''An Alpine Symphony'' (''Eine Alpensinfonie''),
Op. 64, is a
tone poem
A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement (music), movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. T ...
for large orchestra written by German composer
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...
which premiered in 1915. It is one of Strauss's largest non-operatic works; the score calls for about 125 players and a typical performance usually lasts around 50 minutes. The
program of ''An Alpine Symphony'' depicts the experiences of eleven hours (from daybreak just before dawn to nightfall) spent climbing an
Alpine mountain.
History
Strauss's ''An Alpine Symphony'' was completed in 1915, eleven years after the completion of its immediate predecessor in the genre of the tone poem, ''
Symphonia Domestica''. In 1911, Strauss wrote that he was "torturing
imselfwith a symphony – a job that, when all's said and done, amuses me even less than chasing cockroaches".
[Marc Mandel]
"Richard Strauss: ''An Alpine Symphony'', Op. 64"
''Boston Symphony Orchestra''; accessed 2 March 2009.
One point of influence comes from Strauss's love of nature. As a boy, Strauss experienced an Alpine adventure similar to the one described in his ''An Alpine Symphony'': he and a group of climbers lost their way heading up a mountain and were caught in a storm and soaked on the way down. Strauss loved the mountains so much that in 1908 he built a home in
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; ) is an Northern Limestone Alps, Alpine mountain resort, ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district), district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ...
, Bavaria, that boasted stunning views of the Alps.
This interest in nature can also point to Strauss's followings of the philosopher
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...
.
The original drafts of ''An Alpine Symphony'' began in 1899. It was to be written in memory of the Swiss painter,
Karl Stauffer-Bern, and the work was originally titled ''Künstlertragödie'' (Tragedy of an Artist). This fell by the wayside, but Strauss began a new four-movement work called ''Die Alpen'' (The Alps) in which he used parts of the original 1899 draft. The first movement of ''Die Alpen'' evolved into the core of ''An Alpine Symphony''. Sketches were made, but Strauss eventually left the work unfinished.
Years later, upon the death of his good friend
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...
in 1911, Strauss decided to revisit the work. In his journal the day after he learned of Mahler's death, Strauss wrote:
:: The death of this aspiring, idealistic, energetic artist
sa grave loss ... Mahler, the Jew, could achieve elevation in Christianity. As an old man the hero Wagner returned to it under the influence of Schopenhauer. It is clear to me that the German nation will achieve new creative energy only by liberating itself from Christianity ... I shall call my alpine symphony: Der Antichrist, since it represents: moral purification through one's own strength, liberation through work, worship of eternal, magnificent nature.
The resulting draft of the work was to be a two-part work titled ''Der Antichrist: Eine Alpensinfonie''; however, Strauss never finished the second part. Instead, he dropped the first half of the title (named after an 1888
book by Nietzsche) and called his single-movement work simply ''An Alpine Symphony''.
[Schmid, ''The Richard Strauss Companion'', 112.] After so many years of intermittent composition, once Strauss began work on the piece in earnest the progress was quick. Strauss even went so far as to remark that he composed ''An Alpine Symphony'' "just as a cow gives milk".
Orchestration for the work began on 1 November 1914, and was completed by the composer only three months later.
[Del Mar, ''Richard Strauss'', 106.] In reference to this, his final purely symphonic work, Strauss famously commented at the dress rehearsal for ''An Alpine Symphony's'' premiere that at last he had learned to orchestrate.
The entire work was finished on 8 February 1915.
The score was dedicated "in profound gratitude" to Count Nicolaus Seebach, director of the
Royal Opera in Dresden, where four of the six operas Strauss had written by that time had been premiered.
[Del Mar, ''Richard Strauss'', 121.]
Scoring and structure
''An Alpine Symphony'' is scored for a large orchestra consisting of:
;Woodwinds
:
:
:1
heckelphone
:1
clarinet in E
:2 clarinets in B
:
:
;
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...
:
:6 trumpets
:6 trombones
:2 tubas
:12
offstage horns
:2 offstage trumpets
:2 offstage trombones
;Percussion
:
timpani
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...
(2 players)
:
snare drum
The snare drum (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often u ...
:
bass drum
The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...
:
cymbal
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...
s
:
triangle
A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...
:
tam-tam
A gongFrom Indonesian and ; ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ; ; ; ; is a percussion instrument originating from Southeast Asia, and used widely in Southeast Asian and East Asian musical traditions. Gongs are made of metal and are circular and fl ...
:
cowbells
:
wind machine
:
thunder machine
:
glockenspiel
The glockenspiel ( ; or , : bells and : play) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a Musical keyboard, keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the v ...
