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(4th Period.) "Tod und Verklärung"—Tondichtung (op. 24, 1889), is classified with the opera "Guntram" for embodying a certain reactionary trend on the part of the author. There is no lack of intricate polyphony, daring harmonic combinations, complex rhythm, startling contrasts, monumental climaxes, and clever orchestral devices; but in these works Strauss has exercised more restraint than in the preceding "Macbeth" and "Don Juan," whereas the acme of his extreme realism was not reached until after he began his following and mightiest series of symphonic poems beginning with "Till Eulenspiegel." To quote the refined language of Herman Klein: "In 'Tod und Verklärung' is depicted the death struggle of a man before whose mental vision there passes the panorama of a wasted life followed by the man's transfiguration, as his redeemed soul passes out of earthly existence into a higher state." Of the three themes from "Tod und Verklärung" appended below, it is interesting to note that the first of these ([No. 8]) was subsequently interwoven into the introductory theme of "Ein Heldenleben," and appears as the third phrase of the Motiv representing "Der Held." (See [page 113], [example 22], bars 6 and 7.)
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