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Discuss The Musical Construction Of At Least One Character From Wagner's Salome. Describe How The Composer(S) Use(S) Musical Techniques To Contribute To The Construction Of Your Chosen Character(S). You Should Also Consider The Cultural, Historica...

For the purposes of this essay, I have chosen to concentrate on the characters portrayed in Richard Strauss' 1905 opera, Salome. The majority of the attention will be placed on Salome herself, but other characters will be referred to where applicable.
Before the composition of Salome, Strauss had risen to prominence through his numerous tone poems, a form established by Franz Liszt in the mid 19th century, the most notable of which are Don Juan (1889) and Also Sprach Zarathustra (1896). In his early twenties, Strauss had been introduced to the theories of Richard Wagner; Strauss applied these theories in the tone poem with his use of leitmotif. Strauss was also attracted to the extremism of Wagner's work and also wanted to explore the boundaries of the newly emerging avant-garde artists. As a continuation of his interest in ‘storytelling', Strauss began to turn his attention to opera. His first two attempts, Guntram (1894) and Feuersnot (1901), were not very well received. Strauss, affected by his failures, intended to take a break from opera and concentrate on more traditional orchestral works.
However, he was presented with a copy of Oscar Wilde's play Salome in 1902 and was encouraged to compose an opera of the same name. First published in French (due to it being banned in England) in 1894, the play depicts the biblical tale of Salome, the stepdaughter of King Herod of Judea, who after dancing for her stepfather at his birthday feast., is given the opportunity to ask for anything she desires. She orders, at the behest of her mother Herodias (who had married Herod despite her previous husband still being alive, John the Baptist regarded their marriage as incestuous), for the head of John the Baptist (Jokanaan) and so is responsible for his murder. In recent renditions of the story (Sudermann (1897) and opera by Massenet (Herodias 1881)), the character of Salome had begun an obsession with Johkanaan, whilst Herod had become similarly inclined towards Salome....