Also sprach Zarathustra vs The Planet Krypton

[Quintus 5,399]

 

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,552]

What the hell?! 

It never occurred to me to do an A/B, on these two pieces.

Perhaps we should compare ASZ, with North's MAIN TITLES? 

That being said , I hear similarities.

How about posting THE DOME, as well, for a really good A/B/C/D?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Richard. The Planet Krypton is obviously modelled on the Strauss piece.

 

Both brilliant openings. I will give a slight edge to Also Sprach Zarathustra. It's awe-inspiring in it's simplicity, and more "authentic" I guess.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,552]

There are similarities, to be sure, but was TPK modelled on ASZ? Rather like your undertaker, only JW knows, for sure...

Which one do I prefer? Both pieces are very good, but both have very different functions. One is a piece of music as pure expression, and one is piece of music that has a specific function. It's a little like comparing a novel to a cookery book. 

I'm sorry, Lee, if this obfuscates anything, but I find it difficult to come down on any one side. Which one do I prefer to listen to? That's an entirely different matter...

[Thor 7,519]

I've never really thought of them as being that similar myself (any fanfare buildup doesn't automatically mean it's a riff on ASZ), but you'd be hardpressed to find anything to rival Strauss' piece within this particular "genre". So yeah -- for as much as I love Williams and SUPERMAN, it's Strauss all the way.

[karelm 2,914]

The opening of Cyril Scott's Neptune sounds like ASZ complete with organ and pounding timpani:

 

[nightscape94 965]

As much as I adore the Williams piece, gotta go with Strauss.  One of the best openings in all of music.

[A24 4,345]

Quintus compares Krypton to one of the most iconic pieces of classical music? Ooooooooooooooooooooookay!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Excuse me. No one ever caught the very obvious resemblance between these two pieces?

 

I'm calling bullshit!

[Muad'Dib 1,802]

Yeah, it's crystal clear Superman was tracked with Strauss.

[Loert 2,515]

The Superman theme was inspired by ASZ, too:

 

 

Nietzsche's original text is about man attaining the ideal of "Übermensch", which can be translated from German as "Superman" (as it derives from the more common adjective "übermenschlich" meaning "superhuman"). So I like to think that Williams was making a kind of musical joke!

 

Like Richard said it's a difficult comparison since both pieces function differently. But I think the ASZ opening is more powerful and dramatic. The whole of ASZ is, along with An Alpine Symphony, one of my favourite Strauss tone poems.

 

As an addendum, some parts of ASZ also appear in Temple of Doom (for some reason...). The very opening of the film echoes this part from ASZ (16:03):

 

 

which in turn echoes the loud chords at the very beginning of ASZ, since it's all motivically connected!

 

In addition, the orchestral effects which play when Short Round 'reawakens' Indy from his possession by burning him with a torch:

 

http://picosong.com/pqLU/

 

...mirror the 'awakening' of Zarathustra at 16:51 in ASZ.

 

Perhaps this kind of inspiration happens in Superman too though I'm not as familiar with that score as ToD.

[Thor 7,519]

1 hour ago, Muad'Dib said:

Yeah, it's crystal clear Superman was tracked with Strauss.

 

Oh, most definitely (not necessarily "tracked", but obviously inspired by it). Especially because of the whole 'Übermensch' thing that LampPost mentioned above. But I've always attributed this to the whole of the score, and not the "Krypton" track, in particular.

[karelm 2,914]

4 hours ago, LampPost said:

The Superman theme was inspired by ASZ, too:

 

 

Nietzsche's original text is about man attaining the ideal of "Übermensch", which can be translated from German as "Superman" (as it derives from the more common adjective "übermenschlich" meaning "superhuman"). So I like to think that Williams was making a kind of musical joke!

 

Like Richard said it's a difficult comparison since both pieces function differently. But I think the ASZ opening is more powerful and dramatic. The whole of ASZ is, along with An Alpine Symphony, one of my favourite Strauss tone poems.

 

As an addendum, some parts of ASZ also appear in Temple of Doom (for some reason...). The very opening of the film echoes this part from ASZ (16:03):

 

 

which in turn echoes the loud chords at the very beginning of ASZ, since it's all motivically connected!

 

In addition, the orchestral effects which play when Short Round 'reawakens' Indy from his possession by burning him with a torch:

 

http://picosong.com/pqLU/

 

...mirror the 'awakening' of Zarathustra at 16:51 in ASZ.

 

Perhaps this kind of inspiration happens in Superman too though I'm not as familiar with that score as ToD.

 

Oh come on...next you're going to say Lois Lane theme is from Strauss's Death and Transfiguration. 

[Loert 2,515]

16 minutes ago, karelm said:

Oh come on...next you're going to say Lois Lane theme is from Strauss's Death and Transfiguration. 

 

I was thinking more "Verklarte Nacht".  

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Williams.