The Johann Strauss Edition Johann Strauss II, the most famous and enduringly successful of 19th-century light music composers, was born in Vienna on 25...
The Johann Strauss Edition
Johann
Strauss II, the most famous and enduringly successful of 19th-century light
music composers, was born in Vienna on 25 October 1825. Building
upon the firm musical foundations laid by his father, Johann Strauss I (1804-1849)
and Joseph Lanner (1801-1843), the younger Johann (along with his brothers,
Joseph and Eduard) achieved so high a development of the classical Viennese
waltz that it became as much a feature of the concert hall as of the ballroom.
For more than half a century Johann II captivated not only Vienna but also the
whole of Europe and America with his
abundantly tuneful waltzes, polkas, quadrilles and marches. The thrice-married
'Waltz King' later turned his attention to the composition of operetta, and
completed 16 stage works besides more than 500 orchestral compositions -
including the most famous of all waltzes, The Blue Danube (1867). Johann
Strauss II died in Vienna on 3 June 1899.
The
Marco Polo Strauss Edition is a milestone in recording history, presenting, for
the first time ever, the entire orchestral output of the 'Waltz King'. Despite
their supremely high standard of musical invention, the majority of the
compositions have never before been commercially recorded and have been
painstakingly assembled from archives around the world. All performances
featured in this series are complete and, wherever possible, the works are
played in their original instrumentation as conceived by the master orchestrator
himself, Johann Strauss II.
Bruuml;nner-Nationalgarde-Marsch
(Brno National Guard March) op. 58
The
unexpected death of the Viennese composer/conductor Joseph Lanner at the age of
forty-two on 14 April 1843 created a vacancy for the position of Kapellmeister
(Bandmaster) of the 2nd Vienna Citizens' Regiment. Since 1832 the post of
Kapellmeister of the 1st Vienna Citizens' Regiment had been entrusted to the
hands of Lanner's former friend and later rival, Johann Strauss I (1804-49),
father of the future 'Waltz King'. Lanner's former incumbency was to remain
unfilled for more than two years, until an announcement appeared in Der
Wanderer on 12 November 1845 naming Johann Strauss Son as Lanner's successor.
The conferral of this honour upon the 20-year-old musician reflected the high
regard which official circles had for his talents, and was all the more
remarkable since it came little more than a year after he had made his
professional debut with his orchestra.
With
the Revolutionary events of 1848 the Citizens' Regiments were disbanded and in
their place appeared the National Guard. Returning to Vienna in May 1848 after
a lengthy concert tour to the Balkans, the younger Johann accepted the position
of Kapellmeister of the National Guard in the Leopoldstadt suburb of the city.
On 30 July 1848 a deputation from the Brno National Guard arrived in Vienna on
a four day visit as guests of the Vienna National Guard. Johann Strauss Father
welcomed the visitors with his Brünner-National-Garde-Marsch op. 231. Vienna
and Brno (the capital of Moravia) had long enjoyed a close association, and the
establishment of the connecting railway link between them served only to
heighten friendly relations between the two cities. The success of this visit
led to a reciprocal trip, as the Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung announced on
10 August 1848: "A grand festival will be celebrated in Brno on 15 August,
at which several thousand Viennese National Guardists want to appear. Johann
Strauss Son and his entire band of musicians will also be engaged at this
festival". It was for this occasion that the younger Johann composed his
own Brünner-Nationalgarde-Marsch. According to a handwritten note on performing
material of the march in the Pfleger musical archive of the Wiener Stadt- und Landesbibliothek,
the work was written as a commission from a citizen of Brno and was first
performed in an arrangement for brass. Strauss's publisher, H.F. Müller, issued
no orchestral parts for the march and it is not known whether an
instrumentation was made for the usual composition of the Strauss Orchestra. As
with the printed editions of Johann's other works (opp. 52, 54-57 and 60)
written during the Revolutionary period, that of the Brünner-Nationalgarde-Marsch
is said to have been confiscated by the police upon its publication.
This
present recording utilises an orchestral score of the march found in a library
in Brno and prepared by the military bandmaster Arthur Max Schweiger.
Orakel-Sprüche.
