if "the giant outlines of the noble mass can just be discerned in the gloom". In the final few measures, the violins play a slow, haunting variation of the marching theme, ending with a final, dying glissando to the last note, and in the key of B minor. Premiere and reception An Alpine Symphony was premiered on October 28, 1915, with Strauss conducting the orchestra of the Dresden Hofkapelle in Berlin. The performance provoked mixed reactions. Some even called it "cinema music". Strauss was happy with how this piece turned out, however, and wrote to a friend in 1915 that "you must hear the Alpine Symphony on December 5; it really is quite a good piece!" It is generally believed that the American premiere of An Alpine Symphony was performed by Ernst Kunwald leading the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on 25 April 1916. Kunwald and certain "influential Cincinnatians" had taken great pains to get the piece from wartime Germany and to be the first orchestra to perform Strauss's new work in America. As a result, An Alpine Symphony had originally been scheduled to be premiered in Cincinnati on 4 May of that year. However, when Leopold Stokowski suddenly announced that he would premiere the work with the Philadelphia Orchestra on 28 April, Kunwald and the Cincinnati Orchestra immediately began preparation of the piece. On 25 April, the orchestra was finally able to rehearse An Alpine Symphony all the way through at a rehearsal in Cincinnati and, two days later, sent word to local papers inviting patrons to a performance of the piece that very day at noon. Ultimately, two thousand people attended this unofficial American premiere of the work. This premiere took place a little over 24 hours before the Philadelphia performance. Recordings On DVD: 2003, BMG Ariola Classics GmbH, 2002 Arte Nova. 82876 50663 9. "Photo-film" by Tobias Melle from the Alpes without visible orchestra. Tonhalle-orchester Zurich, David Zinman. Oskar Fried recorded the work in 1925 with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra. Strauss himself conducted the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in the work's next recording, in 1936. His more ambitious 1941 recording, with the Bavarian State Orchestra, utilized the full orchestral forces called for by the score and was later issued on LP and CD. Due to the wide dynamic range of the music, the symphony became very popular for high fidelity and stereophonic recordings. The first test pressing of