Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical 1883-1885 novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The composer conducted its first performance on 27 November 1896 in Frankfurt. A typical performance lasts half an hour. The initial fanfare – titled "Sunrise" in the composer's programme notes – became well known after its use in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film .
The piece is divided into nine sections played with only three definite pauses. Strauss named the sections after selected chapters of Friedrich Nietzsche's novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra:
"Einleitung, oder Sonnenaufgang"
"Von den Hinterweltlern"
"Von der großen Sehnsucht"
"Von den Freuden und Leidenschaften"
"Das Grablied"
"Von der Wissenschaft"
"Der Genesende"
"Das Tanzlied"
"Nachtwandlerlied"
These selected chapters from Nietzsche's novel highlight major moments of the character Zarathustra's philosophical journey in the novel. The general storylines and ideas in these chapters were the inspiration used to build the tone poem's structure.
\relative c'
The piece starts with a sustained double low C on the double basses, contrabassoon and organ. This transforms into the brass fanfare of the Introduction and introduces the "dawn" motif that is common throughout the work: the motif includes three notes, in intervals of a fifth and octave, as C–G–C. On its first appearance, the motif is a part of the first five notes of the natural overtone series: octave, octave and fifth, two octaves, two octaves and major third. The major third is immediately changed to a minor third, which is the first note played in the work that is not part of the overtone series. "Of the Backworldsmen" begins with cellos, double-basses and organ pedal before changing into a lyrical passage for the entire section. The next two sections, "Of the Great Longing" and "Of Joys and Passions", both introduce motifs that are more chromatic in nature. The strings prevail in "The Song of the Grave", which acts like a transition section to the next section. "Of Science" features an unusual fugue beginning at measure 201 in the double-basses and cellos, which consists of all twelve notes of the chromatic scale. Measure 223 contains one of the very few sections in the orchestral literature where the basses must play a contra B, which is only possible on a 5-string bass or on a 4-string bass with a low-B extension. \relative c "The Convalescent" acts as a reprise of the original motif, and ends with the entire orchestra climaxing on a massive chord. "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, piccolos and violins playing a B major chord, while the lower strings pluck a C. \relative c One of the major compositional themes of the piece is the contrast between the keys of B major, representing humanity, and C major, representing the universe. Because B and C are adjacent notes, these keys are tonally dissimilar: B major uses five sharps, while C major has none.
There are two opinions about the world riddle theme. Some sources denote the fifth/octave intervals as the World riddle motif. However, other sources refer to the two conflicting keys in the final section as representing the World riddle, with the unresolved harmonic progression being an unfinished or unsolved riddle: the melody does not conclude with a well-defined tonic note as being either C or B, hence it is unfinished. The ending of the composition has been described: Neither C major nor B major is established as the tonic at the end of the composition.
