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Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Also sprach Zarathustra

1896 symphonic poem by Richard Strauss

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 5, 2026
Entity authoritySource title only
Source-derived summary

Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 is a tone poem by the German composer Richard Strauss, written in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's 1883–1885 philosophical work of the same name. Strauss conducted its first performance on 27 November 1896 in Frankfurt. A typical performance lasts approximately 33 minutes.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Also sprach Zarathustra” is 1896 symphonic poem by Richard Strauss. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through sprach, Zarathustra and symphonic, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1896, 1883, 1885—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, sprach, Zarathustra and symphonic is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “1896 symphonic poem by Richard Strauss” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The first chronological checks are 1896, 1883 and 1885.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Also sprach Zarathustra”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Also sprach Zarathustra primary sources, Also sprach Zarathustra archive and sprach research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Also sprach Zarathustra”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Also sprach Zarathustra” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.