R. Strauss - Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 (Theme from "2001: A Space Odyssey") video free download

Philharmonic Symphony of London, conducted by Charles Gerhardt

The opening tune from the 1968 Stanley Kubrick movie '2001: A Space Odyssey' starring Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood and William Sylvester.

Session musician and jazz pianist Eumir Deodato rose to personal fame with his dance adaptation of Richard Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra in 1973. Earlier the work had been popularised in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which dealt with the subject of humankind and its destiny, not far removed from the original inspiration for Strauss's great composition, Also Sprach Zarathustra by Friedrick Nietzsche.

The year 2001 must have seemed light years away when Stanley Kubrick produced, directed and co-scripted his sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968. With star performers and dialogue obviously a low priority overshadowed by cutting-edged special effects, the senses literally tingle on a unique cinematic interplanetary joumey that is made even more exquisite by the background of classical gems like Also Sprach Zarathustra from German composer Richard Strauss.

Never before had a low, throbbing bass note become so emblematic of a film than the opening of Richard Strauss's massive tone poem 'Also Sprach Zarathustra'. That famous opening sequence, capturing the moment in evolution when the ape evolves into human intelligence, is perfectly mirrored in the music. It rises out of unseen depths and culminates in two stabbing brass chords that seem to reflect the painful glare of the sunrise while also suggesting momentous things to come. Stanley Kubrick's extraordinary -- and unlikely -- choice of music for his 1968 MGM masterpiece brought this hitherto little-known Strauss work to wider attention -- even if many first-time buyers were a little dismayed to find that the whole piece is over 40 minutes long!