Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie

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”.