Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)

"Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)" is an instrumental by Brazilian musician Eumir Deodato, from his 1973 album Prelude. It is a heavily jazz-funk styled rendition of the introduction from the 1896 Richard Strauss composition Also sprach Zarathustra. The "(2001)" mentioned is a reference to the soundtrack for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Released as the album's first single in early 1973, his rendition peaked at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on 31 March 1973 (behind Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly with His Song"), number 3 in Canada, and number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. It won the 16th Annual Grammy Awards Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

The track has appeared on many compilation and re-issue albums since 1973.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

In popular culture

• The track was used in the 1979 film Being There starring Peter Sellers, as his character leaves home for the very first time.
• Retired professional wrestler and pop culture personality Ric Flair used several versions of the opening fanfare as his entrance theme for the majority of his in-ring career.
• The band Phish has played a cover of this song over 200 times across their various live shows.

Lead musicians

References