Richard Strauss is widely considered to be the most famous of the German post-Romantic composers, the dominant figure in German musical life during the first half of the 20th century. He conducted most of the great orchestras of the world and composed works for piano, chamber music, and choral music. He is best known, however, as a master of the 19th-century Lieder and for his symphonic poems, programmatic orchestral music, and operas.