;Keyboard
:
celesta
The celesta () or celeste (), also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music ...
:
organ
;
Strings
:2
harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...
s
:18 violins I
:16 violins II
:12 violas
:10 cellos
:8 double basses (5- part string section)
Strauss further suggested that the harps and some woodwind instruments should be doubled if possible and indicated that the stated number of string players should be regarded as a minimum.
The use of "Samuel's Aerophon" is suggested in the instrumentation listing. (Strauss probably misunderstood the name – it was originally called the
Aerophor.) This long-extinct device, invented by Dutch flautist Bernard Samuels in 1911 to assist wind players in sustaining long notes without interruption, was a foot-pump with an air-hose stretching to the player's mouth.
[Del Mar, ''Richard Strauss'', 107.] However, modern wind players make use of the technique of
circular breathing, whereby it is possible to inhale through the nose while still sustaining the sound by matching the blowing pressure in the mouth.
Another oddity with the scoring is that the part written for the heckelphone goes down to
F2, while the lowest note the heckelphone can play is A
2. Attempts to address this issue have led to the invention of the
lupophone.
Program

Although performed as one continuous movement, ''An Alpine Symphony'' has a distinct
program which describes each phase of the Alpine journey in chronological order. The score includes the following section titles (not numbered in the score):
#''Nacht'' (Night)
#''Sonnenaufgang'' (Sunrise)
#''Der Anstieg'' (The Ascent)
#''Eintritt in den Wald'' (Entry into the Forest)
#''Wanderung neben dem Bache'' (Wandering by the Brook)
#''Am Wasserfall'' (At the Waterfall)
#''Erscheinung'' (Apparition)
#''Auf blumigen Wiesen'' (On Flowering Meadows)
#''Auf der Alm'' (On the Alpine Pasture)
#''Durch Dickicht und Gestrüpp auf Irrwegen'' (Through Thickets and Undergrowth on the Wrong Path)
#''Auf dem Gletscher'' (On the Glacier)
#''Gefahrvolle Augenblicke'' (Dangerous Moments)
#''Auf dem Gipfel'' (On the Summit)
#''Vision'' (Vision)
#''Nebel steigen auf'' (Mists Rise)
#''Die Sonne verdüstert sich allmählich'' (The Sun Gradually Becomes Obscured)
#''Elegie'' (Elegy)
#''Stille vor dem Sturm'' (Calm Before the Storm)
#''Gewitter und Sturm, Abstieg'' (Thunderstorm and Tempest, Descent)
#''Sonnenuntergang'' (Sunset)
#''Ausklang'' (Quiet Settles / Epilogue)
#''Nacht'' (Night)
In terms of formal analysis, attempts have been made to group these sections together to form a "gigantic Lisztian symphonic form, with elements of an introduction, opening allegro, scherzo, slow movement, finale, and epilogue."
In general, however, it is believed that comparisons to any kind of traditional symphonic form are secondary to the strong sense of structure created by the piece's musical pictorialism and detailed narrative.
Themes, form, and analysis
Introduction
Though labelled as a
symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...
by the composer, ''An Alpine Symphony'' is rather a
tone poem
A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement (music), movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. T ...
as it forgoes the conventions of the traditional multi-movement symphony and consists of twenty-two continuous sections of music.
Strauss's ''An Alpine Symphony'' opens on a unison B in the strings, horns, and lower woodwinds. From this note, a dark
B minor
B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major.
The B natural minor scale is:
Changes need ...
scale slowly descends. Each new note is sustained until, eventually, every degree of the scale is heard simultaneously, creating an "opaque mass" of tone representing the deep, mysterious night on the mountain.
Trombones and tuba emerge from this wash of sound to solemnly declaim the mountain
theme, a majestic
motive which recurs often in later sections of the piece.
:
\new PianoStaff <<
\new Staff \relative c
\new Staff \relative c,
>>
This passage is a rare instance of Strauss's use of
polytonality
Polytonality (also polyharmony) is the musical use of more than one key (music), key simultaneity (music), simultaneously. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time. Polyvalence or polyvalency is the use of more than one di ...
, as the shifting harmony in the middle part of the mountain theme (which includes a D minor triad) clashes intensely with the sustained notes of the
B minor
B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major.
The B natural minor scale is:
Changes need ...
scale.
As night gives way to daylight in "Sunrise", the theme of the sun is heard—a glorious descending
A major
A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor.
The A major scale is:
Changes needed for the ...
scale which is thematically related to the opening scale depicting night time.
A secondary theme characterized by a tied
triplet figure and featured numerously in the first half of the piece appears immediately afterwards and fully establishes itself 7 measures later in
D major
D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...