Walzer (Oracular Decrees. Waltz) op. 90
The
younger Johann Strauss inherited from his father not only his gift for melody
but also a love of spectacle, and this showed itself repeatedly at the many
scenic festivals he organised for the Viennese public. These impressive
entertainments boasted names like 'Ball in Vesuvius' (1850) and 'The Journey
into the Lake of Fire' (1851) and for them Strauss would, of course, provide a
new dance composition which generally encapsulated the theme of the evening in
its title. On 9 February 1851 the Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung carried an
announcement for one such event:
"Johann
Strauss will give his benefit ball on Monday 10 February 1851 in the Sofienbadsaal
under the title 'The Delphic Oracle'. Everything will be done at this ball to
ensure pleasure and cheerfulness. The genies of Fasching [=Carnival] will throw
out of the door the bad-tempered old one, known as 'Zeitgeist' [Spirit of the
Age], which is causing us so much vexation in political life; no one will call
this an excess: complete freedom will reign in dancing, equality will reign in
our good spirits and brotherliness in our social life. Three ladies will
receive prizes from a lottery, consisting of 1. an elegant velvet album, in
which the latest waltz, 'Orakel-Sprüche', is written down in his own hand by
the composer as a souvenir, 2. a lady's ball fan, 3. flower vase with a genuine
bouquet of camelias. Without doubt Vienna's beauties and the dance-loving
Viennese will not fail to be present at this ball festival".
Strauss's
'Delphic Oracle' benefit, which attracted a large crowd, had been planned well
in advance, the Wiener Zeitung announcing the event as early as New Year's Day
1851. The waltz Orakel-Sprüche evidently came into being during the winter of
1850/51. Interestingly, its themes 1A, 4B and 5A all appear on the same page of
Strauss's earliest known sketchbook (now housed in The Houghton Library of
Harvard University) in which he jotted down musical ideas as they occurred to
him for possible future use. As for the choice of waltz title itself, Johann
apparently had a change of mind shortly after the Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung
published a laudatory article about him in its edition of 19 January 1851. One
of its paragraphs read: "The benefit of the conductor will take place this
Fasching in the Sofienbadsaal. It carries the title 'The Delphic Oracle'. It
will be patronised by the dance-loving youthful world, for the beneficiary will
perform his latest and most popular compositions, in addition a very special
waltz 'Wiener allgemeine Vergnugungswalzer' [Viennese General Entertainment
Waltz]". Orakel-Sprüche was patently a more fitting name for the occasion,
and it was under this title that it was subsequently advertised and first
performed, and then issued in late summer 1851 by Pietro Mechetti's publishing
house. The lithograph title page adorning the first piano edition of the work
portrays the ancient shrine of Apollo at Delphi, where the ancient Greeks would
seek guidance from the Pythian priestess in the form of authoritative, though
often ambiguous, oracles purporting to have come from the god Apollo.
Une
Bagatelle. Polka-Mazur (A Bagatelle. Polka-mazurka) op. 187
With
the close of the 1857 Vienna Carnival the Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung
(25.02.1857) published an account of Johann Strauss's benefit ball two days
earlier at the 'Sperl' - the last ball at which the composer would conduct
prior to departing for his summer concert season in Russia. The review reads in
part: "Johann Strauss's productivity for this carnival has been uncommonly
fruitful, as he has provided no fewer than seven new dance compositions. The
fiery 'Paroxysmen' [op. 189], the fanciful 'Controversen' [op. 191], the richly
tuneful 'Phänomene' [op. 193] and the ländler 'Wien, mein Sinn' [op. 192],
which was played for the first time the day before yesterday, also the brilliant
'Demi-Fortune' Polka française [op. 186], the enticing 'Herzl-Polka' [sic! op.
188], the gracious 'Berceuse-Quadrille' [op. 194] and the enchanting
'Bagatelle'-Polka Mazur [op. 187] are the fruits of seven weeks of activity.
Each of these compositions is worthy of comparison with the best dances of
Father Strauss and Father Lanner, and exceeds by way of rich and singable
melodies all that appears at present in this genre. The Muses seem to have
specially favoured Strauss and have given him a huge cornucopia of fantasy, for
he creates melody after melody with fabulous ease".
