Ainsi parla Zarathoustra (Boulez)

Ainsi parla Zarathoustra
Incidental music by Pierre Boulez
The composer in 1968
English	Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Composed	1974 (1974)
Performed	6 November 1974 (1974-11-06): Théâtre d'Orsay, Paris
Scoring	voice and ensemble

Ainsi parla Zarathoustra is incidental music composed by Pierre Boulez in October 1974 for the theatre Renaud-Barrault. Boulez scored the work for a solo voice and an instrumental ensemble. It was first performed at the Théâtre d'Orsay in Paris on 6 November 1974. Sketches and scores are kept by the Foundation Paul Sacher in Basel, while images and films of the production are in the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Jean-Louis Barrault, the director of the theatre company, created a scenic version of Nietzsche's Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra) and requested music from Boulez with whom he had collaborated for years. Boulez was from 1945 to 1955 musical director of the company, arranging and conducting incidental music and writing some himself. In 1954/55 Boulez had composed incidental music for the Oresteia in three parts, directed by Barrault. The as for Ainsi parla Zarathoustra, Barrault wrote detailed instructions for the music, which Boulez considered and often followed. While the French text based on Nietzsche's work by Georges-Arthur Goldschmidt was printed in 1972, a version with Barrault's additional instructions was published by Gallimard in the series Le Manteau d'Arlequin in 1975.

The production was first performed at the Théâtre d'Orsay in Paris on 6 November 1974. The music remains unpublished; sketches and scores are extant in the collection Pierre Boulez of the Foundation Paul Sacher in Basel, while images and films of the production are held in part by the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Nietzsche's text has inspired several composers. Gustav Mahler based the slow movement of his Third Symphony on the "Lied der Nacht" (Song of the night). Richard Strauss composed the symphonic poem Also sprach Zarathustra. Wolfgang Rihm's Third Symphony drew on Nietzsche's text for inspiration as well.