The Strauss Operas of the Gregor collaboration, Friedenstag (1935/6), Daphne (1935/7), and Die Liebe der Danaë (1936/40), have sadly failed to establish themselves in the international repertoire. They are, indeed, often dismissed out of hand as products of an inspirational lapse on the composer's part; as works which, standing outside the main stream of his development, represent a musical ‘backwater’ into which he was driven by the exigencies of his times. Careful study of these operas, however, marks them not only as consummate examples of Strauss's musical craftsmanship, but also as documents of considerable significance in relation to the rest of his creative oeuvre.