The
polka-mazurka Une Bagatelle was written for the Vienna Artists' and Writers'
Association, 'Aurora' (forerunner of the 'Hesperus' Artists' Association) and
was first performed by the Strauss Orchestra under Johann's direction at the'
Aurora' ball in the 'Sperl' dance hall on 11 February 1857. Immediately before
the ball itself, given for Vienna's writers, composers, painters and actors,
those present at the Sperl had been entertained by the Carnival Theatre of the
Aurora, who presented a tragedy, Der neue Samson, and an heroic romantic opera
entitled Die schwarze Lacke. It is clear from an announcement in Die Presse on
1 February 1857 that Strauss had originally intended his contribution to the 'Auroraball'
to be a French polka, to which he had given the title Tanzrecht (Dance
Privilege). In the event, and for reasons which are unclear, the composer
preferred to unveil Une Bagatelle at the festivity, and its date of first
performance is further confirmed by entries in the diaries of both Josef
Strauss and the horn-player Franz Sabay. The promised Tanzrecht-Polka française
did not appear, and no work by this name is to be found in the Strauss family's
catalogue of published works.
Une
Bagatelle was amongst those carnival novelties which Johann Strauss took with
him to Russia later that year to beguile his audiences at Pavlovsk, introducing
it at his opening concert on 14 May 1857 (= 2 May, Russian calendar). Indeed,
the polka seems to have enjoyed greater popularity there than in his native
city: reporting on the "extraordinary sensation" created by Strauss's
performances in Russia with his newly organised orchestra, comprising mainly
north German musicians, the Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung (27.06.1857)
remarked: "Of his compositions especially the waltzes 'Controversen' [and]
'Juristenball-Tanze' [op. 177], the polka 'Etwas Kleines' [op. 190] and the
'Bagatelle-Polka Mazur' have swiftly become favourite pieces with the residents
on the Newa". Johann himself endorsed this view in a letter written during
May of that year to Carl Haslinger, his publisher in Vienna: "I am very
happy with our reception by the Russian audiences... Controversen and Une
Bagatelle also go down better than any other waltz or polka-mazurka, as a
result my recent pieces which were played in the first concert, such as: Etwas Kleines,
Une Bagatelle, Controversen (I did not yet want to play any of the other new
compositions) once again allowed me to achieve a wonderful success".
While
Une Bagatelle has failed to hold its place in the standard Viennese concert
repertoire, its themes may be familiar to ballettomanes through their inclusion
in the score of Antal Dorati's pastiche ballet, Graduation Ball (1940), where
the polka forms part of the 'Mazurka' dance (No. 11 ).
Volkssänger.
Walzer im Ländler-style
(Folk
Singers. Waltz in Landler style) op. 119
Johann
Strauss showed his musical versatility to great effect with the compositions he
presented in the summer of 1852. The Sachsen-Kürassier-Marsch (op. 113, Volume
33 of this CD series) and the Wiener Jubel-Gruss-Marsch (op. 115, Volume 32),
both prompted by events at the Imperial court, contrasted starkly with works
like the graceful Annen-Polka (op. 117, Volume 9) and the waltzes Liebes-Lieder
(op. 114, Volume 3) and Lockvögel (op. 118, Volume 24) which brim over with
Viennese 'Gemütlichkeit' - a term which defies adequate translation into the
English tongue, yet which evokes 'old world' feelings of cosiness and
geniality. To this latter category belongs another of Johann's compositions for
1852: the waltz in Landler style, Volkssänger. The title pays homage to those
itinerant singers of popular songs, both male and female - the label 'folk
singers', though an accurate translation from the German, can regrettably prove
restrictive in the images it conjures up in the late 20th century - who
travelled the length and breadth of the country with their repertoire
consisting not only of genuine 'Wienerlieder' (Viennese popular songs of the
day) but also songs based on contemporary dance melodies to which the
street-singers added texts. (See note on Wien, mein Sinn! Walzer op. 192,
Volume 23). In this way singers like Anna Ulke, Johann Fürst and Johann Baptist
Moser helped to spread and popularise the melodies of Vienna's dance music
composers.
Over
the years the annual parish festival celebrations in the Viennese suburb of Hernals
were marked by the members of the Strauss family with a succession of new
dances, including Johann I's waltzes Die Landjunker (op. 182) and Ländlich, sittlich!
(op. 198), Johann II's Vöslauer-Polka (op. 100, Volume 14) and waltz Nachtfalter
(op. 157, Volume 5) and Josef's waltz début Die Ersten und Letzten (op. 1). All
of these works were given their first performance at Unger's Casino, whose
owner traditionally organised a grand ball to celebrate the parish festival.