(the relative major of B minor).
:
\new Staff \relative c
:
\new Staff \relative c
Exposition
In terms of form, the section labelled "The Ascent" can be seen as the end of ''An Alpine Symphonys slow introduction and beginning of the work's ''allegro'' proper. Harmonically, this passage moves away from the dark B minor of the opening and firmly establishes the key of
E major
E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...
. It is in "The Ascent", the first subject theme, that Strauss presents two more main
musical motives which will prominently return throughout the entire piece. The first is a marching theme full of dotted rhythms which is presented in the lower strings and harp, the shape of which actually suggests the physical act of climbing through the use of large upwards leaps.
:
\new Staff \relative c
The second is a pointed, triumphant
fanfare played by the brass which comes to represent the more rugged, dangerous aspects of the climb.
:
\new Staff \relative c
It is just after the appearance of this second climbing motive that we hear the distant sounds of a hunting party, deftly represented by Strauss through the use of an
offstage band of twelve horns, two trumpets, and two trombones. As
Norman Del Mar points out, "the
fanfares are wholly non-motivic and neither the hunting horns nor their phrases are heard again throughout the work". The use of unique musical motives and instrumentation in this passage reinforces the idea of distance created by the offstage placement—these sounds belong to a party of people on an entirely different journey.
Upon entering the wood there is an abrupt change of texture and mood—the "instrumental tones deepen as thick foliage obscures the sunlight". A new meandering theme in
C minor
C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major.
The C natural minor scale is:
Cha ...
, which acts as the second subject theme, is presented by the horns and trombones:
:
\new Staff \relative c
This is followed by a more relaxed version of the marching theme, presented in
A major
A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor.
The A major scale is:
Changes needed for the ...
. This theme serves as a closing theme of the exposition.
Birdcalls are heard in the upper woodwinds and a solo string quartet leads the transition into the next musical section.
Development
The following portion of the piece can be interpreted as a large
development
Development or developing may refer to:
Arts
*Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped
* Photographic development
*Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting
* Development hell, when a proje ...
-like section which encompasses several different phases of the climb.
In "Wandering by the Brook", there is an increasing sense of energy—rushing passage-work gives way to cascading scale figures in the winds and strings and marks the beginning of the section which takes place "At the Waterfall"
and "Apparition". The brilliant, glittering instrumental writing in this passage makes it one of the most "vividly specific" moments of tone painting within ''An Alpine Symphony''.
The later section "On Flowering Meadows" also makes extensive use of orchestral pictorialism—the meadow is suggested by a gentle backdrop of high string chords, the marching theme is heard softly in the cellos, and isolated points of color (short notes in the winds, harp, and
pizzicato
Pizzicato (, ; translated as 'pinched', and sometimes roughly as 'plucked') is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument:
* On bowe ...
in the violas, representing small Alpine flowers) dot the landscape.
In this section, a wavy motif in the strings appears and will feature more prominently at the summit as a majestic dotted rhythm.
:
\new Staff \relative c'
In the following section, which takes place "On the Alpine Pasture", the use of cowbells, bird calls, a
yodeling motive first heard on the
English horn
The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn (mainly North America), is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially ...
, and even the
bleating of sheep (depicted through
flutter tonguing in the oboe and E clarinet) creates both a strong visual and aural image. The first horn and top strings introduce another secondary figure similar to the secondary motif during "sunrise", a secondary rhythm to be featured at the summit.
:
\new Staff \relative c'
As the climbers move along through the next two sections ("Through Thickets and Undergrowth on the Wrong Path" and "On the Glacier") the going gets a bit rougher, however, and when we get to "Dangerous Moments" the idea of insecurity and peril is cleverly suggested by the fragmentary nature of the texture and the use of the pointed second climbing
theme.
Suddenly, we are "On the Summit" as four trombones present a theme known as "the peak motive", the shape of which (with its powerful upward leaps of
fourths and
fifths) is reminiscent of Strauss's famous opening to ''
Also Sprach Zarathustra''.
This passage is the centerpiece of the score, and after a solo oboe stammers out a hesitant melody the section gradually builds up using a succession of themes heard previously in the piece, finally culminating in what Del Mar calls the "long-awaited emotional climax of the symphony": a return of the sun theme, now gloriously proclaimed in
C major
C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...
.
With a sudden switch of
tonality
Tonality is the arrangement of pitch (music), pitches and / or chord (music), chords of a musical work in a hierarchy of perceived ''relations'', ''stabilities'', ''attractions'', and ''directionality''.
In this hierarchy, the single pitch or ...
to
F major
F major is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat.Music Theory'. (1950). United States: Standards and Curriculum Division, Training, Bureau of Naval Personnel. 28. Its relati ...
, however, the piece is propelled into the next section, entitled "Vision." This is a somewhat developmental passage which gradually incorporates several of the main musical subjects of the symphony together and which is composed of unstable, shifting harmonies. It is during this portion of the piece that the organ first enters, adding even more depth to Strauss's already enormous performing forces.
There is an abrupt shift of mood and character as the section titled "Mists Rise" begins. This atmosphere of tension and anxiety continues to grow through the next two sections ("The Sun Gradually Becomes Obscured" and "Elegy"). By the time the piece reaches the "Calm Before the Storm", a combination of a motif heard during the Elegy and the stammering oboe motive heard previously at the peak is repeated ominously and quietly in a minor key.
:
\new Staff \relative c''
In this section, ominous
drum rolls (distant thunder), stammering instruments, isolated raindrops (short notes in the upper woodwinds and pizzicato in the violins), flashes of lightning (in the piccolo), the use of a
wind machine, and suggestions of darkness (through the use of a descending scale motive reminiscent of the opening "Night" theme) lead the piece into the full fury of the storm. There is also a long dominant pedal on the bass at the end of this section; we are moving back to the work's original key of B minor.
Recapitulation

"Thunderstorm and Tempest, Descent" marks the start of the last phase of the journey described in ''An Alpine Symphony''. It is in this passage that Strauss calls for the largest instrumentation in the entire piece, including the use of a
thundersheet (''Donnermaschine''), a "thunder trio" (two sets of timpani and a bass drum), the wind machine, piccolos (lightning), and heavy use of organ. Heavy downpours of rain are depicted by rapid descending scale passages on the strings (again reminiscent of the opening "Night" theme). In modern performances, these storm sounds can be supplemented with synthesized sound effects to create an even more tremendous effect.
This section would also mark the recapitulation of the tone poem, as it brings back the elements that were previously heard in this work.
As the sodden climbers quickly retrace their steps down the mountain (as an inversion of the "Ascent" theme is heard in the work's original minor key) and pass through one familiar scene after another, many of the musical ideas introduced earlier in the piece are heard once again, though this time in reverse order, at a very quick pace, and in combination with the raging fury of the tempest. For instance, there is a stormy return of the "Woods" theme in E major (which now serves as the second subject theme of the recapitulation).
Eventually, however, the musical storm begins to subside, with some echos of thunder still heard in the distance. The heavy, driving rain is replaced once again by isolated drops in the woodwinds and pizzicato strings. The section ends off with a brief motif of the night theme (the mountain motif, from the opening).
Coda
After the storm the piece is gradually ushered into a beautiful "Sunset", with the sun theme being proclaimed the strings in G major. In "Sunset", the established sun theme is given a slow, spacious treatment, eventually reaching a radiant climax which then transitions into a minor key as it apparently dies away in favor of the night theme. Some believe the symphony's "
coda" begins at "Sunset"—rather than present any new musical material, these last three sections are full of "wistful nostalgia" for the beautiful moments earlier in the piece.
The piece transitions into "Ausklang (Quiet Settles/Epilogue)", which is marked to be played "in gentle ecstasy", as it parallels the earlier "Vision" section, but with a much softer, more peaceful character. Starting off the sun theme is played solemnly by organ and brass, followed by the peak theme on woodwinds first and then brass (similar to the triumphant tone in "Summit", albeit a more muted climax), then recapitulated on strings as the sun and peak motives are then brought together in a coda, followed by a solo piccolo (the same melody heard at the end of "On the Alpine Pasture"). Afterwards, as the sun theme appears for the last time, the harmony moves from the E major established in "Ausklang" (a key which parallels that of "The Ascent", the start of ''An Alpine Symphonys "
exposition
Exposition (also the French for exhibition) may refer to:
*Universal exposition or World's Fair
*Expository writing
*Exposition (narrative), background information in a story
* Exposition (music)
*Trade fair
* ''Exposition'' (album), the debut alb ...
") back to the darkness and mystery of B minor.
In these shadowy final moments of the piece, the sustained descending scale from the opening "Night" is heard once more, reaching a depth of six full octaves. As the brass emerge from the sound to deeply proclaim the mountain theme one final time, it is almost as if "the giant outlines of the noble mass can just be discerned in the gloom".
In the final few measures, the violins play a slow, haunting variation of the marching theme, ending with a final, dying
glissando
In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a wikt:glide, glide from one pitch (music), pitch to another (). It is an Italianized Musical terminology, musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In ...
to the last note, and in the key of B minor.
