Kort & klassisk: Richard Strauss: Alpine Symphony

Kort & klassisk: François-Xavier Roth conducts the Alpine Symphony In the season's final Kort & klassisk concert, François-Xavier Roth conducts Richard Strauss's enormous mountain hike through the German Alps. R. Strauss: Alpine Symphony When Richard Strauss (1864-1949) was young he lived in the town of Garmisch, with a view of Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze. One day he and some friends decided to climb the mountain. They set out before the sun rose and spent 11 hours on the trip. This experience inspired him to write the symphonic poem Alpine Symphony. The work is an attempt to express, through music, the feeling of climbing a great mountain. It is also a tribute to nature. The Alpine Symphony requires an orchestra of 125 musicians and was written between 1911-1915. In many ways a full stop to the late-Romantic style. It could not get more grandiose and dramatic than the Alpine Symphony.