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  • 施特劳斯，小约翰：男声合唱和管弦乐作品
    STRAUSS II, J.: Works for Male Chorus and Orchestra
    专辑号：8.223250
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• • 施特劳斯，小约翰：男声合唱和管弦乐作品/STRAUSS II, J.: Works for Male Chorus and Orchestra
  • [ 介绍 ]
  • The Johann Strauss Edition JohannStrauss II, the most famous and enduringly successful of 19th-century lightmusic composers, was born in Vienna on 25 October 1825. Building upon the firmmusical foundations laid by his father, Johann Strauss I (1804-1849) and JosephLanner (1801-1843), the younger Johann (along with his brothers, Joseph and Eduard)achieved so high a development of the classical Viennese waltz that it becameas much a feature of the concert hall as of the ballroom. For more than half a centuryJohann II captivated not only Vienna but also the whole of Europe and Americawith his abundantly tuneful waltzes, polkas, quadrilles and marches. Thethrice-married ’Waltz King’ later turned his attention to the composition ofoperetta, and completed 16 stage works besides more than 500 orchestralcompositions - including the most famous of all waltzes, The Blue Danube(1867). Johann Strauss II died in Vienna on 3 June 1899. TheMarco Polo Strauss Edition is a milestone in recording history, presenting, forthe first time ever, the entire orchestral output of the ’Waltz King’. Despitetheir supremely high standard of musical invention, the majority of thecompositions have never before been commercially recorded and have beenpainstakingly assembled from archives around the world. All performancesfeatured in this series are complete and, wherever possible, the works areplayed in their original instrumentation as conceived by the ¡¥master orchestrator¡¦himself, Johann Strauss II. Ander schönen blauen Donau. Walzer (By the beautiful blue Danube. Waltz) op. 314 Atthe beginning of July 1865 Johann Strauss returned to Vienna from a rest cureto find a letter from the highly prestigious Wiener Männergesang-Verein (ViennaMen’s Choral Association) inviting him to participate in their ’Sommer-Liedertafel’(Summer Programme of Songs) scheduled for 17 July and requesting him to composea new waltz for the occasion. Eighteen years had passed since he had writtenhis waltz Sängerfahrten op. 41 (Volume 16) for the Association, but Straussnevertheless declined the proposal. He gave his reasons on 8 July 1865 in aletter to the "Highly respected Committee" of the Wiener Männgesang-Verein:"Since my contractual relations with the management in Pavlovsk, by whom Ihave been engaged and, on account of illness, was unable to be present there atthe required time, have unfortunately become very hostile and probably willcompel me to take legal action, it is impossible this year for me to acceptyour honourable and flattering invitation to participate in the concert takingplace on the 17th of this month. However, I hereby commit myself next summer,if I am still alive, to make up for what I am now hindered from doing, and withpleasure I [will] offer the esteemed Committee a new composition - writtenespecially for the purpose, as well as my personal participation. Yoursrespectfully, Johann Strauss". Thispromise, at least for 1866, went unfulfilled, but during the summer or autumnof that year Johann - after prompting by the Association - certainly begansketching themes for the choral waltz, his first, which would eventually bearthe title An der schönen blauen Donau. The military defeat of Austria byPrussian forces at Königgrätz (today, Sadowa) on 3 July 1866 cast a grim shadowacross all sectors of the Habsburg Empire, and threatened to shroud even theCarnival festivities of 1867. In view of the prevailing mood. the Wiener Männergesang-Vereindecided to replace its traditional rollicking ’Narrenabend’ (Fools’ Evening)with a more sedate evening programme of songs. Strauss, in great haste, beganto adapt his waltz sketches for performance by the Vienna Men’s ChoralAssociation at their ’Faschings-Liedertafel’ (Carnival Programme of Songs),originally scheduled for 10 February 1867 in the Dianabad-Saal but laterchanged to 15 February. Initially the Association received a four-partunaccompanied chorus of four waltzes without Introduction and with a brief Coda(which appeared in print in January 1867), and shortly afterwards Johannsubmitted a hastily written piano accompaniment bearing the apology:"Please excuse the poor and untidy handwriting - I was obliged to get itfinished within a few minutes. Johann Strauss". The Association’s ’housepoet’, Josef Weyl (1821-95), by occcupation a police official and a childhoodfriend of the composer, now added a satirical text to the four waltzes andCoda, beginning with the lines (in translation): "Viennese be happy!