The Johann Strauss Edition Johann Strauss II, the most famous and enduringly successful of 19th-century light music composers, was born in Vienna on...
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.
Wiener
Jubel-Gruss-Marsch (Viennese Jubilation Greeting March) op. 115
In
the autumn of 1849 the troops of the young Austrian Emperor Franz Josef,
together with the help of Tsar Nicholas I's expeditionary force, bloodily
suppressed the Magyar uprising, and on 13 August the Hungarian army surrendered
to the Russian general, Rudiger, at Vilcigos. On 6 October 1849, thirteen
generals of the Hungarian army were executed in Arad; on 25 October they were
followed by six politicians. Other leaders of the revolt, like Kossuth, Dembinski
and Bem, who had sought refuge in Turkey, were sentenced to death in their
absence. Europe was horrified by the "Vengeance of Arad", which even
the Tsar condemned. For their part, the Hungarians swore revenge.
Thus
it was not until the summer of 1852 that Franz Josef dared to make a first tour
of inspection in 'his' kingdom east of the River Leitha, which formed the
border between Austria and Hungary. It went without saying that every security
precaution imaginable had been taken, and eventually the monarch returned
safely to his residence at the Imperial Hofburg Palace in Vienna. To welcome
him, a "Jubilation Festival" was decreed, such as Vienna had not seen
since the days of the Vienna Congress in 1814/15. In the Prater, a triumphal gate
was erected, and steps were taken to ensure that the route from this gate to
the Hofburg was lined with ranks of jubilant Viennese while, at regular
intervals, military and civilian bands were posted to provide the appropriate
backdrop of sound. The position of the Strauss Orchestra was - as the Wiener
Allgemeine Theaterzeitung announced on 13 August 1852 - chosen to be
particularly favourable: it was to play in the Stephansplatz (the central
square dominated by St. Stephen's Cathedral) and, as the monarch drove by, it
would strike up the Wiener Jubel-Gruss-Marsch by Johann Strauss, composed
"to celebrate the arrival of his Majesty the Emperor". This act of
obeisance, which took place on 14 August 1852, was followed by further
prominent performances of the march. The first, a "Grand Jubilation
Festival and Ball" organised by Johann, together with J. Vallentin, lessee
of the Bierhalle in the suburb of Fünfhaus, took place on 16 August in the
Bierhalle, and the new march was played by the Strauss Orchestra alongside the
military bands of the King of Saxony Cuirassier Regiment and the Grand Duke
Constantin of Russia Infantry Regiment. This event also saw the performance of
another specially composed work, Carl Haslinger's Freudenfestmarsch (Joyous
Festival March). The following day, 17 August 1852, the eve of Franz Josef's
twenty-second birthday, was marked by another "Grand Jubilation
Festival" concert, this time in the Vienna Volksgarten and organised
by Johann Strauss and J. Corti in aid of Archduke Ferdinand Max's "relief
fund for maimed soldiers". The reviewer for the Wiener Allgemeine
Theaterzeitung (19.08.1852) reported: "Strauss performed his latest
compositions, amongst which the 'Wiener Jubelgruss-Marsch', written especially
for his Majesty's return, took pride of place. This newest work by the
indefatigable maestro enjoyed such a splendid reception that it had to be
repeated five times, a satisfying demonstration of the value of this musical
piece". Carl Haslinger's publishing house issued the piano edition of the
Wiener Jubel-Gruss-Marsch on 11 September 1852, while composer and publisher
donated the net income from the sale of sheet music to a charity nominated by
the Mayor of Vienna, Dr Johann Kasparvon Seiller.
Fantasie-Bilder.
Walzer (Fantasy Pictures. Waltz) op. 64
On
31 October 1848 the revolution in Vienna was crushed by Polish and Croatian
regiments of the Imperial Austrian army, under the overall command of Prince
Windischgratz, who captured the city after a bombardment of three days. The
Revolutionary leaders were imprisoned and executed. The arrival of the 1849
Vienna Carnival found the city's inhabitants still suffering from the shock of
this military action, and they lacked enthusiasm for the carnival festivities.
