Introduction

Though labelled as a symphony by the composer, An Alpine Symphony is rather a tone poem as it forgoes the conventions of the traditional multi-movement symphony and consists of twenty-two continuous sections of music.^[14] Strauss's An Alpine Symphony opens on a unison B♭ in the strings, horns, and lower woodwinds. From this note, a dark B♭ minor scale slowly descends. Each new note is sustained until, eventually, every degree of the scale is heard simultaneously, creating an "opaque mass" of tone representing the deep, mysterious night on the mountain.^[12] Trombones and tuba emerge from this wash of sound to solemnly declaim the mountain theme, a majestic motive which recurs often in later sections of the piece.

This passage is a rare instance of Strauss's use of polytonality, as the shifting harmony in the middle part of the mountain theme (which includes a D minor triad) clashes intensely with the sustained notes of the B♭ minor scale.^[12]

As night gives way to daylight in "Sunrise", the theme of the sun is heard—a glorious descending A major scale which is thematically related to the opening scale depicting night time.^[4] A secondary theme characterized by a tied triplet figure and featured numerously in the first half of the piece appears immediately afterwards and fully establishes itself 7 measures later in D♭ major (the relative major of B♭ minor).

Exposition

In terms of form, the section labelled "The Ascent" can be seen as the end of An Alpine Symphony's slow introduction and beginning of the work's allegro proper.^[15] Harmonically, this passage moves away from the dark B♭ minor of the opening and firmly establishes the key of E♭ major. It is in "The Ascent", the first subject theme, that Strauss presents two more main musical motives which will prominently return throughout the entire piece. The first is a marching theme full of dotted rhythms which is presented in the lower strings and harp, the shape of which actually suggests the physical act of climbing through the use of large upwards leaps.

The second is a pointed, triumphant fanfare played by the brass which comes to represent the more rugged, dangerous aspects of the climb.^[4]

It is just after the appearance of this second climbing motive that we hear the distant sounds of a hunting party, deftly represented by Strauss through the use of an offstage band of twelve horns, two trumpets, and two trombones. As Norman Del Mar points out, "the fanfares are wholly non-motivic and neither the hunting horns nor their phrases are heard again throughout the work".^[16] The use of unique musical motives and instrumentation in this passage reinforces the idea of distance created by the offstage placement—these sounds belong to a party of people on an entirely different journey.

Upon entering the wood there is an abrupt change of texture and mood—the "instrumental tones deepen as thick foliage obscures the sunlight".^[17] A new meandering theme in C minor, which acts as the second subject theme, is presented by the horns and trombones:

This is followed by a more relaxed version of the marching theme, presented in A♭ major. This theme serves as a closing theme of the exposition. Birdcalls are heard in the upper woodwinds and a solo string quartet leads the transition into the next musical section.

Development

The following portion of the piece can be interpreted as a large development-like section which encompasses several different phases of the climb.^[4] In "Wandering by the Brook", there is an increasing sense of energy—rushing passage-work gives way to cascading scale figures in the winds and strings and marks the beginning of the section which takes place "At the Waterfall"^[4] and "Apparition". The brilliant, glittering instrumental writing in this passage makes it one of the most "vividly specific" moments of tone painting within An Alpine Symphony.^[4]

The later section "On Flowering Meadows" also makes extensive use of orchestral pictorialism—the meadow is suggested by a gentle backdrop of high string chords, the marching theme is heard softly in the cellos, and isolated points of color (short notes in the winds, harp, and pizzicato in the violas, representing small Alpine flowers) dot the landscape.^[4] In this section, a wavy motif in the strings appears and will feature more prominently at the summit as a majestic dotted rhythm.

In the following section, which takes place "On the Alpine Pasture", the use of cowbells, bird calls, a yodeling motive first heard on the English horn, and even the bleating of sheep (depicted through flutter tonguing in the oboe and E♭ clarinet) creates both a strong visual and aural image. The first horn and top strings introduce another secondary figure similar to the secondary motif during "sunrise", a secondary rhythm to be featured at the summit.

As the climbers move along through the next two sections ("Through Thickets and Undergrowth on the Wrong Path" and "On the Glacier") the going gets a bit rougher, however, and when we get to "Dangerous Moments" the idea of insecurity and peril is cleverly suggested by the fragmentary nature of the texture and the use of the pointed second climbing theme.