/Aha,why so?/Just take a look around!/I ask why?/A glimmer of light/We see nothingyet/Carnival is here!" - in which he exhorts peasants, financiers,builders, landlords, artists and politicians to dance away their cares in thecarnival celebrations. Weyl had already completed his task when Strausssubmitted a fifth waltz section, requiring the poet to reword the text of thefourth waltz, set words to the fifth and add a revised text to the Coda.Rehearsals began in mid-January, but by the end of the month the waltz stillappears to have had no name, being referred to at most by the Association as"Waltz for chorus and orchestra by Johann Strauss, k.k. Hofballmusikdirektor".While widely accepted that the title An der schönen blauen Donau originatesfrom the melancholy poem, "Stille Lieder" (Tranquil Songs) by Carl IsidorBeck (1817-79), it is not known who chose to give this title to Strauss’swaltz. It should be noted that in Weyl’s text there is no reference whatsoeverto the River Danube! Only shortly before the first performance was it decidedto furnish the new waltz with an orchestral accompaniment, and Strauss dulyobliged, adding the beautiful, shimmering Introduction by which the work is nowinstantaneously recognised throughout the world. Since the composer and theStrauss Orchestra were performing at the Imperial Court on the night of thepremière (15.02.1867), the Wiener Männergesang-Verein were conducted by theirchorus-master, Rudolf Weinwurm, and accompanied by the orchestra of the ’GeorgV, König von Hannover’ Infantry Regiment No. 42, which was temporarilystationed in Vienna. Despitethe excessive length of the evening’s enter1ainment - a 5-hour long ’cabaret’in stiflingly hot conditions, with two rows of ladies sitting on chairs andover 1,200 male spectators standing behind them - An der schönen blauen Donau(the sixth of nine items on the programme) was enthusiastically applauded andrepeated. The many laudatory press reports utterly refute claims in theearliest Strauss biographies that the Strauss waltz ’failed’ at its première.The critic of the Fremdenblatt (17.02.1867), for example, observed: "Thewaltz was truly splendid, full of skipping melodies which flowed from the lipsof the singers like a crystal-clear mountain spring... The composition wasreceived with rejoicing...", while that for Die Presse (17.02.1867)commented prophetically: "The charming waltz, with its catchy rhythms,ought soon to belong to the most popular of the prolific dance-composer, and infact formed the only untroubled high spot of the carnival song programme".Over the next twenty-three years the Association performed The Blue DanubeWaltz on numerous occasions, but the carnival theme of its text provedlimiting, and in 1890 Franz von Gernerth (1821-1900) provided the work with anentirely new text, commencing with the now familiar words (as used on thispresent recording): "Donau so blau..." (Danube so blue...). TheAssociation gave the waltz its first performance with Gernerth’s text on 2 July1890 at a ’Sommer-Liedertafel’ in Dreher Park in the suburb of Meidling (todaythe 12th district of Vienna). Thefirst piano edition of An der schönen blauen Donau, which the publisher C.A. Spinawas able to put on sale in early March, bears Johann Strauss’s dedication tothe Wiener Männergesang-Verein. In accordance with a decision taken by theAssociation on 1 October 1847, whereby "for each composition firstperformed in a production of the Wiener Männergesangverein, an Imperial Royalducat in gold is to be paid to the living composer as honorarium, only if thecomposer releases the printing and publishing rights of the piece",Strauss received one gold ducat. However, despite the Association’s clearruling on the matter, he also collected the publisher’s usual one-off payment! ’sgibt nur a Kaiserstadt! ’s gibt nur a Wien! Polka (There’s only one Imperialcity! There’s on I y one Vienna! Polka) op. 291 Forits traditional Faschings-Liedertafel (Carnival Programme of Songs), to be heldduring the 