What was the reason for Richard Strauss' popularity?

Forty years ago, when I was getting my first degree in Music Theory, I studied composition and ysis with Arnold Franchetti, one of the last students of Richard Strauss. Franchetti told us that Strauss maintained that every single note was critical - none were superfluous. We yzed a lot, as you would imagine. And there were many times when I wanted to shut off the ytical process (although forced to slog on) because there was just so much sensual beauty to enjoy. ysis is valuable when you *must* solve the problem, duplicate the process, etc. But even Franchettii would say, in essence, that sometimes you need not disemble the engine - it's just a thrill to drive the Porsche. I long ago learned how to turn off the previously constantly-turning millwheels of ysis - and enjoy the ride. After dissecting Salome, I can now listen to it (last year at the Met, this year on TV) and enjoy it - and recall why, in places - but not have the experience ruined by minutiae. To paraphrase Freud - sometimes a beautiful harmony is just a beautiful harmony.