Note 153 — STRAUSS
Reading edition
The titanic orchestral proclamation with which the tone-poem begins has been interpreted as a musical illustration of the opening paragraphs of the preface quoted in the score, suggesting the apparition of the rising sun on the mountain-tops, and Zarathustra's apostrophe. The trumpet theme which is intoned at the beginning of this passage over a crescendo roar of the drums and organ has been called both the "Zarathustra" motive and the "Nature" theme.—L. G.