The sixty-fourth classical recording: #648 Richard Strauss - Eine Alpensinfonie

Sometimes, a choice of instrument really can invoke a setting, and the bells that come into the symphony, clattering seemingly randomly, seem the best way to give the impression you're in an alpine field . Nature is present and big, it's not a quiet walk in nature but gives the impression of grander sights. There's something epic about the music, sweeping, a grandeur that works to describe the mountain range.

The settings the piece move through are quite evocative - not always quite enough to identify the piece, but close enough that you can get some idea of the feeling of it - things like a thunderstorm are still quite obvious. It's an imporessive piece and one that I wish I could have some visuals for - the landscapes that inspired it felt like they must have been breathtaking.