DESCRIPTION:
pf: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra cond/ Herbert von Karajan (1973 recording)

Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 (Thus Spoke Zarathustra or Thus Spake Zarathustra) is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical novel of the same name. The composer conducted its first performance on 27 November 1896 in Frankfurt. A typical performance lasts half an hour.

The piece is divided into nine sections played with only three definite pauses. Strauss named the sections after selected chapters of the book:

0:02 - Einleitung, oder Sonnenaufgang (Introduction, or Sunrise) - Perhaps the most recognizable opening of any piece of classical music, it as been used in movies and by rock stars, which is quite a tribute to its power and attraction. Strauss' sunrise brings the new philosophy of Zarathustra with a low rumbling and then the first appearance of the 'Nature' motif of C-G-C, somewhat of a tonal ambiguity that is resolved but briefly when the third for the chord is heard shortly after, but then it is immediately flattened. The mystery has already begun. The sections ends in a grand splash of sound from the orchestra, and the three-note Nature motif is heard in various guises throughout the rest of the work.

1:50 - Von den Hinterweltlern (Of those in Backwaters) - Various translations of this include 'Of those in the hinterlands'. Strauss divides the string section into ten groups that play a rich progression of harmonies that climaxes into a soaring motif for the violins. The beginning of this section quotes the Credo in unum Deum (I believe in one God) from the Catholic Mass. So are the ones in the backwaters, or hinterlands, the ones who are the traditionally religious?

5:18 - Von der großen Sehnsucht (Of the Great Longing) - The great longing continues with the traditional religious theme as the organ quotes the Magnificat. Is the Great Longing the desire of the traditionally religious to be near to God and to use religion to try and solve the World Riddle?

7:24 - Von den Freuden und Leidenschaften (Of Joys and Passions) - The joys and passions of Zarathustra's youth are pondered upon. What were they, how could they have been used more for the benefit of mankind that no satisfy a desire?

9:30 - Das Grablied (The Song of the Grave) - With the coming of the dawn and a new philosophy, Zarathustra knows there is no longer any way or reason to go back to the way things were. Hence, they are buried in the grave.

12:13 - Von der Wissenschaft (Of Science and Learning) - Strauss uses the learned fugue to represent science. His fugue subject is made up of all twelves notes of the scale and represents science's attempt to encompass, include and explain the World Riddle. Indeed, the three note Nature motif is the first three notes of the subject.

16:45 - Der Genesende (The Convalescent) - Science in interrupted by of all things, a dance tune. But science comes back aggressively, makes its case with a shout. After a brief pause the orchestra wanders until it finds the kernel of the dance tune already heard.

22:00 - Das Tanzlied (The Dance Song) - The dance tune progresses into a full-fledged, romantic-era Viennese waltz.

30:00 - Nachtwandlerlied (Song of the Night Wanderer) - Midnight is heard tolling, the work ends in the Nature motif being plucked out by the string basses, and the woodwinds in turn play a different motif. The work ends in a more sever tonal ambiguity than which it began, the ambiguity of the World Riddle in neither major or minor key, and the other motif in B Major. Is there any answer? Are there any answers? Or is true wisdom attained with the realization that there are no concrete answers to the World Riddle, and that the answer is in fact is no answer at all, but the acceptance of things that can't be changed and the striving to change the things that can be changed.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Also_sprach_Zarathustra_(Strauss)
http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/listing.aspx?id=15820
http://muswrite.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/strauss-also-sprach-zarathustra.html