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© Copyright 2003, Jim Loy
Richard Strauss (no relation to the Johanns Strauss) wrote the popular symphonic poem, Til Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks (lustige Streiche). Since this is a purely symphonic work, we have to rely on program notes to learn just what these merry pranks were. It must be an interesting story. Well, it turns out that his pranks consist mostly of running from the law, overturning apple carts, throwing feces at people, and spreading feces onto clean laundry. And then they catch him and hang him, or do they? As far as I can tell, his death (or not) is his only interesting prank.