Vienna was under martial law (which remained in force until autumn 1853) and
the few balls which were permitted to be held during the short carnival period
had to commence in the afternoon.
Vienna's
musical directors found it difficult to derive artistic inspiration for
rhythmical dance pieces from the oppressive mood. For his part, the younger
Johann Strauss strove to banish the general gloom by conjuring up a set of
"Fantasy Pictures" in which his listless audiences could momentarily
take refuge from the cheerless realities of life. These "Fantasy
Pictures" - Fantasie-Bilder - took the form of a new waltz which Johann
wrote with that name as his customary, and expected, dedication waltz for
Dommayer's Casino in the suburb of Hietzing. The first performance of
Fantasie-Bilder may have taken place on 10 February 1849, for on that
evening the owner of the Casino, Ferdinand Dommayer, had made his premises
available to the young Strauss for a benefit. However, the work may have been
played for the first time at a subscription ball held at Dommayer's four days
earlier, on 6 February 1849, for in its preview of the event Der Humorist
(30.01.1849) stated that "Strauss junior will certainly not neglectto
surprise us with new waltzes". Pietro Mechetti, Johann's publisher, issued
the piano edition of Fantasie-Bilder on 21 August 1849. Two days later, Der
Humorist (23.08.1849) wrote: "Although the music publishers are now
confused as to how to dispose of that which they publish, the always busy Court
art and music shop of Herr Pietro Mechetti has brought out a number of new
pieces. These include a further two bouquets from Terpsichore's garden -
written by Johann Strauss Son. One is called the 'Nicolai-Quadrille' and the
other 'Phantasie-Bilder' [sic!]. For dancers, they do not need a critical
appreciation".
Printed
sets of orchestral performing material for Fantasie-Bilder, though announced by
Mechetti, appear never to have been published, and Arthur Kulling has therefore
made an orchestral arrangement of the work from the original piano score for
this present recording.
Olga-Polka
(Olga Polka) op. 196
More
than thirty-five years after Johann Strauss's death, the curtain of the
Deutsches Theater, Berlin, rose on a 'new' operetta by the Waltz King. More
correctly, the stage work - entitled Die Tänzerin Fanny Elssler (Fanny Elssler,
the Dancer) - presented a musical score, arranged by Oscar Stalla, drawing upon
lesser-known and unpublished melodies by Strauss. One of the operetta's most
charming and durable numbers is Fanny's Act 2 waltz song, "Draussen in
Sievering" (Outdoors in Sievering), which combines two melodies: a
hitherto unused waltz fragment and the first theme (2A) from the Trio section
of Johann's Olga-Polka op. 196 of 1857.
The
Olga-Polka itself owed its creation to a Russian royal wedding which took place
in St. Petersburg on 28 August 1857. On that day, amid accompanying splendour,
the music-loving Grand Duke Michail Nikolaievich (1832-1909), youngest brother
of Tsar Alexander II, married Princess Caecilie of Baden (1839-91), daughter of
Archduke Leopold of Baden. Johann Strauss, who at that time was giving a summer
season of concerts in nearby Pavlovsk, used the opportunity occasioned by the
event to enhance his already enviable popularity with the Russian royal family
and composed the Caecilien-Polka in honour of the lovely young bride. Indeed,
it is clear from a letter which Johann wrote in late July 1857 to Carl
Haslinger, his publisher in Vienna, that the new polka had been prepared well
in advance of the wedding (the fair copy of the full orchestral score made for
the publisher's engraver is dated 9 August) and was enjoying success even
before the royal couple's official engagement on 16August 1857. Sometime after
performing the Caecilien-Polka in Pavlovsk, Johann despatched the work to the
Austrian capital where his brother Josef conducted its Viennese première,
together with that of Johann's waltz Telegraphische Depeschen (op. 195, Volume
28), at his own benefit concert in the Volksgartenon Sunday 18 October 1857.
The Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung (16.10.1857) remarked that both works
"have caused a sensation in St. Petersburg and are truly genial Viennese
sounds full of verve and melody".