Thus it was for the ball arranged by Franz Unger in his Casino on 30 August
1852 that Johann wrote the waltz Volkssänger, which he conducted with the
Strauss Orchestra. Unger's establishment boasted a huge and delightful garden,
as well as a dance hall, and both were tightly packed for the evening's
entertainment which lasted until 3 o'clock the next morning. Johann must have
been more than satisfied by the review of his new waltz which appeared in the
Wiener Theaterzeitung on 1 September 1852: "This, his latest composition,
is exquisitely in keeping with its title. There are genuine, vigorous tunes,
songs of the people, charming, piquant themes, brilliantly instrumented and
surpassing his earlier compositions not only in melody but also in effect.
Given this excellence, it is understandable that Strauss had to repeat his
waltz five times to tempestuous applause. It becomes ever more apparent that
this tirelessly energetic maestro has no rivalry to fear. He enjoys the
universal goodwill of the public".
The
waltz Volkssänger was to retain its popularity, and among its adherents was the
conductor Hans von Bülow (1830-94). On 2 June 1889, some thirty-seven years
after its composition, he wrote to Johannes Brahms in connection with his
engagement at the Hamburg Exhibition: "I have set up the programme
according to local conditions. Just German names, nothing particularly heavy or
wintery - every day a larger or smaller piece by you and Mendelssohn - also a sinfonietta
by the Hamburg [C.P.E.] Bach; however, for the highlight of the old building
two old waltzes by the young Strauss: Volkssänger and Phönixschwingen".
Von Bülow was, in fact, the dedicatee of Phönix-Schwingen op. 125 (Volume 1 of
this CD series), written in 1853, in which year Strauss also performed the
march from von Bülow's incidental music to Julius Caesar - one of several
compositions by von Bülow which he was to take into the repertoire of the
Strauss Orchestra.
Hellenen-Polka
(Hellenes Polka) op. 203
During
the very brief duration of the 1858 Vienna Carnival Johann Strauss's whirlwind
round of conducting activities, as in previous years, encompassed both public
and private ball festivities. Immediately following the close of that year's Fasching
(= carnival) celebrations, a most revealing article appeared in the Wiener Allgemeine
Theaterzeitung on 17 February. This read, in part: "In several newspapers
Strauss has been accused of appearing at the head of the orchestra for only a
short time at the so-called 'public balls'. If, in this short carnival season,
Strauss, like the other Kapellmeisters, had only one ball to conduct each
evening, such behaviour towards the public would deserve a strict reproach; but
Strauss had to put together five or six orchestras nearly every evening [and]
almost daily there was a ball in the apartments of the Imperial family or in
the highest-ranking aristocratic circles. If, therefore, Strauss used the
intervals between these ball festivities to fulfil his obligations to the
general public, and - even though only for a short time - conducted that
orchestra, this merely demonstrates the regard in which he holds the public.
But in no way, as the gossips love to assert, does it show disdain".
Amongst
the festivities for "the highest-ranking aristocratic circles" at
which Johann was engaged to conduct the dance music was a 'Greek Ball', a house
ball held at the Palais Sina. This residence was the home of the Greek
Ambassador in Vienna, Baron Simon Georg Sina of Hodos and Kizdiá (1810-76), and
for the event Johann composed his aptly-entitled Hellenen-Polka. The work was
dedicated to Baroness Marie Sina of Hodos and Kizdiá, whose identity remains something
of a mystery since none of the ladies in the Sina household bore this name. The
wealthy Baron Sina - whose family hailed not from Greece but from the Turkish
province of Bosnia, and was Greek only in its religion, was married to Iphigenie,
née Ghika de San Salva, who bore him four daughters: Anastasia, Irene, Iphigenia
and Helena, while his mother was called Irma. In the absence of more positive
identification, one may postulate that Baroness Iphigenie was also known as
Marie.
The
Greek Ball must have taken place either during January or in the first days of
February 1858, for in its announcement of the programme for a Strauss benefit
ball to be held in the Sofienbad-Saal on 8 February under the curious title
"Carnival's Hope for the Golden Hydrangea", this first mention of the
ebullient Helenen-Polka [sic!] is merely listed amongst "the new
compositions of Johann Strauss". Only when the polka was announced again
on the programme of another Strauss benefit, this time a "Grand Ball
entitled 'Carnival's End of the World in the Sperl"', to be held in the Sperl
dance hall on 15 February 1858, is the dance piece identified as having been
written for the 'Greek Ball'. The correct spelling, and thus the origins, of
the Hellenen-Polka escaped Vienna's pressmen until publication of the sheet
music on 9 April 1858: until then the incorrect spelling, Helenen-Polka, was
unanimously adopted. The error was perhaps understandable because of Baron Sina's
daughter Helena (in German, Helene); indeed, Josef Strauss was later to
dedicate to her his own Helenen-Walzer op. 197 (1866). It is of passing
interest to note that in 1862 Helena married Prince Gregor Ypsilanti, who
assumed the rôle of Greek Ambassador to Vienna in succession to his
father-in-law, and that she died in 1893 after her husband had squandered the
colossal fortune which she had inherited.
