Lonsdale Zarathustra

L'interprète dans Des hommes et des dieux de frère Luc, le moine-médecin de Tibhirine, relate son pèlerinage entrepris à Pâques 2018 sur les traces de son personnage dans son monastère. Il donne des indications routières pour les pèlerins et rassemble des textes ouvrant sur la spiritualité des trappistes martyrs, dont des lettres de frère Luc…

Opening with its famous ‘Sunrise’ fanfare, there is no mistaking Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra. A bold, intrepid tone poem, famously used by Stanley Kubrick in 2001: A Space Odyssey, it explores mankind’s place in the universe, diving headfirst into themes of religion, science and individuality.

Essential: A masterpiece of prog-rock music collection.
What a wonderful way for me to get started on the Italian prog scene. It was 1993, I was 20, I was getting pretty much fed up with anything mainstream.

Museo Rosenbach is an Italian progressive band, best known for their 1973 release Zarathustra, a concept album freely inspired by the controversial works of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’. Unfortunately, at the time of its release, the album was widely disregarded because of the far right-wing views found within the Nietzsche-inspired lyrics. The band suffered for their political ideals, which prevented them from getting the kind of attention they deserved. Museo’s musical palette contained a dash of Banco, ELP and Van Der Graaf Generator. Comparisons to early King Crimson are also inevitable; this is symphonic progressive rock with a rough edge. While the group’s particular brand was less experimental than a lot of Italian prog, their compositions were equally challenging constructions, filled with time changes and eccentricities. Something is always happening.

Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra is famous for its iconic opening measures, and often considered the emblematic symphonic poem. Vladimir Jurowski’s interpretations of Strauss together with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin are considered among the most idiomatic and colourful of our times.