Since
tradition demanded that the German Princess Caecilie adopt a Russian name -
Olga Feodorovna - before her marriage, so Johann's Caecilien-Polka also
underwent a change of identity. On 8 December 1857 Carl Haslinger announced the
publication of Strauss's Olga-Polka, on the title page of which is the
inscription: "Dedicated to her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga, née
Princess of Baden". It was under this title, too, that Johann himself
first conducted the work in Vienna at a concert in the Volksgarten on 1
November 1857, shortly after his return from Russia. Reporting on this event,
the Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung (3.11.1857) observed: "The
'Olga-Polka' is a most delightful, fragrant musical bouquet, full of fine,
gracious rhythms".
Promotionen.
Walzer (Graduations. Waltz) op. 221
The
dedication waltz which Johann Strauss announced for the ball of the law
students at Vienna University in 1859 bore the title Die Präparanden, a term
referring to students who are preparing for their final examinations. Between
the time of this announcement in the Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung on 22
January 1859, and the date of the ball itself, which was held in the
Sofienbad-Saal on 8 February 1859, the waltz had taken on a new title:
Promotionen. In Johann's mind, at least, the grandaunts were no longer merely
studying for their examinations - they had successfully graduated! (Later, when
Strauss performed the work in Russia, it bore the supplementary title: Neue
Juristen Ball-Tänze - New Jurists' Ball Dances.)
Despite
the almost poetic beauty of the opening waltz theme and the charm of the melodies
which followed, the sombre Introduction to Promotionen perhaps did not match
the expectations of the merry ball guests and maybe cast a mournful mood which
was not easily dispelled. The Fremden-Blatt (10.02.1859), for example, though
praising Strauss's execution of the evening's music, reported bluntly that the
new waltz "lacked the rhythm and melody of older Strauss
compositions". Yet a different picture is presented by the reviewer for
the Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung (10.02.1859), who noted that the waltz had
to be encored three times. On 16 February the same paper enlarged on its
earlier observations about Promotionen, adding that "In particular the
first, third and fifth [waltz sections] are rich in fresh and attractive
melodies. At the last soirée in the Volksgarten [13.02.1859] this most
excellent waltz had to be repeated three times. Through this composition
Strauss has lately demonstrated that he still has at his disposal a profusion
of piquant and original melodies".
Johann
Strauss was blessed with a life-long gift for melody, an apparently
inexhaustible spring which he could tap at will. In spite of this facility,
perhaps even because of it, the cautious Johann kept a series of 'sketchbooks'
in which he would jot down musical ideas as they occurred to him should his
melodic spring ever run temporarily dry. He commenced his first sketchbook in
August 1843, and the very first page presents melodies which eventually
appeared in his early waltzes Gunst-Werber op. 4 (1844) and Die jungen Wiener
op. 7 (1845). It is the sixth entry on this page, however, which reveals a
surprise - a theme fragment which, some sixteen years later, was to take shape
as Waltz 2B of Promotionen.
Especially
noteworthy is Waltz 4A, with its prominent use of the horns. The structure of
this section is strongly reminiscent of a passage in three-four time in the
overture to Rossini's opera La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie, 1817) in which
the horns also predominate. One might be inclined to dismiss this as mere coincidence
- until one listens to Waltz 1B of Strauss's "Deutsche" Walzer, in
which the similarity to the Rossini passage is even more conspicuous. More
remarkably still, the two Strauss waltzes bear consecutive opus numbers (220
and 221) and both date from the 1859 Vienna Carnival. If the similarity to the
Rossini passage is not mere coincidence, then one does not have to search too
far for a possible explanation. The overture to La gazza ladra was no stranger
to the repertoire of the Strauss Orchestra, and during Johann's 1856 concert
season in Pavlovsk he had conducted the work on no less than 10 occasions.
Perhaps it had proved popular with Russian audiences again in 1858 and had
consciously, or unconsciously, called itself to mind when Johann was creating
the "Deutsche" and Promotionen waltzes in the weeks following his
return to Vienna in November 1858.
Despite
the plaudits of some reviewers, Promotionen never achieved the popularity it
really deserved and the Strauss Orchestra only rarely performed it. Nevertheless,
more than a decade later Johann resurrected one of its melodies (Waltz 5A) for
his waltz Farewell to America (o. op), a pastiche work he compiled in summer
1872 in connection with his visit to the World's Peace Jubilee and
International Musical Festival in Boston, U.S.A.
