Rarely has an opening of a classical work become more popular than this one, after its use in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A space odyssey. That part is called Sonnenaufang (Sunrise) and the version Kubrick used was the Von Karajan’s with the Wiener Philharmoniker.
The rest of the work however is not that well known. It follows the chapters of the book by Friedrich Nietzsche, marking important moments in the life journey of its progenitor. The premiere of the work in 1896 was to celebrate the coming of the new millennium.
It is interesting to see that Kubrick’s movie has completely changed the way we see this symphonic poem: from a composition on a philosophical publication to a space opera. That includes the cover of this album: is that a close-up of a stone or a far away star system?