Also sprach zarathustra what does it mean

Nietzsche himself would follow Zarathustra with several more books that attempted to explain it. Perhaps its main idea is that humans should embrace life, nature, the body and material existence, with all its pleasures and pains, rather than seek for a spiritual world beyond or afterlife. Its optimistic but challenging message is that life, even with all its suffering, is fundamentally worth living for its own sake, and that we should live accordingly. Though the initial idea for Also sprach Zarathustra may have originated a few years before, Strauss began serious work on it in February , composing the bulk of it in the summer while staying in the Austro-Italian Dolomites.

Nietzsche himself was still alive, although he had long since gone insane likely as a result of tertiary syphilis. The horn is answered by a hymn-like melody that is brilliantly orchestrated for divisi strings.

This struggle between faith and nature crescendos as upward-thrusting motifs rumble from the depths of the orchestra, leading to the next section: Von den Freuden und Leidenschaften Of Joys and Passions. An intense, passionate melody appears in the violins over a turbulent orchestral accompaniment.

These joys and passions soon collapse, however, leading to another transitional section: Das Grablied The Grave Song. Musically, this is not a dirge or funeral march, but a decrescendo leading to the next section: Von der Wissenschaft Of Science. Or, if you are already a subscriber Sign in. Other options. Close drawer menu Financial Times International Edition.

Search the FT Search. World Show more World. US Show more US. Companies Show more Companies. Markets Show more Markets. Opinion Show more Opinion. It is one of the very few sections in the orchestral literature where the basses must play a contra-b lowest b on a piano.

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. The ending of the composition has been described:. But the riddle is not solved.

The tone-poem ends enigmatically in two keys, the Nature-motif plucked softly, by the basses in its original key of C—and above the woodwinds, in the key of B major.

In , Strauss conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in an experimental high fidelity recording of the piece, made on a German Magnetophon tape recorder.