Richard Strauss composed "Also Sprach Zarathustra" in 1896 inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's novel. The full performance of this piece lasts approximately thirty minutes. What is most familiar is the fanfare called "Sunrise" that was used in Stanley Kurbrick's 1968 masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey". This is the first recording made in 1935 with Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Elvis Presley made use of the fanfare at the beginning of his concerts during the seventies. "Also Sprach Zarathustra" was used as the effective opening for several of his live performance recordings including this version at the beginning of "Aloha From Hawaii".

Brazilian (Eumir) Deodato (de Almeida) used the theme from "Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)" as a single in 1973 on the album "Prelude". This won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance when the single reached number two on Billboard and number seven in the U.K. Through his career Deodato has worked in various genres including arranging and producing hits for Tony Bennett, Kool & the Gang, k.d. lang, Frank Sinatra and Bjork.