Make the Little Things Epic with Also Sprach Zarathustra

With its iconic three-chord intro followed by forbidding strikes on the timpani, the opening of “Also Sprach Zarathustra” by German composer Richard Strauss is one of the most instantly recognisable pieces of classical music ever made.

The opening is a mere 90 seconds long and is actually known as “Sunrise,” part of a longer tone poem inspired by the work of the same name by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche’s work describes the eponymous Zarathustra’s wanderings and proclamations to the world, including ideas of the Übermensch and even the Death of God. With such weighty ideas on his mind, Strauss finds a fantastic way to imbue this arrival with an otherworldly and epic feeling.

The track’s association with Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 work A Space Odyssey is equally epic. Kubrick uses the track in the opening moments of the film as well as during the iconic Dawn of Man sequence. Despite the film being nearly 60 years old, these sequences have not lost the power to inspire all kinds of awe in the audience.

What’s even cooler, perhaps, is the track’s malleability, with that easily-recognisable three-note rising riff easily adaptable for funk, jazz and electronic adaptations. With that freedom of interpretation in mind, we worked on a new and fresh composition to promote the all-new BMW iX1 for the Indian market. The car itself is equipped with high-quality Harman Kardon speakers, representing the very cutting-edge of modern audio design, so we wanted to have a track that was playful and clever without compromising the essential integrity of the original composition. As the advert says, “even the little things can be epic.” Please feel free to see how we created a fresh version of the track by checking out the advert below!

Brand: BMW | Director: Brendan Vaughan | Agency: TBWA\Worldwide | Production: Shanghai MOD | Composition: Tracks & Fields