An Alpine Symphony is one of Strauss's largest non-operatic works in terms of performing forces: the score calls for about 125 players in total.

The original drafts of An Alpine Symphony began in 1899.

The first movement of Die Alpen evolved into the core of An Alpine Symphony.

Strauss even went so far as to remark that he composed An Alpine Symphony "just as a cow gives milk".

As a result, An Alpine Symphony had originally been scheduled to be premiered in Cincinnati on May 4 of that year.

The first test pressing of a compact disc was of An Alpine Symphony.

Strauss scored An Alpine Symphony for the large orchestra:

Strauss's An Alpine Symphony opens on a unison B-flat in the strings, horns, and lower woodwinds.

The brilliant, glittering instrumental writing in this passage makes it one of the most "vividly specific" moments of tone painting within An Alpine Symphony.

An Alpine Symphony by Richard Strauss begins and ends in B-flat minor.