An Alpine Symphony (Eine Alpensinfonie), Op. 64

The renowned German composer and conductor RICHARD STRAUSS completed his last major symphonic work, the Alpine Symphony, Op. 64, on February 8^th, 1915. On the eve of the premiere with the Dresden Court Chapel, which he conducted in Berlin on October 28^th that year, he reported jokingly to the press: 'I had a desire to compose music as simply, as naturally just as a cow gives milk'. Indeed, its first listeners were struck by the Master's new symphony, which poured forth as if in a single breath. Everything about it is spectacular: the huge orchestra, the duration (nearly an hour) and the conceit - to lead them on a picturesquely imaginative ascent to the Alpine peak and descent to the plain. However, Strauss had a similar idea as early as around 1900 on the occasion of the tragic fate of the Swiss artist Karl Stauffer-Bern, a passionate mountaineer and climber. In a total mental breakdown, he committed suicide together with his beloved. When Strauss finished reading the biographical book about the artist that brought back the memory of his friend, he wrote to his parents: Deep inside me a new symphonic poem is being born that will begin with the sun rising in Switzerland. For now it is just an idea of the artist's love tragedy. The working title of this poem was Künstlertragödie (Tragedy of an Artist), and the music he sketched embodied metaphorically the difficult mountain climb. In 1902 the composer expanded the concept to a symphony in four movements, but this fell by the wayside. He was busy composing three of his best-known operas, Salome, Elektra and The Knight of the Rose. It was not until 1910 that he relaunched his ideas and, together with them, after the devastating death of Gustav Mahler, thought of a new title. He wrote in his diary, The death of this aspiring, idealistic, energetic artist [is] a grave loss ... Mahler, the Jew, could achieve elevation in 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 title Antichrist" refers us to Friedrich Nietzsche's 1888 essay of the same name (the composer's favourite philosopher), in which he reflects on all moral Christian values in order to exalt vitality, the relationship with nature, with the eternal return of Dionysus, the antipode of Christ, with the will to live, , in which the new man will be born. This new project of Strauss envisioned a work in two movements, the Antichrist, Alpine Symphony, but it was not completed and around 1913 he finally clarified the idea for his symphony. Its philosophical subtext is completely blurred in a completely different twist: the magnificent view of the majestic Zugspitze peak, contemplated by the artist from the window of his cottage in Garmisch, inspires a sound-naturalistic narrative. It depicts the journey to the top of the mountain from the dusk of night, the welcoming of the sunrise, a series of landscape-impressions and experiences that accompany the ascent to the peak and the slow, perplexing descent down. The programme titles of the individual episodes - 22 in number - highlight the whole exciting journey in detail. Strauss is an unsurpassed master of sonic imagery, his inventiveness in terms of orchestral colours knows no bounds. He uses a huge orchestra with amplified winds and percussion, even theatrical wind and thunder machines, and a small brass ensemble behind the stage. The form of this one-movement symphony amazingly weaves together the hidden drama of the classical sonata-symphony four-movement cycle, framed by the slow introduction and slow coda of the Night. The score of the Alpine Symphony was dedicated "in profound gratitude" to Count Nicolaus Seebach and the Royal Dresden Orchestra. The composer also bequeathed us his 1936 recording of the symphony with the Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra.