Also Sprach Erik Apland

Richard Strauss, Also Sprach Zarathustra; Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, conducting

Okay, here’s how the formula works: If the classical piece that you want to use in your movie is well known, the movie benefits from the composition. If the classical piece is from the fourth floor of Macy’s, in the back, the composition benefits from the movie. Case in point: Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film “2001: A Space Odyssey” and Johan Strauss, Jr.’s “On The Beautiful Blue Danube” and Richard Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra”.

“On The Beautiful Blue Danube” is a masterpiece and has been popular since it was first heard in 1867. It stands by itself as a major staple in the orchestral repertoire. That it was featured in Kubrick’s film is incidental. When you hear it, as the space station is revolving, you probably think, “Hey, there’s that piece.” And think no more of it.

“Also Sprach Zarathustra”, on the other hand, was written in 1896 and had it’s place in orchestral repertoire, but wasn’t uber-popular. Kubrick used the first section of the piece to represent evolution in his film, and it made such an impact that, all of a sudden, in 1968, we got ourselves a brand new Strauss hit on the classical Billboard. Although movie fans at the symphony are usually embarrassed when they give a standing O for the part that they know and then find out that there’s 25 more minutes of music.

But let’s be frank, shall we? The opening to “Zarathustra” was written to be used in the movies, wasn’t it? First you get the African desert, with a nice red dawn, bring in a big tall black marble counter top balanced on its end, add the alignment of the sun and the moon, with the monkeys dancing all around, embellish it all with one of classical music’s most dramatic crescendos, and, BOOM, we got ourselves a film clip for the ages. This music will forever represent this moment in cinema.

“Also Sprach Zarathurstra”, Op. 30, or Thus Spoke Zarathustra, is a tone poem inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche’s treatise of the same name. Nietzsche’s book is a dense and abstract discourse on philosophy and morality, presenting ideas which primarily take issue with Christian and Jewish moral values through a style which, oddly enough, imitates the Bible. And the music in Strauss’ tone poem embodies these things. Can you imagine that you can hear the oeuvre of Nietzsche through the music of Strauss? I can’t. I just hear lovely music.

In college, I didn’t take a philosophy class. I had practicing to do. I couldn’t afford the out-of-class study time to plumb the depths of various ideologies, tenets and reasonings. I didn’t take a literature class or a religion class. I wanted the bulk of my matriculation to occur in the classroom, leaving ample time to practice the world’s largest single instrument’s solo repertoire, rehearse with various ensembles, and sleep and eat. Essentially, my academic base was designed to make me seem intelligent, relieving me of the responsibility of actually being intelligent.

Sometimes it’s enough to know that Beethoven’s sixth symphony is about nature. Though it’s usually fun to know the musings of the composer, the background of its conception and its first performances, meaning in music is eclipsed by our desire to recognize, honor and cherish the beauty of a musical moment, attach it to our being, and keep it with us so that it can be recognized, honored and cherished again when we need it.

Hardcore Elvis fans probably remember the music of “Zarathustra” as the introduction to every show that he did from 1969 until his death. I personally remember the music from a series of animated vignettes from “Sesame Street” that parodied the monolith scene from “Space Odyssey”. The big monolith would crack and crumble during the music to reveal a word, then a big voice from the sky would pronounce the word.

Credits: To L van Beethoven, for his Sixth Symphony. Three things I love in one spot: Music, Nature and Inclement Weather. And to Sesame Street, for the Muppets.