Premiere and reception
''An Alpine Symphony'' was premiered on 28 October 1915, with Strauss conducting the orchestra of the Dresden Hofkapelle in Berlin.
[Boyden, ''Richard Strauss'', 233.] The performance provoked mixed reactions. Some even called it "cinema music". Strauss was happy with how this piece turned out, however, and wrote to a friend in 1915 that "you must hear the Alpine Symphony on December 5; it really is quite a good piece!"
The American premiere of ''An Alpine Symphony'' was performed by
Ernst Kunwald leading the
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on 27 April 1916.
[William Osborne, ''Music in Ohio'' (Kent: Kent State, 2004), 293.] Kunwald and certain "influential Cincinnatians"
had taken great pains to get the piece from wartime Germany and to be the first orchestra to perform Strauss's new work in America. As a result, ''An Alpine Symphony'' had originally been scheduled to be premiered in Cincinnati on 4 May of that year. However, when
Leopold Stokowski suddenly announced that he would premiere the work with the
Philadelphia Orchestra on 28 April, Kunwald and the Cincinnati Orchestra immediately began preparation of the piece. On 25 April, the orchestra was finally able to play ''An Alpine Symphony'' all the way through at a rehearsal in Cincinnati and, two days later, sent word to local papers inviting patrons to a performance of the piece that very day at noon. Ultimately, two thousand people attended this unofficial American premiere of the work, which took place a little over 24 hours before the Philadelphia performance.
Recordings
On DVD: 2003, BMG Ariola Classics GmbH, 2002 Arte Nova. 82876 50663 9. "Photo-film" by Tobias Melle from the Alpes without visible orchestra. Tonhalle-orchester Zurich, David Zinman.
Oskar Fried recorded the work in 1925 with the
Berlin State Opera Orchestra
The Staatskapelle Berlin () is a German orchestra and the resident orchestra of the Berlin State Opera, Unter den Linden. The orchestra is one of the oldest in the world. Until the fall of the German Empire in 1918 the orchestra's name was , i. ...
.
[A Forgotten Conductor Vol 1 – R. Strauss, Etc / Oskar Fried](_blank)
zt ArkivMusic website. Strauss himself conducted the
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in the work's next recording, in 1936. His more ambitious 1941 recording, with the
Bavarian State Orchestra
The Bavarian State Orchestra () is the orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Germany. It has given its own series of concerts, the , since 1811.
Profile
The origins of the ensemble date back to 1523 and the times of composer Ludwig Se ...
, utilized the full orchestral forces called for by the score and was later issued on LP and CD.
Due to the wide dynamic range of the music, the symphony became very popular for
high fidelity
High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) ...
and
stereophonic recordings. The first test pressing of a compact disc was of ''An Alpine Symphony'', made with
Herbert von Karajan conducting the
Berlin Philharmonic
The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world.
Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...
.
Notes
References
* Boyden, Matthew. ''Richard Strauss''. Boston: Northeastern UP, 1999.
*
Del Mar, Norman. ''Richard Strauss: A Critical Commentary on His Life and Works, Vol. 2''. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1969.
*
* Mason, Daniel Gregory. "A Study of Strauss." ''The Musical Quarterly 2'', no. 2 (April 1916): 171–190.
* Osborne, William. ''Music in Ohio''. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2004.
* Painter, Kren. ''Symphonic Aspirations: German Music and Politics, 1900–1945''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007.
* Puffett, Derrick. Review of Richard Strauss, ''An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64'', Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Georg Solti, Decca SXL 6959. The Musical Times 122, no. 1660 (June 1981): 392.
* Schmid, Mark-Daniel, ed. ''The Richard Strauss Companion''. Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2003.
* Strauss, Richard. ''Eine Alpensinfonie and Symphonia Domestica''. Dover 0-486-27725-9. New York: Dover Publications, 1993.
* Youmans, Charles. "The Role of Nietzsche in Richard Strauss' Artistic Development." ''The Journal of Musicology'' 21, No. 3 (Summer 2004): 309–342.
External links
Richard Strauss onlineRichard Strauss Institute in Garmisch-PartenkirchenLive performanceFrankfurt Radio Symphony conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Alte Oper Frankfurt. 14 October 2016.
Strauss's Alpine Symphony: which recording to own? Hugo Shirley,
Gramophone, 12 January 2018.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alpine Symphony, An
Tone poems by Richard Strauss
Music for orchestra and organ
1915 compositions
Works about climbing and mountaineering
Works about the Alps
Symphonies by Richard Strauss
20th-century symphonies