Also Sprach Zarathustra- Fritz Reiner and Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1954)

Rating- 7/10

This is the 1954 recording of "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphonic Orchestra of Strauss's original 1896 "tone poem". But it had to be a recording and not plain sheet music that I can listen to. The song (piece of music? "tone poem"?) is, I think, one of the most famous pieces of classical music I've heard. Most people don't know the name, but if you hear it in a movie, you'll think of 2001: A Space Odyssey (I assume, I've never seen the movie), or Toy Story 2 (for me), or, more unfortunately, a certain video of a certain chipmunk (which actually uses part of the music from Young Frankenstein-- which I have seen-- and not even this song, but I can't help but be reminded of that critter).

I was honestly surprised at the length of it-- half an hour. Maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised, since classical music is usually long. I felt very cultured listening to it, and it was very dramatic, emotional, and pretty.