Whilst
the Hellenen-Polka is seldom performed nowadays, one of its melodies may be
familiar to listeners through its appearance in the score of Oskar Stalla's
pastiche operetta, Die Tänzerin Fanny Eissler (The Dancer Fanny Eissler, 1934),
based on the music of Johann Strauss II. The Act 1 Finale (No. 6), set in the
palace of Prince Esterházy in Eisenstadt, features a chorus number with the
text "Ist ein Tropfen rein und echt", the melody for which is
provided by the first theme (2A) of the Trio section of the Hellenen-Polka.
Waldmeister-Quadrille
(Woodruff Quadrille) op. 468
The
tuneful Waldmeister-Quadrille, recorded here in an arrangement by L. Kuhn,
presents an excellent example of the melodic riches which undeservedly lie
neglected in the lesser-known operettas of Johann Strauss II. The dance was one
of six separate orchestral numbers which the composer fashioned from themes in
his fifteenth stage work, Waldmeister (Woodruff), which had its première at
Vienna's Theater an der Wien on 4 December 1895. Even the austere music critic
of the Neue Freie Presse (6.12.1895), Dr. Eduard Hanslick, confessed that
"the performance of 'Waldmeister' belongs to the best of the Theater an der
Wien... It was not merely creditable, but magnificent. Maestro Strauss can be
perfectly satisfied with the evening. We were as well". Waldmeister was
presented a total of eighty-eight times before disappearing from the repertoire
of the Theater an der Wien, having proved to be the most successful of
Strauss's later operettas.
In
the second half of the nineteenth century it was a commonplace practice for
Vienna's numerous orchestras and military bands to vie with one another to give
the first public performance of the individual dances and marches based on the
latest theatrical works - often with amusing results (see especially note on
the Pásmán-Polka, Volume 26 of this CD series). The military bands were
frequently the victors, their respective bandmasters - up until 1897 -
hurriedly making arrangements from the editions published for piano. In the
case of Johann Strauss's own orchestral arrangements of material from his stage
works, it generally fell to his brother, Eduard, to conduct the Strauss
Orchestra in the première performances. Waldmeister was no exception, and five
of its six separate orchestral numbers were first heard under Eduard's
direction. The exception is the Waldmeister-Quadrille, unveiled during the 1896
Vienna Carnival, but for which no exact date of first performance has yet been
established. The piece is not to be found in any of Eduard's regular Sunday
afternoon concerts in the Musikverein, and it was almost certainly given its
premiere by one of the military bands in the Austrian capital.
The
thematic material of the Waldmeister-Quadrille is drawn from all three acts of
the operetta, apportioned across the six sections of the quadrille as follows:
No. 1 'Pantalon' (Act 2), No. 2 'Été' (Acts 1 and 2), No. 3 'Poule' (Acts 1 and
2), No. 4 'Trénis' (Act 1), No. 5 'Pastourelle' (Acts 1 and 2) and No. 6
'Finale' (Act 3). The 'Finale' section will, moreover, be recognisable to
listeners familiar with the march Es war so wunderschön (op. 467, Volume 26),
for it comprises the same melodies used by Strauss for the first and second
themes of the march - both works taking as their source Tymoleon's Act 3 (No.
15) aria "Die ganze Nacht durchschwärmt", sung at the première of the
operetta by the baritone Josef Josephi.
"Deutsche".
Walzer ("German". Waltz) op. 220
The
title of Strauss's "Deutsche" Walzer refers not to the popular
18th-century fast turning dance for couples in 3/8 time - the 'Deutsche' or 'Deutscher
Tanz' - that was one of the antecedents of the classical Viennese Waltz, but to
the contemporary political situation.