1874 Vienna Carnival, the Wiener Männergesang-Verein had obtained JohannStrauss’s promise that he would either compose for them a new waltz, or wouldplace an existing one at their disposal. In the event Strauss was preventedfrom fulfilling his promise by essential work on his operetta Die Fledermaus.On New Year’s Day 1874 the Fremdenblatt newspaper had announced that the newstage work would not be mounted until that September, since the Theater an der Wienwas anxious to avoid the rival attractions of a new Strauss operetta and guestappearances at the theatre by soprano Adelina Patti, scheduled for the sameperiod. Just seventeen days later, however, the paper reported that theoperetta would be staged immediately after its completion at the end of thatJanuary. With insufficient time available to him to create a new compositionfor the Wiener Männergesang-Verein, Johann charged his Fledermaus librettist,the conductor and composer Richard Genée (1823-95), with setting a text to his1864 polka ’s gibt nur a Kaiserstadt! ’s gibt nur a Wien! op. 291 (Volume 17)and arranging the piece for male chorus and orchestra. Despite the pressure ofhis own work on Die Fledermaus, the ever-reliable Genée responded with alacrityto this fresh demand, and in its new guise the Strauss polka was heard for thefirst time on 3 February 1874 in the Dianabad-Saal, performed by the Wiener Männergesang-Vereinand the Baron Hess Regimental Band - who had not previously rehearsed together!- under the baton of Johann himself. Reportingon this performance, the Illustriertes Wiener Extrablatt (5.02.1874) observed:"What now followed was, for Viennese hearts especially, the most festivemoment of the evening: "s gibt nur a Kaiserstadt!’ and ’Johann Strauss inperson’, that says it all. Strauss, sadly so often the missing person, was nowall the more thunderously greeted. With fire, verve and abandon he swept alongwith him chorus and orchestra as only ’our’ Johann is able to do. Not untilStrauss began to conduct his quick polka again did the applauding hands becomesilent". Inits original, purely orchestral form, ’s gibt nur a Kaiserstadt! ’s gibt nur a Wien!was heard for the first time when the composer himself conducted it - under thetitle Vergiss mein nicht (Forget me not) - during his penultimate concert atthe Vauxhall Pavilion in Pavlovsk on 8 October 1864 (= 26 September, Russiancalendar). Johann derived the polka’s subsequent title from the refrain of awaltz duet in Aline oder Wien in einem anderen Weltteil (Aline, or Vienna inanother Part of the World), a ’Singspiel’ (musical comedy) by Adolf Bäuerle,with music by Wenzel Müller, first seen at the Theater in der Leopoldstadt on 9October 1822. The song, "Was macht denn der Prater", became animmensely popular hit, while its refrain - "Ja nur ein’ Kaiserstadt, ja nurein Wien" (Yes, only one Imperial city, yes only one Vienna) became ahousehold phrase. Strauss’s polka uses no music from Aline, though into itsFinale he appropriately weaves a quotation from the beginning of Haydn’sAustrian Hymn ("Gott erhalte"). Wein,Weib und Gesang! Walzer (Wine, Woman and Song! Waltz) op.333 "Who loves not wine, woman and song Remains a fool his whole life long." Theselines (in translation), written in the mediaeval castle of Wartburg in Germany,and attributed to Martin Luther (1483-1546) during his residence there when hebegan his German translation of the New Testament, provided the title and partof the text for the truly magnificent choral waltz Johann Strauss wrote in 1869for the Wiener Männergesang-Verein - Wein, Weib und Gesang! But whereas hisfirst choral waltz, An der schönen blauen Donau (By the beautiful blue Danube)of 1867 had been more or less constructed from previously existing sketches,the new work was conceived in its entirety for male chorus and orchestra and,as was noted by the Strauss authority Professor Dr. Fritz Racek, the work"makes up for the absence of a recapitulating Coda by means of animpressive [137 bars] Introduction of almost symphonic proportions", Aswith An der schönen blauen Donau, the text for the waltz came from the pen ofthe Association’s house poet, Joseph Weyl (1821-95). The sung Introductionincludes the words: "Three heavenly gifts remained as comfort for us poormen", and appropriately each of these "gifts" - wine, woman andsong - in turn provides the subject matter for one of the verses (correspondingwith each waltz section) which follow, the fourth and final verse referring toLuther and quoting his famous aphorism. Wein,Weib und Gesang! - a particular favourite with Richard Wagner - was given itsfirst performance by the Wiener Männergesang-Verein at their carnival-time ’Narrenabend’(Fools’ Evening) held in the Dianabad-Saal, Vienna, on 2 February 1869. TheStrauss Orchestra provided the accompaniment, and while the composer did notconduct the première of his new waltz, he was present among the audience.Although dedicated "in friendship to Johann Ritter von Herbeck [1831-77],Imperial Royal Court Conductor", who had served the Association aschorus-master from 1856 to 1866 and who had recently been decorated with the’Knight’s Cross of the Order of Emperor Franz Josef’, the waltz was conductedat its première by Herbeck’s successor as chorus-master, Rudolf Weinwurm. Thecomposition featured as the third number in the programme, and we can stillenjoy something of the atmosphere of uninhibited carnival gaiety which aboundedfrom the word-picture painted for us by the critic of the Fremdenblattnewspaper (4.02.1869): "The members of the Männergesangverein were dressedas negroes and termed themselves Club Slaves, President Dumba was dressed up asa plantation- and slave-owner. The Strauss Orchestra was likewise attired inextremely silly caps, and in such a way it [the evening] could begin.Kapellmeister Weinwurm, like a negro from head to toe, instead of his baton afool’s sceptre in his hand, gave the signal and Konradin’s ’Narren-Multiplikationsmarsch’(Fools’ Multiplication March) blared through the hall. The pearl of the eveningwas, however, the new waltz by Johann Strauss: ’Wein, Weib und Gesang’. Theoutstanding composition is an equal counterpart to the same composer’s famouswaltz: ’An der schönen blauen Donau’, indeed some parts of the new waltz arecomposed even more finely and with more dash. At once the artisticallyconstructed Introduction evoked a storm of applause. After the first waltzsection, Strauss was called for with rejoicing. Dressed as a pilgrim, hemounted the rostrum and blessed the audience. The cheering grew even greaterwith the second waltz [section], after which the composer was called for again,a deserved honour, which was repeated with the two waltzes that followed. Theexcellent composition had to be repeated by popular demand. The fools weresufficiently sensible that they could not hear enough of the piquant melodiesof the Waltz King. Also Weyl, the author of the humorous text, was called forseveral times". Thirtyyears later, much of the melodic material in the waltz Wein, Weib und Gesang!was given a fresh vocal treatment for the posthumous Johann Strauss operettaWiener Blut (Vienna Blood, 1899), as may be heard in the Act 2 Finale (themes2a, 2b, 3b, 3a and 4b). Later, in Act 3, themes 1a and 1b appear in the sextet"Stoss’ an! Stoss’ an! Du Liebchen mein", and theme 4a is sung inpolka-time to the words "Schlau und fein! Schlau und fein!" by theCountess and Franzi in their Act 3 duet. HochÖsterreich! Marsch (Hail Austria! March) op. 371 JohannStrauss’s operetta Cagliostro in Wien [Première: Theater an der Wien, Vienna.27 February 1875] was the result of Strauss’s first association with thelibrettist team of F. Zell (the pseudonym of Camillo Walzel) and Richard Genée,and was also the first original work by the two writers who previously had onlycollaborated on German language versions of operettas by Émile Jonas andJacques Offenbach. It was Genée who also provided the title and text for thechoral march Hoch Österreich! - one of six individual pieces which Strauss hadarranged from melodies in Cagliostro. The first verse of Genée’s text reads:"Recht in Freud und Lust/Aus der vollen Brust/Klingt der Ruf: ’Hoch Österreich!’/Woer schallet/Wider hallet/Weckt er Echo donnergleich" (Full of joy andmerriment, from the depths of the heart sounds the cry: ’Hail Austria!’ Whereit rings and resounds it wakens the echoes like thunder). Asa choral number, Hoch Österreich! may have been sung for the first time at thepremière of Cagliostro in Wien, performed by the orchestra and (mixed) chorusof the Theater an der Wien. This cannot, however, be determined from firstnight reviews. The published edition for male voice chorus and orchestra wasnot issued until October 1875, and only continued research work may establishthe actual date on which this version was first heard. (A performance by the JosefstädterMännergesangverein, under its conductor Franz Huber and accompanied by Eduard Pfleger’sorchestra, featured on the programme of a "Johann Strauss (Father and Son)Festival of Commemoration and Homage" given at the Hotel Rudolf Wimbergerin Vienna on 25 September 1929). Thethematic content of the Hoch Österreich! Marsch derives from the first twonumbers of Act 1, although the second theme of the Trio section is nowheretraceable in the published piano score of the operetta: it may perhaps havebeen discarded during the course of the operetta’s composition or during actualrehearsals before the final version of the stage work was realised. It is alsopossible that the elusive theme derives from one of the many musicalsketchbooks which Strauss kept to hand throughout his career, in which he wouldjot down melodic ideas as they occurred to him for possible future use. Neu-Wien.Walzer (New Vienna. Waltz) op. 342 Justover a year after giving the première of Johann Strauss’s choral masterpiece Wein,Weib und Gesang! (Wine, Woman and Song!) op. 333, the Wiener Männergesang-Vereinpresented the first performance of another waltz for male chorus and orchestracomposed especially for them by the Waltz King. The new work was entitled Neu-Wien,and its text, by the Association’s own poet Josef Weyl (1821-95), who hadearlier provided the texts for Strauss’s An der schönen blauen Donau, Walzerop. 314, Sängerslust, Polka française op. 328 and Wein, Weib und Gesang!, pokesfun at a number of contemporary issues. The mocking tone is set in theIntroduction: "The City Expansion Commission/dipped mightily deep into ourpockets/And like a Phoenix from the ashes/New Vienna arose for us asrecompense". Weyl’s lines chronicle, among other topics, the problemsarising from Vienna’s major reconstruction work following the demolition of herancient inner city bastions, her tramway ("The horses go hither andthither/their carriages are seldom empty/But those who buy the tramway[shares]/are tearing their hair out"), stock-market speculation,inflation, women’s emancipation ("When a woman’s hair has been as black ascoal/for a full twenty years/It suddenly occurs to her/that it’s beautiful tobe a blonde") and the absence of tourists ("And we are lacking/inthis world/nothing more than many guests/who bring us the best/which islacking/Namely money"). JohannStrauss was not present for the first performance of his topical new waltz Neu-Wien,for he was already committed to provide the music for a ball hosted by Prince ConstantinHohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, First Master of the Royal Household. Instead, it wasthe young Eduard Kremser (1838-1914) - since October 1869 joint chorus-masterof the Association with Rudolf Weinwurm - who conducted the Wiener Männergesang-Vereinand the Baron Hess regimental orchestra in the première of the new work at theAssociation’s rollicking carnival-time ’Narrenabend’ (Fools’ Evening) in the Dianabad-Saalon 13 February 1870. The waltz found immediate favour, although more than oneobserver shared the disappointment expressed by the reviewer for the NeuesWiener Tagblatt (15.02.1870) that "the delightful melodies were lost inthe wild frenzy" of the boisterous gathering. The Neues Fremdenblatt(15.02.1870) reported graphically: "Hardly had the stormy applause dieddown but there followed the new waltz by Johann Strauss: ’Neu-Wien’. We knowthe excitement that grips the Viennese before such an event. There was analmost breathless silence as the Introduction began, but hardly had thisfinished when the rejoicing broke out, and increased from number tonumber". Atabout midnight, there was much jubilation in the Dianabad-Saal as Kremser andthe management of the Wiener Männergesang-Verein ushered in a surprise guest - JohannStrauss! To great applause the celebrity mounted the stage and, seizing aviolin, led straightway into a performance of the Blue Danube Waltz. But thiswas a Fools’ Evening and, after the final chord, "Strauss" suddenlystripped away a remarkably lifelike mask to reveal - not the Waltz King, butthe actor Friedheim! Thewaltz Neu-Wien bears the composer’s dedication to the great industrialist andpatron Nicolaus Dumba (1830-1900), at that time Chairman of the Wiener Männergesang-Vereinand Vice-President