Born in Hohburg[A 1] near Wurzen, Streller studied music education, musicology and composition with Fred Lohse at the University of Leipzig from 1950 to 1956.
[1] He then taught himself as a lecturer in Magdeburg, Halle and from 1963 to 1993 at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden.
[1] He published biographical studies on Aram Khachaturian, Paul Hindemith, Sergei Prokofieff and Dmitri Shostakovich in addition to his work as a music critic.
[2] From 1959, he also worked as a composer, writing symphonies, the first of which is dedicated to Shostakovich, string quartets, concertos, suites and motets.
Streller's estate is preserved in the Saxon State and University Library Dresden.