Suddenly, we are "On the Summit" as four trombones present a theme known as "the peak motive", the shape of which (with its powerful upward leaps of fourths and fifths) is reminiscent of Strauss's famous opening to Also Sprach Zarathustra.^[4] This passage is the centerpiece of the score, and after a solo oboe stammers out a hesitant melody the section gradually builds up using a succession of themes heard previously in the piece, finally culminating in what Del Mar calls the "long-awaited emotional climax of the symphony": a return of the sun theme, now gloriously proclaimed in C major.^[18]

With a sudden switch of tonality to F♯ major, however, the piece is propelled into the next section, entitled "Vision." This is a somewhat developmental passage which gradually incorporates several of the main musical subjects of the symphony together and which is composed of unstable, shifting harmonies. It is during this portion of the piece that the organ first enters, adding even more depth to Strauss's already enormous performing forces.

There is an abrupt shift of mood and character as the section titled "Mists Rise" begins. This atmosphere of tension and anxiety continues to grow through the next two sections ("The Sun Gradually Becomes Obscured" and "Elegy"). By the time the piece reaches the "Calm Before the Storm", a combination of a motif heard during the Elegy and the stammering oboe motive heard previously at the peak is repeated ominously and quietly in a minor key.

In this section, ominous drum rolls (distant thunder), stammering instruments, isolated raindrops (short notes in the upper woodwinds and pizzicato in the violins), flashes of lightning (in the piccolo), the use of a wind machine, and suggestions of darkness (through the use of a descending scale motive reminiscent of the opening "Night" theme) lead the piece into the full fury of the storm. There is also a long dominant pedal on the bass at the end of this section; we are moving back to the work's original key of B♭ minor.

Recapitulation

"Thunderstorm and Tempest, Descent" marks the start of the last phase of the journey described in An Alpine Symphony. It is in this passage that Strauss calls for the largest instrumentation in the entire piece, including the use of a thundersheet (Donnermaschine), a "thunder trio" (two sets of timpani and a bass drum), the wind machine, piccolos (lightning), and heavy use of organ. Heavy downpours of rain are depicted by rapid descending scale passages on the strings (again reminiscent of the opening "Night" theme). In modern performances, these storm sounds can be supplemented with synthesized sound effects to create an even more tremendous effect.^[19]

This section would also mark the recapitulation of the tone poem, as it brings back the elements that were previously heard in this work.

As the sodden climbers quickly retrace their steps down the mountain (as an inversion of the "Ascent" theme is heard in the work's original minor key) and pass through one familiar scene after another, many of the musical ideas introduced earlier in the piece are heard once again, though this time in reverse order, at a very quick pace, and in combination with the raging fury of the tempest. For instance, there is a stormy return of the "Woods" theme in E♭ major (which now serves as the second subject theme of the recapitulation).

Eventually, however, the musical storm begins to subside, with some echos of thunder still heard in the distance. The heavy, driving rain is replaced once again by isolated drops in the woodwinds and pizzicato strings. The section ends off with a brief motif of the night theme (the mountain motif, from the opening).^[20]

Coda

After the storm the piece is gradually ushered into a beautiful "Sunset", with the sun theme being proclaimed the strings in G♭ major. In "Sunset", the established sun theme is given a slow, spacious treatment, eventually reaching a radiant climax which then transitions into a minor key as it apparently dies away in favor of the night theme. Some believe the symphony's "coda" begins at "Sunset"—rather than present any new musical material, these last three sections are full of "wistful nostalgia" for the beautiful moments earlier in the piece.^[21]

The piece transitions into "Ausklang (Quiet Settles/Epilogue)", which is marked to be played "in gentle ecstasy", as it parallels the earlier "Vision" section, but with a much softer, more peaceful character. Starting off the sun theme is played solemnly by organ and brass, followed by the peak theme on woodwinds first and then brass (similar to the triumphant tone in "Summit", albeit a more muted climax), then recapitulated on strings as the sun and peak motives are then brought together in a coda, followed by a solo piccolo (the same melody heard at the end of "On the Alpine Pasture"). Afterwards, as the sun theme appears for the last time, the harmony moves from the E♭ major established in "Ausklang" (a key which parallels that of "The Ascent", the start of An Alpine Symphony's "exposition") back to the darkness and mystery of B♭ minor.^[11]

In these shadowy final moments of the piece, the sustained descending scale from the opening "Night" is heard once more, reaching a depth of six full octaves. As the brass emerge from the sound to deeply proclaim the mountain theme one final time, it is almost as if "the giant outlines of the noble mass can just be discerned in the gloom".^[11] In the final few measures, the violins play a slow, haunting variation of the marching theme, ending with a final, dying glissando to the last note, and in the key of B♭ minor.