Also sprach Zarathustra (Richard Strauss)
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This article is about the musical composition. For other uses, see Also sprach Zarathustra (disambiguation).
Also sprach Zarathustra, op. 30 is a symphonic poem by Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by the book of the same title by Friedrich Nietzsche. It was first performed in Frankfurt, with the composer conducting. It is widely known for its use in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The introduction is one of the most recognized pieces of music of the last 50 years.
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[edit] Orchestration
This composition is scored for a large-sized romantic orchestra. Strauss calls for the following:
- Woodwinds
- Piccolo
- 3 Flutes (Fl. 3 doubles Piccolo 2)
- 3 Oboes
- English Horn
- Clarinet in E-flat
- 2 Clarinets in B-flat
- Bass Clarinet in B-flat
- 3 Bassoons
- Contrabassoon
- Percussion
- 3 Timpani
- Triangle
- Bass Drum
- Cymbals
- Glockenspiel
- Deep Bell on "Low E"
[edit] Structure
The work runs for about half an hour. It is divided into nine sections that are played with only three clear breaks. The sections (named after selected chapters in the book) are:
- Einleitung (Introduction)
- Von den Hinterweltlern (Of the Backworldsmen)
- Von der großen Sehnsucht (Of the Great Yearning)
- Von den Freuden und Leidenschaften (Of the Joys and Passions)
- Das Grablied (The Grave-Song)
- Von der Wissenschaft (Of Science)
- Der Genesende (The Convalescent)
- Das Tanzlied (The Dance Song)
- Nachtwandlerlied (Song of the Night Wanderer)
The brass fanfare of the Introduction introduces the "Dawn" motif (from "Zarathustra's Prologue," the text of which is included in the printed score) that permeates the structure of the entire work.
"Of the Backworldsmen" begins in the low strings before opening up into a lyrical passage for the entire section. The following two sections, "Of the Great Yearning" and "Of Joys and Passions," both introduce motifs that are more chromatic in nature.
"Of Science" features an unusual fugue, which consists of all twelve notes of the chromatic scale.
"The Convalescent" acts as a reprise of the original motif, and climaxes with a massive chord in the entire orchestra.
"The Dance Song" features a very prominent violin solo throughout the section.
The end of the "Song of the Night Wanderer" leaves the piece half resolved, with high flutes and violins playing a B major chord, while the lower strings pluck a C.
[edit] Use in sports and music performances, in popular culture, and in history
- The piece recorded for Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey was played during the Apollo 13 launch prior to the infamous disaster (the Command Module's call sign was "Odyssey").
- Since being popularized by its use in the movie, the "Dawn" section has been used as the entrance music for singer Elvis Presley, and also at many occasions at the University of South Carolina, most notably as the University's football team enters Williams-Brice Stadium.
- Rock band Grand Funk Railroad used it as an intro to their concerts in the early seventies.
- It was used as the musical score during the first scene of the Mel Brooks movie History of the World Part 1.
- In the opening videogame sequence of Toy Story 2, the "Dawn" fanfare is played a single note at a time as Buzz Lightyear leaps on a series of floating disks. The music is interrupted after five notes as Buzz and the disks fall.
- During the Boston Red Sox 2005 Opening Day ceremony, members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops played Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra, while a huge banner proclaiming "World Series 2004 Champions" dropped from the top of the Green Monster and covered nearly all of the 37-foot-high wall.
- At Princeton University's football annual homecoming game (played against either Harvard or Yale in alternate years), the Princeton University Band performs the "Dawn" section as the finale of the halftime show.
- The St George Illawarra Dragons, a rugby league team in the Australian National Rugby League, use the piece at home matches when the team enters the field.
- It is used in an episode of British show DangerMouse, in the 1982 episode "Close Encounters of the Absurd Kind, when DangerMouse befriend aliens, capturing him and examining him. Just before the villain Silas Greenback is about to terminate DangerMouse, the alien ship slowly decends, and Greenback is sucked into the ship, and then it ascends, with the music piece in the background.
- In two episodes of The Simpsons ("Deep Space Homer" and "Little Girl in the Big Ten").
- In three Futurama episodes ("Godfellas", "The Sting" and "A Bicyclops Built for Two"), this music plays in the background of part of the episodes.
- In the United Kingdom the musical work is popularly associated with the BBC's coverage of the Apollo Moon landings.
- Legendary WCW and NWA wrestler Ric Flair has used it as a ring entrance for a majority of his career (and other pro wrestlers).
- Andy Kaufman also used this work as a device to transform from "Foreign Man" into Elvis while doing his impersonations.
- Canadian rock band Rush took the stage while the "Dawn" fanfare was played during their Counterparts and Test for Echo tours in 1994 and 1996/1997 respectively. The music was accompanied by a film in which the nut and bolt from the cover of the Rush album Counterparts joined together, parodying the opening sequence in 2001 in which "Dawn" was used.
- The fanfare is used in Sid Meier's Civilization 2, when the player succeeds in sending a manned spaceship to Alpha Centauri.
- The opening is played during a scene in the movie Spaceballs; the man playing the drums is actually seen on-screen and is part of the ending sequence of the film.
- The opening is also played to mark the first appearance of Hooch in the movie Turner and Hooch.
- The name of the song is used as the sub-title for the third video game in the Xenosaga series, though it serves as a Nietzsche reference, in keeping with the series' tradition, more than it does as a reference to the composition.
- A funk cover by Eumir Deodato (see below) is played in the Peter Sellers movie Being There when his character, Chance, leaves his home for the first time.
- It is played during the credits of the 1973 science fiction film Invasion of the Bee Girls.
- Swedish punk band Asta Kask use a version of this songs opening before going on stage. In their version the trumpets are out off-key.
- The opening was used in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory during the television sequence where Willy Wonka sends a chocolate bar through television.
- In the movie Zoolander the music is heard as Derek and Hansel try to start a computer, becoming increasingly ape like in their actions.
- The Electric Company's 2001 monolith cartoons feature a major part of the opening, the first triad and fanfare, and then continuous kettledrum thumping during which the monolith crumbles away revealing a cluster of letters pronounced by a God-like voice.
- The opening is used in Paul Thomas Anderson's movie Magnolia when Frank TJ Mackey makes his appearance onstage
[edit] Covers
- Eumir Deodato had a worldwide popular hit in 1972 with a funk arrangement of the piece.
- The late musical group Phish played a reinvented jam version of the piece live in concert (often labeled as "2001") 144 times[1], largely based on Deodato's arrangement.
- Dave Matthews Band played it a handful of times as an intro to "Ants Marching" (from their 1994 album Under the Table and Dreaming) during 1993.
- Elvis Presley would often open his shows in the 1970s with this song (sometimes labeled as "2001" or "2001 Theme").
- Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge covered the DAWN portion with vocal group harmony in sync with brass instruments.
- Gene Krupa and His Orchestra recorded a song called "Dust" in 1950 that begins with a quote from the piece; the chart was arranged by George Williams.
- American Doom band Toadliquor covers the song on their 2003 album The Hortators Lament.
- One of the strangest covers of the piece was provided by The Temple City Kazoo Orchestra. Their version has become a celebrated piece of Outsider Music.