Hofball-Quadrille
(Court Ball Quadrille) op.116
In
the early hours of 27 November 1992, a fire in the Imperial Hofburg Palace in
Vienna destroyed the mid 18th-century Redoutensäle, leaving the two Redoutensaal
ballrooms - the 'Grosser' (Great) and the 'Kleiner' (Small) - as roofless,
charred and gutted ruins. During the 18th and 19th centuries the sumptuous
Grosser Redoutensaal had witnessed Imperial masked balls and premières of works
by such masters as Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, and it was here, one hundred
and fifty years ago, on 28 March 1842, that the Vienna Philharmonic came into
being with the first Philharmonic Academy concert, conducted by Otto Nicolai.
It
was in the Grosser Redoutensaal, too, in November 1849 - exactly two months
after the death of Johann Strauss senior - that the younger Johann Strauss was
permitted to perform in the Hofburg for the very first time, the occasion being
a 'Katharine-Redoute' - a masked ball celebrating the Name Day of Saint Katharine
- for which he wrote his Künstler-Quadrille op. 71 (Volume 27 of this CD
series). Yet, despite all his efforts to secure for himself and his orchestra
the positions in Vienna's musical life previously held by his late father -
above all the privileged honorary post of 'k.k. Hofballmusik-Direktor'
(Director of Music for the Imperial-Royal Court Balls) - the young Johann
remained, for the time being, persona non grata in court circles. This was due,
in no small measure, to his involvement in the Revolutionary events of 1848 and
to a police report which was critical of his "civil and moral
behaviour". Thus, it was Philipp Fahrbach senior who, during the 1850
Vienna Carnival, was appointed to take responsibility for providing the music
at court festivals arranged by the Archduchess Sophie, mother of the
19-year-old Austrian Emperor Franz Josef.
The
situation changed in 1852 when, clearly at the instigation of younger members
of the Imperial family, Strauss was put in charge of dance entertainments at
court, initially sharing this honour with Fahrbach. He conducted his first
Chamber Ball on 14 January 1852 (followed by others on 28.1, 11.2 and 22.2) and
his first Court Ball, just three weeks later, on 7 February. The Viennese press
carried no reports on the latter event, but it seems to have been for this
occasion that Johann wrote his Hofball-Quadrille. One can well imagine the
trepidation with which he embarked upon the composition of this piece which,
though precisely constructed, is rather unambitious. Thereafter it featured in
the programmes of the Strauss Orchestra, notably during their tour through
Germany that autumn, and was published by Carl Haslinger on 23 October 1852.
Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka
(Tittle-tattle Polka) op. 214
Shortly
before Johann Strauss returned to Vienna after completing his third summer
concert season at Pavlovsk near St. Petersburg, an announcement appeared in the
Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung on 24 September 1858: "Herr Kapellmeister
Johann Strauss has completed the following compositions during his stay in St.
Petersburg this year, and they will appear in due course from Carl Haslinger: 'Mes
adieux à St. Petersbourg' [op. 210], 'Bon-Bon' - Polka française [op. 213], 'Tritsch-Tratsch'
Schnellpolka, 'Szechenyi-Tänze' Walzer [= Gedankenflug Walzer op. 215]."
Yet, while Tritsch-Tratsch may well have been sketched, or even completed, in
Russia, Strauss did not perform it there until the following season, on 22 May
1859 (= 10 May, Russian calendar).
