The collaboration between composer Richard Strauss (1865-1949) and librettist Hugo von Hofmansthal (1874-1929) produced the last great run of German language operas, Der Rosenkavalier , Ariadne auf Naxos and Arabella among them.Work between them began not with comedy, nor with domestic drama or fairy tales. All of that came later. Work between them began with Greek tragedy, Sophocles Electra.