By
the close of 1848 the revolutions that had rocked the Habsburg Empire that year
had been largely quelled. Through the brilliant campaign of Field Marshal Radetzky,
octogenarian Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Austrian army, Lombardy and
Venetia were secure, while the duchies of Tuscany and Modena were being ruled
by Habsburg princes. Within Italy, however, this occupation by a foreign power
continued to rankle. The Crimean War (1853-56) saw Austria entering into an
agreement with France and Britain to defend the Danubian principalities against
Russia, but she refrained from declaring war on Russia and from active military
participation. When Russia was forced to accept the humiliating Peace of Paris,
the consequences for the Habsburg monarchy were dire: Russia, formerly
Austria's ally, now sided with her enemies, while France and Britain were
dissatisfied that Austria had not become a combatant in the war. In retaliation
they supported the cause of Italian unification which was skilfully engineered
by the Sardinian prime minister, Count Camillo Benso Cavour. The cunning Cavour
recognised that continuing Austrian domination in the peninsula was the
greatest obstacle for the realisation of Italian unification and forged an
alliance with Napoléon III who was anxious to weaken the power of Austria.
When, in April 1859, Sardinia ignored an Austrian ultimatum for her to disarm,
Austria found herself at war with France and Sardinia. That summer the Austrian
army was defeated at Magenta and Solferino, and under the terms of the ensuing
peace Austria gave up all her possessions in Italy, except Venetia, while
Tuscany and Modena were ceded to the Kingdom of Sardinia.
During the early months of 1859, before
war actually broke out, large sectors of the Austrian population already
foresaw the imminent conflict with France and Sardinia and looked to the German
federal states for assistance. In the event this help was not forthcoming. The
widespread hope of German support even found an echo in Vienna's ballrooms
during the 1859 Carnival when Johann Strauss not only chose to give his benefit
in the Sperl dance hall on 7 March 1859 under the banner title "German
Sympathies in the Dance World (Victory of the Waltz)", but composed for it
his "Deutsche" Walzer. Johann and Josef Strauss were due to have
shared the conducting of the Strauss Orchestra at this benefit, but as a report
read in the Wiener Theaterzeitung on 11 March: "On the day of his benefit
ball at the Sperl on the 7th of this month, Johann Strauss was overcome by such
serious nervous over-excitement that medical assistance had to be summoned with
the utmost speed. In his place his brother Josef assumed sole direction of the
ball, which was most numerously attended, and also performed the waltz
'Deutsche' which Johann had written for this evening. On account of its
plethora of melodies this gave so much pleasure that it had to be repeated
several times".
The
new work was published by Carl Haslinger towards the end of April 1859, and
drew from the Wiener Theaterzeitung (28.04.1859) the comment: "There are
very attractive dance tunes which ring out to us from this waltz; also - note
for the young pianist - they are by no means difficult to play. The
presentation is a credit to the publisher". Rather surprisingly, none of
the reviewers remarked on the fact that Johann had chosen to incorporate into
the Coda of his "Deutsche" Walzer the opening melody (Waltz 1A) of
his late father's waltz Deutsche Lust oder: Donau-Lieder ohne Text op. 127
(German Delight, or Danube Songs without Words) of 1841.
Secunden-Polka
française (Seconds. French polka) op. 258
The
Russian capital, St Petersburg, was still under a thick carpet of snow and its
lakes iced over when Johann Strauss arrived in May 1861 to commence his fifth
season of summer concerts at the Vauxhall Pavilion in nearby Pavlovsk, and an
audience of no fewer than 6,000 attended his first public appearance on 26 May
(= 14 May, Russian calendar). During the course of a letter written the
following month to Carl Haslinger, Strauss informed his Viennese publisher:
"The mood against Austria has become, if possible, even worse. Only the
weather has improved. I am even playing in the open air. I would ask that the Hellmesberger-Polka
should be christened by him, and I shall send it in a few days in full score. I
want to have it performed earlier in Vienna, that is, by Josef. Also it would
be to your advantage to send this polka here from Vienna before I play it here.
Büttner (Strauss's Russian publisher in St Petersburg] is a very noble (towards
me in recent times) human being, but miserly towards his colleagues". (The
reference to the worsening mood between Russia and Austria harked back to the
Crimean War of 1853-56 and would reach its height in 1863/64.)
Six
triumphant years in faraway Russia had brought Johann into contact with
influential writers, musicians and virtuosi, and he recognised the need to gain
footholds within artistic circles in Vienna. Accordingly, his "Hellmesberger-Polka"
was dedicated to the celebrated violinist, conductor, composer and wit, Joseph Hellmesberger
senior (1828-93), Director of the highly prestigious Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde
in Wien (Society of the Friends of Music in Vienna). As Strauss had requested,
it was indeed Hellmesberger who chose to christen the graceful work the Secunden-Polka.
