Eine Alpensinfonie

Strauss had long contemplated writing a tone poem describing his experiences of hiking in the Bavarian Alps, an area of countryside which he particularly loved and where he had built himself a villa in 1908 that would remain his home for the rest of his life. The work, which he composed between 1911 and 1915, was entitled Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony) and received its premiere in Berlin in October 1915 with the Dresden Hofkapelle conducted by the composer. Eine Alpensinfonie is Strauss’ last tone poem and utilises huge orchestral forces with substantially enlarged wind, brass and percussion sections, as well as a large offstage ensemble of horns, trumpets, and trombones that depicts a hunting party at one point in the score. Although philosophical dimensions related to Strauss’ detailed study of the writings of Nietzsche may underpin the programme of Eine Alpensinfonie, the work can be fully appreciated as a wonderfully vivid and brilliantly scored essay in musical landscape painting. The action effectively evokes the sensation of going up and down a mountain from dawn to dusk and describes the wide variety of natural features that might be encountered on such a journey. Among the most spectacular are a violent storm and a stunning musical depiction of the awe-inspiring view from the mountain’s summit. But it’s the closing passage, describing the clouds descending from the sky and day turning into night, that really lives long in the memory.