This book, written to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Strauss's death, is a remarkably clear-eyed and intelligent assessment of one of this century's most important and problematic composers. British music critic Boyden is no sycophantic apologist: all of Strauss's flaws and excesses, both personal and musical, are soberly laid bare. According to Boyden, Strauss was guided not by any particular aesthetic position but solely by egotism, pragmatic and moneymaking considerations, bourgeois nationalistic values, and an unrepentant Nietzschian worldview that ultimately led to his uncritical acceptance of Nazism. Boyden proceeds chronologically through Strauss's output, with fascinating digressions into the social and intellectual milieu that underlie each work. One of his intriguing theses is that Strauss did not beat a retreat from the precipice of modernism (as is usually presumed) because he never embraced modernism in the first place. This book contains no musical examples and skirts detailed analyses of individual pieces, yet it is so rich in background information and perceptive observations that one doesn't mind. Highly recommended.ALarry A. Lipkis, Moravian Coll., Bethlehem, PA
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