Uploaded April 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss
Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss
Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 epic sci-fi film uses several iconic pieces from the classical repertoire. The opening of Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra features prominently in the movie, signifying the elevation of man to a higher dimension or something other (it’s quite ambiguous). Not to be outdone by another Strauss, Johann Strauss Jr. (no relation to Richard) has his Blue Danube waltz featured in the film, which plays along as a giant spaceship gracefully glides
toward the Moon, a kind of cosmic dance.
Program Notes by Linus Lu
Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss
Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss
Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 epic sci-fi film uses several iconic pieces from the classical repertoire. The opening of Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra features prominently in the movie, signifying the elevation of man to a higher dimension or something other (it’s quite ambiguous). Not to be outdone by another Strauss, Johann Strauss Jr. (no relation to Richard) has his Blue Danube waltz featured in the film, which plays along as a giant spaceship gracefully glides
toward the Moon, a kind of cosmic dance.
Program Notes by Linus Lu
