achievement. Times Literary Supplement A brilliant and copiously analytical study . a constant fascination. Guardian