Upon
returning to his native city, Strauss made his first public appearance at a
concert in the Volksgarten on 21 November 1858, performing the Viennese
premières of the Abschied von St. Petersburg Walzer op. 210, Champagner-Polka
op. 211, Fürst Bariatinsky-Marsch op. 212 and Bonbon-Polka op. 213. Three days
later, on 24 November, sharing the conducting with his brother Josef at a
concert in the intimate surroundings of 'Zum grossen Zeisig', a tavern on the Burgglacis
(today, Burggasse 2) in the suburb of Neubau, Johann played these pieces again,
introducing an additional novelty - the Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka. The new work
proved a sensation, prompting the Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung to state in
its edition of 27 November 1858: "Johann Strauss's enormously successful 'Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka',
which has been received with the most tempestuous applause, will appear in the
next few days from Carl Haslinger. No dance composition of such freshness,
humorous colouring and piquant instrumentation can have appeared for
years". Demand for the new work was so overwhelming that Haslinger was
obliged to change his publishing programme: the piano arrangement of the polka
was written out in just a few hours and its first printed edition was
announced on 1 December 1858. By the time this advertisement appeared in the Fremden-Blatt,
however, the first edition had been sold out and Haslinger was forced into the
first of several reprints. The new polka also appealed to Vienna's folk singers
- chief amongst them Johann Baptist Moser (1799-1863) - who immediately added
lyrics and further helped to spread the work's popularity.
Although
Strauss may have conceived the Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka in Russia, the stimulus
for the polka's title most definitely stemmed from Vienna. On 7 March 1858 a
new paper had appeared on Vienna's news-stands: entitled Tritsch-Tratsch and
described as a "humorous, satirical weekly publication", it was a
successor to the short-lived Der Teufel in Wien (The Devil in Vienna) which had
ceased with its issue of 25 February 1858. The new publication was edited by
the successful writer and folk singer Anton Varry and counted among its
principal contributors O.F. Berg and Josef Wimmer - all three of whom were
friends, or at least acquaintances, of Johann Strauss. The Wiener Allgemeine
Theaterzeitung (7.03.1858) praised the appearance of this "Viennese
popular weekly", noting particularly that "It is handsomely put
together; paper, print and especially the woodcut met with very great
approval". The woodcut referred to was A. Carl's entertaining masthead
engraving on the front page, showing the title Tritsch-Tratsch and depicting an
elephant clambering from the mouth of a jovial carnival jester - an allegoric
portrayal of "telling whoppers" - together with a small inset of the Stephansdom
(St. Stephen's Cathedral) in Vienna. Yet if Varry's publication was new, his
choice of title for it harked back a quarter of a century to 1833 to Der Tritschtratsch,
a one-act burlesque (with music by Adolf Müller senior) by the great Austrian
dramatist and actor Johann Nepomuk Nestroy (1801-62), which was still in the
repertoire of Vienna's theatres. A quotation from the farce, "... aus der Mücken
einen Elefanten macht ..." (literally "to make a midge out of an
elephant" but colloquially meaning "to make a mountain out of a
molehill"), further explains the elephantine imagery in the masthead
illustration of Varry's publication.
Such
was the background to the charming engraving which adorns the first piano
edition of Johann Strauss's Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka. The Haslinger issue
reproduces the open-mouthed jester with the elephant and Stephansdom, and even
borrows its lettering style from the humorous paper, but it also makes some
charming additions: prominently featured are the gossiping wives from Nestroy's
farce and - of course - that "Viennese popular weekly", Tritsch-Tratsch!
Doubtless Varry and his colleagues wished they could have competed on more
equal terms with Strauss's rumbustious and evergreen polka: the comic paper was
to enjoy only limited success and ceased publication before reaching its second
anniversary.
Wiener
Blut. Walzer (Vienna Blood. Waltz) op. 354
On 20 April 1873, the Archduchess Gisela
Louise Maria (1856-1932), eldest daughter of the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef
and the Empress Elisabeth, married Prince Leopold of Bavaria (1846-1930) in
Vienna. To commemorate this major occasion a series of glittering festivities
was arranged around the date of the Imperial wedding, including a Court Ball in
the Hofburg Palace and a festival in the Prater, and the most important
organisations of the nobility and citizenry, as well as the authorities of the
City of Vienna itself, vied with each other in the organising of numerous
celebrations and festive events.
