An Alpine Symphony, the last of Richard Strauss’s symphonic poems, drew its inspiration from a youthful climbing expedition in the Alps, using Nietzsche’s idea of liberation through Nature. Taking the listener on an epic journey, beginning at night, through sunrise and finishing at sunset, it evokes the varying moods of the mountains, not least the terrifying dangers they represent. An Alpine Symphony is scored for a very large orchestra, including multiple woodwind and brass, a huge percussion battery, organ, wind and thunder machines.