Also sprach Zarathustra op. 30 by Richard Strauss, performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra under the baton of its then chief conductor Semyon Bychkov on May 16, 1999 in the Cologne Philharmonie. Historical recording from the WDR Klassik archive.

Richard Strauss - Also sprach Zarathustra op. 30

00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:46 Of the backworlders
00:05:44 Of the great longing
00:07:47 Of the joys and passions
00:09:53 The song of the grave
00:12:27 Of science
00:17:20 The convalescent
00:22:24 The dance song
00:30:53 The nightwalker song

WDR Symphony Orchestra
Semyon Bychkov, conductor

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○ Introduction to the work
Not exactly immodestly, Richard Strauss processes the main work of the philosopher and philologist Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900) in his tone poem "Also sprach Zarathustra". Nietzsche reinterpreted Greek mythology and created a doctrine emphasizing this side of the world. Not the world-denying philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer, but a proud, Dionysian man should become the model of our culture. This one rises above all "backworlders" fleeing into meaning-seeking religions. Nietzsche's writing "Also sprach Zarathustra" (1883) uses a hymnic language. The words are put into the mouth of the ancient Iranian prophet Zoraster (Zarathustra), who lived in the first or second millennium before Christ.

It was actually impossible to set Nietzsche to music, many protested at the time. Strauss proved the opposite. He filtered out the visionary language and the monstrosity of Scripture as an acoustic essence. Even the slow introduction, interpreted by Strauss as a sunrise, with its natural-tone trumpet fanfare lightened from minor to major, has an almost futuristic effect. The composition's nine parts are based on Nietzsche's chapter headings. Strauss makes "Das Tanzlied," a Viennese waltz with an extended violin solo, the work's pinnacle. Despite the pensive ending of this tone poem, the message seems clear: the world belongs not to the doubter, but to man dancing in the here and now. Strauss originally described his "Zarathustra" as "symphonic optimism in fin de siècle form" and dedicated it, with foresight, to "the 20th century." The furious orchestral treatment and the dynamically open form are progressive. "After all, I am a whole fellow," the composer wrote confidently to his wife after the Frankfurt premiere on November 27, 1896. Apparently, he also felt a bit like a Bavarian expression of Nietzsche's image of man.
(Text: Matthias Corvin)