2001: A Space Odyssey (soundtrack) that shift slowly over time. This technique was pioneered in "Atmosphères", the only Ligeti piece heard in its entirety in the film. Ligeti admired Kubrick's film, but in addition to being irritated by Kubrick's failure to obtain permission directly from him, he was offended that his music was used in a film soundtrack shared by composers Johann and Richard Strauss. The Richard and Johann Strauss pieces and György Ligeti's "Requiem" (the Kyrie section) act as recurring motifs in the film's storyline. Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra" is first heard in the opening title which juxtaposes the Sun, Earth, and Moon.
2001: A Space Odyssey (soundtrack) It is subsequently heard when an ape first learns to use a tool, and when Bowman is transformed into the Star-Child at the end of the film. "Zarathustra" thus acts as a bookend for the beginning and end of the film, and as a motif signifying evolutionary transformations, first from ape to man, then from man to Star-Child. This piece was originally inspired by the philosopher Nietzsche's book of the same name which alludes briefly to the relationship of ape to man and man to Superman. "The Blue Danube" appears in two intricate and extended space travel sequences as well