For
their part, the personnel of the Wiener Hof-Operntheater (Vienna Court Opera
Theatre) devised a very special attraction and announced for 22 April 1873 a
"Court Opera Ball" - a forerunner of the present-day Vienna Opera
Ball - the proceeds from which were destined for the theatre's Pensions
Institute, which arranged the event. However, since at this time the Austrian
Emperor was unprepared to sanction dancing in the Hof-Operntheater, which he
looked upon as 'his' opera house, the event was instead held in the Golden Hall
of the Musikverein building - home of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde
(Society of the Friends of Music) and today the setting for the annual New
Year's Day Concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic. As hosts of the Court Opera
Ball, the artistes of the Hof-Operntheater were keen to present themselves as
favourably as possible to their public, and so offered their guests a
particularly beguiling programme. They engaged the Strauss Orchestra and its
conductor, 'Court Ball Music Director' Eduard Strauss, to provide the music for
dancing, but withheld their pièce de résistance until around midnight, when a
break in proceedings of one hour¡¦s duration was announced for the benefit of
both orchestra and dancers.
Now
the highlight of the evening was revealed as the resident orchestra of the
Vienna Court Opera, the Vienna Philharmonic, presented a short concert of
music. Since the Director of the Wiener Philharmoniker, Johann Herbeck, had
been taken ill shortly before the ball, the first item - Carl Maria von Weber's
Aufforderung zum Tanz (Invitation to the Dance), in Hector Berlioz's
orchestration - was conducted by Otto Dessoff, who at that time was also leader
of the Philharmonic Concerts. The critic of the Fremden-Blatt (24.04.1873)
observed of this performance that it was played "with such verve and
precision that perhaps nobody will be able to recall having heard this piece of
music better [played]". The journalist continued: "After this, Johann
Strauss stepped up to the conductor's podium to perform his latest waltz,
'Wiener Blut'. We do not believe that we are overstating our praise if we count
this work amongst the best by the beloved Waltz King. This dance piece is a
collection of genuine Viennese tunes, full of melody and electrifying rhythm.
On tempestuous demand the waltz had to be repeated". The reviewer for the Neues
Wiener Tagblatt (23.04.1873) was equally enthusiastic, numbering the waltz
Wiener Blut "amongst the most beautiful which Strauss has written in
recent years. In these three-four bars, sometimes cheeky, sometimes
sentimental, flows fresh, free and red Viennese blood".
This
performance of the waltz Wiener Blut, on the night of 22/23 April 1873, marked
the first occasion on which the Viennese Waltz King conducted the renowned
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and thus also the commencement of the
orchestra's 'Strauss tradition'. (Some six months later, on 4 November 1873,
the Wiener Philharmoniker would cement this relationship still further when,
under the composer's direction, they performed Strauss's waltz An der schönen blauen
Donau for the very first time at a concert in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein,
hosted by the Committee of the Chinese World Exhibition.)
The
waltz Wiener Blut later lent its name and some of its melodies (themes 1A., 1B
and 4B) to the Johann Strauss pastiche operetta Wiener Blut, which was mounted
at Vienna's Carl-Theater on 26 October 1899, less than five months after the
Waltz King's death. The score comprised previously published melodies by Johann
II, arranged by Adolf Müller junior and crafted to a highly entertaining
libretto (set at the time of the 1814/15Congress of Vienna) by Victor Léon and
Leo Stein, the future authors of Franz Lehár's operetta The Merry Widow (1905).
Auf
der Jagd. Schnell-Polka (At the Hunt. Quick polka) op. 373
Generally
speaking, the separate dances and marches which Johann Strauss habitually
arranged from the scores of his various operettas bore titles which were
connected, in someway, to the stage works from which their melodies were
culled. Frequently the first piano editions of these compositions bore on their
covers attractive portrayals of scenes or characters from the respective
operettas. For these reasons alone the quick polka Auf der Jagd, based on
melodies from Strauss's operetta Cagliostro in Wien (Cagliostro in Vienna),
remains something of a curiosity.
