The Blue Danube

Without music, life would be an error.

—Friedrich Nietzsche

Today’s topic of music was chosen by Jonathan C at UT Austin. He is also QUITE a musician, unlike me.

There is so much to say about music, and I’m afraid this is too broad a topic, so this post will focus on one piece in particular: “The Blue Danube” (“An der schönen blauen Donau”), an Austrian waltz composed by the Johann Strauss II in 1866.

The following video shows the Vienna Philharmonic performing the piece in their 2010 New Year’s Concert.

Now the next is from a certain film (which is ironically the one that popularized this piece), Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Without music, this scene would certainly not have succeeded.

This must be one of the most artistic scenes of all time.