About the album

Even though the title Ein Heldenleben (A Hero' Life) may not suggest it, both symphonic poems recorded on this disc were dreams of the future at the time of their premieres. The elaborate soundscapes of big orchestras - Varèse's original version of the Amériques requires 142 musicians! - were unheard of at the turn of the century and even in the 1920s.

New sounds and exotic instruments, however, not only push musical understanding, but also allow the audience to catch a glimpse of a composer's life and experiences. Strauss thus gives us his ideas about certain things and persons in his immediate surroundings, while Varèse invites the audience with steamboat whistles and crow calls to experience Paris as he did: the lonely fog horns, the shrill whistles and the sense of adventure America has given him since his childhood days.