The title has nothing to do with the unit of time, but rather to the
construction of the polka's first main theme which uses chord intervals of
seconds as the melody progresses in an upward scale, accompanied by
suspensions. It is this measure which actually determines the character of the
piece.
Despite his clearly expressed intention
to play the polka in Pavlovsk, it was until recently thought that Strauss had
not actually done so and had instead conducted the world première personally
after his return to Vienna in autumn 1861. However, a comparison between the
diary of F.A. Zimmermann, a viola-player in Strauss's orchestra in Russia who
detailed the programmes of each concert, and the catalogue of the Büttner
publishing house, suggests something different. On 27 August 1861 (= 15 August,
Russian calendar), at the orchestra's benefit concert at Pavlovsk, Zimmermann
records the first performance of a work by Johann entitled Ein Strausschen
Polka (A Little Bouquet). Nowhere does a polka by this precise title feature in
the catalogue of published Strauss works. Ein Sträusschen obviously proved
successful since Zimmermann logs a further 22 performances during the remaining
54 concerts of the 1861 season. The orchestral score of the "Hellmesberger-Polka"
which Johann sent to Haslinger bears his dedication to "Herr Josef Hellmesberger",
together with the title Ein Sträusschen der Erinnerung (A Little Bouquet of Memory)
- under which name Büttner published the work in Russia. This was also the
title of the polka which Der Zwischenakt (29.10.1861) announced would shortly
appear from Haslinger's publishing house and which was duly published on 17
November 1861 with its title amended to the Secunden-Polka. It seems reasonable
to conclude that the polka Johann played at Pavlovsk as Ein Sträusschen is
identical to that published in St Petersburg as Ein Sträusschen der Erinnerung
and in Vienna as the Secunden-Polka.
Johann
himself conducted the Viennese première of his Secunden-Polka, together with
that of his Furioso-Polka (quasi Galopp) op. 260, on 17 November 1861 in the Sofienbad-Saal
at his first public appearance in his native city after his return from Russia.
The piece drew unanimous praise from the Viennese press, with Der Zwischenakt
(20.11.1861) remarking: "Johann Strauss's latest dances composed in St
Petersburg, 'Secunden-Polka', 'Chansonetten-Quadrille' etc. are full of those
piquant and alluring melodies which characterise each of his compositions and
have made these popular so swiftly. The Viennese passed a very merry
evening".
Tausend
und eine Nacht. Walzer
(Thousand
and One Nights. Waltz) op. 346
Before
eventually reaching the stage on 10 February 1871 as Indigo und die vierzig Räuber
(Indigo and the Forty Thieves), Johann Strauss's début stage work had undergone
several changes of name, and one can imagine the confusion in the minds of
Vienna's theatre-going public as they read in their newspapers first of Ali
Baba, then Fantaska and then Vierzig Räuber. The Morgen-Post (4.12.1870) found
the situation laughable: "They still shilly-shally between the names 'Fantaska',
'Espritta', 'Hildalga', 'Grazietta', 'Gitana', 'Varietta', 'Amora', 'Amanda', 'Zizine',
'Florinde', 'Lorina', 'Zerbina', 'Bimbona', 'Friola', 'Dryana', 'Uldalma', and
several dozen more sonorous women's names". (Thirty-five years later, in
1906, Strauss's operetta was triumphantly re-worked under yet another title: Tausend
und eine Nacht, a name harking back of to Antoine Galland's original
18th-century translation of this collection of oriental tales, The Thousand and
One Nights).
Tausend
und eine Nacht was also the evocative title Johann Strauss gave to the splendid
orchestral waltz he arranged from melodies in his first-born operetta. The
composer had intended to unveil the waltz as his dedication dance for the ball
of the powerful Vienna Authors' and Journalists' Association, 'Concordia', to
be held in the Sofienbad-Saal on 7 February 1871. When the date set for the
premiere of Indigo was postponed until 10 February, however, he found himself
in the embarrassing position of having promised the waltz to the 'Concordia',
yet wishing to avoid pre-empting the première of his operetta with an
orchestral selection of what he knew to be its most charming melodies. In the
event, believing that he depended upon the goodwill of the journalists, he
presented the Association with his Tausendundeine Nacht-Polka - based on themes
from the operetta - which he personally conducted at their ball, and which was
later published under the amended title: Shawl-Polka française op. 343. It was
therefore left to Eduard Strauss to perform the première of the waltz Tausend
und eine Nacht at his Sunday promenade concert in the Golden Hall of the Vienna
Musikverein on 12 March 1871. The programme of music also included the Indigo
Overture and the Indigo-Quadrille op. 344.
