At times I envision composers getting together over drinks and laughing over the preposterous titles they give their works, as though the titles in any way have influenced the creations. But an outstanding exception to a linkage of music to events is Richard Strauss’s “Ein Heldenleben,” which translates as “A Hero’s Life” and refers to the lives of people who courageously pursue their goals.
Strauss’s music captures the energy of youth, entry in the fray, successes, the struggle with adversaries, and finally what occurs in very old age as one outlives peers and memory of accomplishments and dies unnoticed except for progeny and care givers.
If we substitute “A Brave Life” for “A Hero’s Life” I think we come closer to what Strauss meant, or at least what is meaningful to most of us.
