Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64
Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra
Sebastian Weigle, conductor
The biographical point of departure for the Alpine
Symphony was a hiking excursion in the Heimgarten
of the Bavarian foothills of the Alps undertaken by
the still youthful composer in 1879; when he took the
wrong path, he was surprised by an unexpected storm
front. The result was a magnificent symphonic poem
that Strauss himself intended to call “Antichrist”.
There is an astonishing bon mot attributed to the
composer that seems to intentionally veil the history
of this work’s composition: “I once wanted to compose
like a cow gives milk”.