Cagliostro
in Wien, a tale concerning the doings and misdoings of the eighteenth-century
Italian adventurer, alchemist and swindler, Count Alessandro Cagliostro (real
name, Giuseppe Balsamo), opened at Vienna's Theater an der Wien on 27 February
1875. The action of the operetta is set firmly in Vienna and nowhere is there a
depiction of a hunt, nor is there a reference to a hunt anywhere in the
libretto by F. Zell and Richard Genée. Moreover, the illustrated title page of
the polka's first edition depicts a hunting scene in which a huntsman is shown
drawing his sabre beside a slain stag. Nowhere to be seen are rifles or pistols
- and yet a pistol shot is specified in the piano (and orchestral) score of
this polka! For this highly effective piece of musical writing, descriptive of
a hunt in full cry, Strauss merely pushed aside any textual reference to the
operetta, instead indulging in some free fantasy as he transports us to the
forest by simple extension of the themes and by weaving hunting calls and
pistol shots into the score with sovereign ease. The thematic content for the
main section of the polka is drawn from the Act 2 duet (No. 10) for Lorenza and
Fodor and from Fodor's Act 1 (No. 4) entrance song, whilst the first melody of
the Trio section is to be found at the end of the Act 2 Finale. The Trio¡¦s
second theme is not traceable in the published piano score of the operetta, and
was presumably discarded from the final version of Cagliostro in Wien.
The
first performance of Auf der Jagd took place during late autumn 1875, probably
with the composer's brother Eduard conducting the Strauss Orchestra. According
to one authority, the late Professor Fritz Racek, the première of the polka
took place in the Vienna Volksgarten on 5 October 1875, though it has not
proved possible to substantiate this claim.
Methusalem-Quadrille
(Methuselah Quadrille) op. 376
The
enormous success which greeted the Parisian première of La Reine Indigo (Queen
Indigo, 1875), the French version of Johann Strauss's first operetta, Indigo
und die vierzig Räuber (Indigo and the Forty Thieves, 1871), developed in the
Viennese maestro the desire to compose a genuine 'French operetta'. In his
native Vienna, all of Strauss's operettas to date had been staged at the Theater
an der Wien, but now the artistic director of the rival Carl-Theater, Franz Jauner,
seized his chance and offered Strauss the book of what was to become Fatinitza,
which the librettist team of F. Zell and Richard Genée had based on an earlier
work by Eugène Scribe. In the event, Strauss rejected this - (Franz von Suppé
would subsequently score a triumph with it in 1876) - where upon Jauner ordered
a book for Strauss from the popular French librettists Victor Wilder and Alfred
Delacour. The result was Prinz Methusalem (Prince Methuselah), but it was left
to the actor Carl Treumann to revise and translate the French libretto into
German before the operetta could finally reach production.
Prinz
Methusalem [Première: Carl-Theater, Vienna. 3 January 1877] did not rank among
its composer's greatest stage successes, and its popularity with the public
perhaps owed less to Johann's music - delightful though it was - than to
excellent comedic performances by the actors Carl Blasel (as Mandelbaum, an
Envoy of Ricarac), Wilhelm Knaack (as Cyprian, Duke of Ricarac) and the
diminutive Josef Matras (as Sigismund, Prince of Trocadero). Shortly after the
première a re-working of the libretto was proposed, though not immediately
undertaken, and Strauss showed himself to be unusually dilatory in arranging
the music from his Methusalem score for the eager devotees of the ballroom and
bandstand. Indeed, the majority of the five separate orchestral dances based on
themes from the operetta were not heard until long after the Vienna Carnival of
1877 had passed into history.
Strauss's
publisher, C.A. Spina, clearly acting in concord with the composer,
deliberately delayed publication of the operetta's piano score, while the Methusalem-Quadrille
was not issued until May 1877. In the late spring or summer 1877 the quadrille
featured in programmes of the Strauss Orchestra, under Eduard Strauss's
direction, as well as in concerts given by the military bands. It has not
proved possible to determine a precise date for the work's first performance,
but its popularity was such that it was included in the ball repertoire for the
following year's Vienna Carnival.
The
work presents an attractive cross-section of music from Prinz Methusalem, the
source material for each section of the quadrille being summarised as follows:
Act 1 ('Pantalon', 'Été', 'Poule', 'Trénis' and 'Pastourelle'), Act 2 ('Pantalon',
'Pastourelle' and 'Finale'), while music from Act 3 (No. 18 'Generalslied') is
confined to the beginning of the 'Finale' section.
"Ich
bin dir gut!" Walzer (I'm fond of you! Waltz) op. 455
On
15 October 1844, the 18-year-old Johann Strauss the Younger appeared in public
for the first time as composer and conductor at the head of his orchestra for a
much-heralded soirée at Dommayer's Casino in the Viennese suburb of Hietzing.
