The piece is divided into nine sections played with only three definite pauses. Strauss named the sections after selected chapters of Friedrich Nietzsche's novelThus Spoke Zarathustra:
"Sonnenaufgang" (Sunrise)
"Von den Hinterweltlern" (Of the Backworldsmen)[4]
"Von der großen Sehnsucht" (Of the Great Longing)
"Von den Freuden und Leidenschaften" (Of Joys and Passions)
"Das Grablied" (The Song of the Grave)
"Von der Wissenschaft" (Of Science and Learning)
"Der Genesende" (The Convalescent)
"Das Tanzlied" (The Dance Song)
"Nachtwandlerlied" (Song of the Night Wanderer)
These selected chapters from Nietzsche's novel highlight major moments of the character Zarathustra's philosophical journey in the novel. The general storylines and ideas in these chapters were the inspiration used to build the tone poem's structure.
The piece starts with a sustained double low C on thedouble basses,contrabassoon andchurch organ. This transforms into the brass fanfare of the Introduction and introduces the "dawn"motif (from "Zarathustra's Prologue", the text of which is included in the printed score) that is common throughout the work; the motif includes three notes, inintervals of afifth andoctave, as C–G–C[2] (known also as the Nature-motif). On its first appearance, the motif is a part of the first five notes of the naturalovertone series: octave, octave and fifth, two octaves, two octaves andmajor third (played as part of aC major chord with the third doubled). The major third is immediately changed to aminor third, which is the first note played in the work (E flat) that is not part of the overtone series.[2]
"Of the Backworldsmen" begins with cellos, double-basses and organ pedal before changing into a lyrical passage for the entire section.[2]
"Of the Great Longing" introduces motifs that are morechromatic in nature.[2]
"Of Joys and Passions", inC minor, marks the first subject theme of the work'sallegro (exposition) proper.
The strings prevail in "The Song of the Grave", in which some[who?] would say the second subject theme, inB minor, starts in this section.
The following portion of the piece can be analyzed as a large development section. "Of Science and Learning" features an unusualfugue beginning at measure 201 in the double-basses and cellos, which consists of all twelve notes of thechromatic scale.[2] Measure 223 contains one of the few sections in the orchestral literature where the basses must play a contra B (the lowest B on a piano), which is only possible on a 5-string bass or (less frequently) on a 4-string bass with a low-B extension.
The development continues in "The Convalescent". By the end of this section, there is a prolonged retransition over the dominant of C major.
Back in C major, "The Dance Song" marks the recapitulation. It features a very prominent violin solo throughout the section. Later in this section, elements from "The Song of the Grave" (the second subject theme) are heard in the work's original key.
"Song of the Night Wanderer" marks thecoda of the tone poem. It begins with 12 strikes of midnight. The end of the "Song of the Night Wanderer" leaves the piece half-resolved, with high flutes, piccolos and violins playing aB major chord, while the lower strings pluck a C.
One of the major compositional themes of the piece is the contrast between the keys ofB major, representinghumanity, andC major, representing theuniverse. Because B and C are adjacent notes, these keys are tonally dissimilar: B major uses fivesharps, while C major has none.[5]
There are two opinions about theworld riddletheme. One is that the fifth/octave intervals (C–G–C8va) constitute the World riddle motif.[2] The other is that the two conflicting keys in the final section represent the World riddle (C–G–C B–F♯–B8va), with the unresolved harmonic progression being an unfinished or unsolved riddle: the melody does not conclude with a well-definedtonic note as being either C or B, hence it is unfinished.[2] The ending of the composition has been described:[2]
But the riddle is not solved. The tone-poem ends enigmatically in two keys, the Nature-motif plucked softly, by the basses in its original key of C—and above the woodwinds, in the key of B major. The unsolvable end of the universe: for Strauss was not pacified by Nietzsche's solution.
Elvis Presley used the opening theme as entrance music during live performances from 1971-1977. Notable examples include the 1973Aloha from Hawaii concert, which was broadcast via satellite to a global audience and sold-out shows at New York'sMadison Square Garden.
In 1979 filmMoonraker the hunt trumpet plays the first notes of the theme in the hunting scene atHugo Drax's mansion.[12]
TheBBC used the theme in its television coverage of the Apollo space missions.[13]
Retired professional wrestler and pop culture personalityRic Flair used several versions of the opening fanfare as his entrance theme for the majority of his 50-year in-ring career.[17]
It was used during the climactic scene of the animated filmWALL-E (2008), when the Captain of the Axiom finally gets his ability to walk again and powers down the autopilot.[23][24]
It was used twice inGreta Gerwig's 2023 filmBarbie, first in an opening scene that parodies "The Dawn of Man" sequence from2001: A Space Odyssey, and again as part of the score cue "Ken Makes a Discovery."[26]
Northern Irish rock bandAsh covered the "Sunrise" portion on their 2025 album Ad Astra.
Russian intellectual showWhat? Where? When? starts with the "Sunrise" portion when participant players are introduced at the start of the game as well as viewers whose letters were chosen to participate in the game[1].
^Listed in the closing credits of2001: A Space Odyssey as "Thusspoke Zarathustra" but on the official soundtrack albums as "Thusspake Zarathustra". The book by Nietzsche has been translated both ways and the title of Strauss's music is usually rendered in the original German whenever not discussed in the context of2001. Although Britannica Online's entry lists the piece as "Thusspoke Zarathustra", music encyclopedias usually use "spake".