of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien (Society of theFriends of Music in Vienna). Time has proved the waltz to be a popular one, notleast with those charged with adapting Strauss¡¦s musical legacy for the stage:the work¡¦s Introduction and some of its waltz themes may be heard in theposthumous operetta Wiener Blut (1899) and In Antal Dorati¡¦s ballet GraduationBall (1940). Sängerslust,Polka (Singer¡¦s Joy, Polka) op. 328 "Hewho sings merrily and dances gleefully/is armed against everysorrow/Cheerfulness stirs the sluggish blood/to new passion/raises thespirit/What makes him glad/makes everything good/He sees how the little birdhops carefree/how he glides through the branches/He sings merrily/he jumpsjoyfully/lightly winged!/What the little bird enjoys in bush and shrub/thesinger enjoys too/Dancing and singing/is to him sweet impulse". So(in translation) runs the first verse of Josef Weyl¡¦s text for the French polkaSängerslust, composed by Johann Strauss to celebrate the 25th anniversary ofthe founding of the Wiener Männergesang-Verein in 1843. The work was given itsfirst choral performance by the Association - to whom it is also dedicated - ata charity ’Liedertafel’(Programme of Songs) held in the Sofienbad-Saal, Vienna, on 12 October 1868.The members of the Wiener Männergesang-Verein were under the direction of theirchorus-master Rudolf Weinwurm, whilst accompaniment was provided by theAssociation’s member AdolfLorenz on harmonium and the brothers Johann and Josef Strauss playing pianoduet! The press reported the polka’s immediate success. The Theater-Blätterread: "Johann Strauss stole the show; his choral ’Sängerlustpolka’ [sic],furnished with an excellent text by Weyl, aroused a storm of applause. Thechorus, which made the heart skip in the body, had an electrifying effect.Strauss was called for and the applause did not subside until the tirelesssingers, who had sung this chorus with extraordinary dash, had repeatedit". The Fremdenblatt (13.10.1868) was in full accord: "The pearlamongst the pieces performed by the Gesangverein was the, ’Sängerlust-Polka’[sic!], a polka by Johann Strauss, a glorious, fresh and vibrant work by theWaltz King. Strauss was called for again and again, and only one voiceprevailed: that the ’Beautiful blue Danube’ had found a rival". Onthe occasion of its Silver Jubilee the Wiener Männergesang-Verein took theopportunity to bestow honorary membership upon ’Hofballmusikdirektor(Court Ball Music Director) Johann Strauss’, whom it officially recognised as a"true friend of this Association and its endeavours". (This honourwas also conferred upon other composers of world renown, among them Franz Liszt,Richard Wagner and Anton Rubinstein). Writing from his home in Hietzing on 14October 1868, Johann expressed his thanks to the Association: "During mylong years of work as an artist I have enjoyed many dear and loftydistinctions, but certainly none has filled me with greater joy than thenomination as honorary member of the Wiener Männergesang-Verejn, which canjustly be called the pride of our musical Fatherland. Please accept my deepestthanks for this honour, and also my assurance that I will always be ready withpleasure and with love, to put my modest talents at the service of theAssociation, whenever I shall be called upon to do so. I remain true to theAssociation in song and deed". Onthe present recording of Sängerslust, the Wiener Männergesang-Verein performswith full orchestral accompaniment. Beiuns z’Haus, Walzer (At home. Waltz) op. 361 Inthe summer of 1873 Vienna was literally ’at home’ to the world when she openedher doors to a World exhibition held on the open parkland of the Prater from 1May that year. The Strauss Orchestra, under Eduard Strauss, was alreadycommitted to concert performances elsewhere, so Johann engaged the LangenbachOrchestra from Germany to perform as official ’World Exhibition Orchestra’. Itwas thus with this body of foreign musicians that Johann himself conducted theWiener Männergesang-Verein in the first performance of his lilting waltz formale chorus and orchestra, Bei uns z’Haus, on 6 August 1873 at Schwender’s ’NeueWelt’ entertainment establishment in Hietzing. The waltz was dedicated toPrincess Marie Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1837-1920), Franz Liszt’s daughter byhis long-term mistress Princess Carolyne Wittgenstein, and wife of