Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie & Vier symphonische Zwischenpiele aus 'Intermezzo'

Featuring

Franz Welser-Möst
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Richard Strauss

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Compositional Technique

An Alpine Symphony uses a vast orchestra, including an organ, thunder machine, and offstage orchestra, to create genuine musical pictures, such as the drops of light from a waterfall or distant horn calls.

Composition History

Richard Strauss's An Alpine Symphony was originally conceived as 'The Antichrist. An Alpine Symphony,' a direct reference to Friedrich Nietzsche's anti-religious polemic.

Performer Biography

The Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra) was ranked among the ten best orchestras in the world by Gramophone magazine in 2008.

Performer Biography

Franz Welser-Möst, the conductor on this album, serves as Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra and General Music Director of the Vienna State Opera.

Composer Biography

Richard Strauss once remarked about his Alpine Symphony that he "just once" wanted to compose "in the way a cow gives milk!"

Composer's Artistic Vision

Richard Strauss believed in "writing poetry in tones," transforming Franz Liszt's symphonic poem idea into a "tone poem" where music treats a clear subject.