Reviewing
the first night of Indigo und die vierzig Räuber in the Fremden-Blatt on 12
February 1871, the journalist Ludwig Speidel observed: "How lightly
skipping, how charmingly gossiping, how irresistibly coquettish are his polkas
and his quadrilles, how cosy, convivial, piquant and ingenious they are. But if
all these charms do not avail, the magician has one last remedy that never
fails - he has his waltz! It is his 'Pied Piper of Hamelin'; there is nothing
for it - everyone has to join in. Strauss has proved his magic powers in that
Trio of the first Act which culminates in a waltz. It is a Viennese waltz of
truly elemental power, born not very far from Lerchenfeld [a suburb of Vienna],
stirringly melodic, of piquant, rhythmic features and bewitchingly
instrumented". Another eyewitness, the journalist Josef Wimmer, praised
the same vocal waltz: "And when the star number of the evening, the waltz
'Ja, so singt man, in der Stadt wo ich geboren' [Yes, that's how they sing in
the city where I was born], was played, the whole house broke out into a
jubilant shout, the occupants of the boxes and the stalls began to dance and
the gallery was overtaken by a regular Viennese * 'sell my clothes mood'. One
almost believed that Strauss would tear the violin from the hands of the first
violinist and strike up the dance as in the days of old at the 'Sperl' and the
'Zeisig', at 'Dommayers' and 'Unger', and at the 'Straussl' and 'Schwenders"'.
Little
wonder, therefore, that Strauss should have awarded pride of place to the
melody of "Ja, so singt man" in his orchestral waltz Tausend und eine
Nacht; indeed, this number provides the music for the entire first waltz
section, including the Trio. Waltz 2 comprises material exclusively from the
waltz section in the Act 2 (No. 16) Bacchanal, "Lasst frei nun erschallen
das Lied aus der Brust", sung by Fantasca with the chorus of bayadere.
Waltz 3A also owes its origins to the Act 2 Bacchanal, to the second waltz tune
"Die Freiheit lacht für diese Nacht", whilst the final waltz section
(3B) is to be found with the text "Esel, nur Esel, nur Eseltreiber
All"' in Act 1 (No. 3), sung by Alibaba, the donkey-driver, and chorus.
*
A term referring to an old Viennese custom whereby, at times of great joy, the
rich citizens sold their clothes and donated the proceeds to the poor.
Die
Bajadere. Polka schnell (The Bayadere. Quick polka) op. 351
In
Johann Strauss's first operetta, Indigo und die vierzig Räuber (Indigo and the
Forty Thieves), mounted at Vienna's Theater an der Wien on 10 February 1871,
the principal female rôle is that of Fantasca, a part created by the famed
prima donna and co-director of that theatre, Marie Geistinger (1836-1903). Fantasca,
a Viennese girl shipwrecked in a storm, has become the favourite temple dancer,
or bayadere, of Indigo, the ruler of Macassar, a faraway land which is the
setting for this tale very loosely based on The Arabian Nights. Whilst
immensely popular with Vienna's theatre-going public, Indigo und die vierzig Räuber
attracted widely divergent opinions from the critics, and Eduard Hanslick's
dismissive viewpoint (Neue Freie Presse, 12.02.1871) that "a man of Johann
Strauss's reputation and talent would have done better not to have had anything
to do with it" must be set against that of Ludwig Speidel, who concluded
his review in the Fremden-Blatt on 12 February 1871: "All in all, the first
step that Johann Strauss has taken on the stage has turned out well, and let us
hope that we shall encounter the excellent maestro many more times on the road
he has embarked upon... Strauss without Vienna is as unthinkable as Vienna
without Strauss".
There
was, however, general praise for the music in Indigo. The critic Speidel, for
example, found the third act Ballet (No. 18a) "full of piquant
moments", and it is the Coda of this ballet music which provides the
opening section of the quick polka Die Bajadere, one of the nine separate
orchestral pieces Strauss arranged on themes from this abundantly tuneful
operetta. The remaining themes in Die Bajadere are drawn from Act 2 is and
elsewhere in Act 3, as follows:
Narrow your search
Classical Music
Brunner Nationalgarde-Marsch, Op. 58 - 2:46 