the FirstMaster of the Royal Household, Prince Constantin Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst. Thework was well received. The reviewer for the Deutsche Zeitung (7.08.1873)observed: "The ’event’ of the evening was the waltz ’Bei uns z’Haus’ by JohannStrauss. When the composer stepped on to the conductor’s rostrum he wasreceived with rejoicing, which was repeated when the waltz had finished. Thisthen had to be repeated, and when the applause still did not die down our WaltzKing obliged with his ’Wiener Blut’". Of similar opinion was the Wiener Abendpost(7.08.1873): "Strauss’s ’Bei uns z’Haus’, like his other choral waltz ’An derschönen blauen Donau’, will soon become popular not only ’at home’ [= bei uns z’Haus]but also in the whole world". The Wiener Männergesang-Verein were to givetwo more performances of Bei uns z’Haus that year, on both occasions directedby the composer with the accompaniment of the Langenbach Orchestra: on 22August in the World Exhibition grounds before an audience of 30,000, and thenat a concert in the Great Hall of the Musikverein building on 25 October -Strauss’s forty-eighth birthday. Theamusing text to the waltz, provided by the successful stage-author, writer and journalistAnton Langer (1824-79), a former school-friend of the composer, describes theeveryday life of elevated society in Vienna - even referring to the recentstock market crash (9 May 1873) - and concludes with the lines (intranslation): "Lovely ladies, on you we build/O stay just as you are/forour supreme happiness/Even though in life/there is often much that’sunpleasant/We are happy to endure it/at home!". Auf¡¦sKorn! Bundesschützen-Marsch (Take aim! Federal Shooters¡¦ March) op. 478 Theebullient Auf’s Korn! Bundesschützen-Marsch was the last of the nine choralcompositions which Johann Strauss II was to write especially for the greatWiener Männergesang-Verein. All of these pieces, comprising 6 waltzes, 2 polkasand a march, are included on this present compact disc, performed by theAssociation whose 19th-century members proudly gave the works their choralpremières. Inthe summer of 1898 the Austrian capital was in jubilant mood as it witnessedtwin celebrations marking the fiftieth anniversary of Franz Josef I’sproclamation as Emperor of Austria (2 December 1848) and the 5th AustrianFederal Shooting Competition, both events being organised under the auspices ofa central committee. The shooting competition was held on the open green expanseof the Vienna Prater, and attracted large numbers of riflemen from all overAustria. Amongst the entertainments provided for the competitors was a festivalconcert held on 28 June 1898 in the large Schützenhalle (Shooters’ Hall), abuilding specially constructed in the Prater thirty years earlier for the 3rdGerman Federal Shooting Contest. For the performance before an audience ofseveral thousand, the Wiener Männergesang-Verein was conducted by itschorus-master Eduard Kremser, and accompanied by an ensemble which often playedfor the Association, the Wiener Radfahrkapelle (Vienna Cyclists’ Orchestra).The text to Strauss’s Auf’s Korn! Bundesschützen-Marsch had been provided bythe Viennese popular writer Vincenz Chiavacci (1847-1916) and is in two sections:the first hails the enthusiasm of the marksmen ("Take aim, draw a bead,set your sights and shoot/you gallant shooting folk/Get yourselves a prize fromthe festival and enjoy/what friendship offers you") while the second payshomage to the city of Vienna and to the Emperor, ending with the familiar wordsfrom the Austrian National Anthem: "Gott erhalt’!" (May God keephim!). Thenew march met with spontaneous applause and had to be repeated, while thereviewer for the Vienna Neue Freie Presse (29.06.1898) observed: "Theevening brought only one new piece: a march, ’Aufs Korn’, which Johann Strausshad dedicated to the Central Committee. Whatever Strauss writes, when he writesin the Viennese style, is known to the whole world; so, too, was his newestopus a piece of genuine Strauss, and it was a huge success. An uproarioustribute was offered to the composer, who was unfortunately not present [he wasat his summer house at Bad Ischl in Upper Austria], and to the author of thetext, the writer Chiavacci, who knows how to set off the genial Viennese musiclike no-one else". Surprisingly, in view of this successful première, themarch was not sung