Half a century after this tentative first step upon his musical career, Johann
stood before the Viennese as the world's most celebrated composer of dance
music and operetta. If he had anticipated that his Golden Jubilee in October
1894 would have been allowed to pass comparatively quietly, he was mistaken,
for his native city was munificent in lavishing upon her favourite son several
days of receptions, festive concerts and performances on a scale previously unwitnessed
in the Austrian capital. Messages of goodwill flooded in from celebrities
around the world, honours were heaped upon the celebrant and, in the words of
the composer's friend, the great Johannes Brahms: "The week belonged to Strauss!
It was really frantic, but happy and splendid and agreeable".
In
May 1893 Johann had commenced work on a new operetta, the Slavonic subject of
which he had chosen himself. His friend Max Kalbeck (1850-1921) had written the
libretto of the stage work, Joschko, with Gustav Davis (1856-1951), and it was
hoped that the musical score would be completed before the end of the year. In
the event, Strauss was delayed by intermittent illness and the new work,
re-named Jabuka (Das Apfelfest) - Jabuka (The Apple Festival) - eventually took
to the stage of the Theater an der Wien on 12 October 1894 as an hors d'oeuvre
before the banquet of Golden Jubilee festivities that were to follow. Jabuka
triumphed at its opening night, although it was felt, with some justification,
that the material itself - a folk-tale set in contemporary Serbian
south-Hungary - did not permit the composer to make full use of his
idiosyncratic musical abilities. Strauss himself recognised the consequences
these restrictions had exercised upon his creative powers and, in contrast to
his usual procedure, personally undertook the orchestration of only one dance
piece from the score of the operetta: the Jabuka-Walzer, which he dedicated to
Julie Kalbeck, wife of the Jabuka librettist and Brahms biographer, Max Kalbeck.
The waltz was given its first public performance by the Strauss Orchestra,
under Eduard Strauss's direction, on 14 October 1894 at a Festival Concert
honouring Johann Strauss in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein. Johann watched
the concert with his family from a loggia and, when he rose to leave, the house
erupted into a jubilant cheer: "Auf frohes Wiedersehen!" (Till our
next happy meeting!).
A
few days later Johann wrote to his brother Eduard. The letter commences appreciatively
("Your orchestra played quite superbly last Sunday"), before Strauss,
the consummate orchestrator, sounds a critical note: "Everything was
executed very well, with the exception of the first part of [Waltz] No. 1 [of
the "Jabuka-Walzer"]. Play this piece strictly in waltz tempo without
ritardando, with the exception of the introductory bar, but then only a
little slower, so that the public can better distinguish the Introduction
from the beginning of the first waltz [section]. For the percussion, (side
drum) trumpets, even in the woodwind, a strictly rhythmic waltz rhythm exists,
which cannot take a slower tempo". There then follows a most interesting
passage: "At the very end, treat the first part of [Waltz] No. 1 more as a
dance waltz, all the more as the melody is broad - and therefore requires
rhythmic assistance - which exists only in the accompaniment. If this also gets
slower - then the effect is diminished". A comparison between Johann's
instruction regarding the interpretation of Waltz 1A "at the very
end" of the composition and the first piano edition of the Jabuka-Walzer
reveals that, unusually, Strauss does not in fact repeat the striking first
waltz theme ("Ich bin dir gut!") in the Coda of his waltz as
published. Moreover, shortly after Lewy had published the solo piano version of
the Jabuka-Walzer, Strauss effected alterations to the construction of his
waltz which resulted in the work being swiftly reissued (in editions for piano
and full orchestra) - but still omitting the reprise of Waltz 1A in the Coda.
This time the work bore a new name: "Ich bin dir gut!", after the
title and melody of the Quartet (No. 17) for Jelka, Mirko, Anitta and Vasil in
Act 3 of Jabuka which comprises the opening waltz theme (1A) of op. 455.
The
remaining themes in the waltz are to be found in the operetta as follows:
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Classical Music
Wiener Jubel Gruss-Marsch, Op. 115 - 3:25 