again by the Wiener Männergesang-Verein until 1927, and thenonce more - after a break of almost half a century - in 1975. Myrthenblüthen.Walzer (Myrtle Blossoms. Waltz) op. 395 On8 March 1880 the Imperial Court in Vienna let it be known that the Emperor’sson, the Crown Prince Rudolf (1858-89), had announced his engagement inBrussels to Princess Stephanie (1864-1945), second daughter of the reigningBelgian monarch Leopold II. The wedding was to take place in Vienna on 10 Mayof the following year and the municipal council there lost no time incommissioning Johann Strauss to compose music for a festival performance to begiven in celebration of the marriage. Putting aside work on his operetta, Das Spitzentuchder Königin [Première: Theater an der Wien, Vienna. 1 October 1880], Strausssketched a large-scale work. However, after he had drafted eleven numbers, thecity fathers relinquished their plans for such a grand spectacle and insteadgave the brothers Johann and Eduard Strauss free rein as to the compositionswith which they would honour the royal couple and at which events they wouldperform these works. Thereupon Johann accepted an invitation from the Wiener Männergesang-Verein,and for this joint venture conceived a waltz for male chorus and orchestrawhich he first entitled Myrthensträusse (Myrtle Bouquets) and later re-named Myrthenblüthen.The work remains one of the loveliest of all Johann Strauss’s creations inthree-quarter-time, and is allied to a text by August Seuffert (1844-1904) whohad earlier provided the words for Strauss’s choral French polka, Burschenwanderungop. 389. Seuffert’s Myrthenblüthen text presented impressionistic pictures ofnature through the seasons, closing with lines addressed to the 17-year-oldbride: "Your new Fatherland/greets you today with heart and hand/Belgium’sroyal child!/Northern rosebud/The south greets you/aglow withlove!". The dress rehearsal for the new waltztook place on 6 May 1881 in the Musikverein building when the composerconducted the Wiener Männergesang-Verein with orchestral accompaniment. Areport on this rehearsal reads: "The singers greeted the Maestro upon hisappearance with spirited applause, which intensified still more after the closeof the number. Real Vienna blood pulses through Strauss’s newestcomposition". The first public performance of Myrthenblüthen followed on 8May at a festival in the Vienna Prater, with the composer conducting theorchestra of the Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, Infantry Regiment. The waltzwas received with jubilation by the 20,000-strong Viennese crowded around ’Am Rustenschacher’(the Rustenschacherallee), and the occasion was chronicled by, among others,the reporter for the Neue Freie Presse (9.05.1881): "And then, when theMaestro Johann Strauss appeared on the conductor’s platform, which wasdecorated with brushwood, there was an unending roaring, shouts of hurrah andwaving of hats and handkerchiefs! Thus the multitude was able to document veryclearly that a right, regular public entertainment in Vienna is unthinkablewithout a waltz by Strauss. And the new waltz? It will soon no longer be new,because within a few days everyone in Vienna, as well as beyond the precinctsof the city, will be singing these sweet sensual tunes. ’Myrthensträusse’ is,in fact, a bouquet of fragrant melodies, not of the gripping, singable type ofthe ’Blue Danube’, but delicate and tingling. The two pieces of music behavetowards one another like wine to champagne. There was a storm of applause whichsplit the air after the first performance of the waltz, and it looked more likean act of self-defence against this attempted assassination by applause whenthe composer and singers hastily decided to sing the new waltz again to the joyof the delighted listeners¡¨. The letter of thanks which the Mayor of Viennawrote to Johann Strauss a few days later, enclosing two specially struck CrownPrince Rudolf Wedding Medals, mentioned nothing of the absence of1he bridalpair from the scene of this first performance. They, together with the AustrianEmperor, had been prevented from reaching the venue by the huge crowd of wellwishers blocking the main route along the Prater. TheWiener Männergesang-Verein repeated Myrthenblüthen at their ’Summer SongProgramme’ at the ’Neue Welt’ entertainment venue in Hietzing on 14 July 1881,this time accompanied by the Strauss Orchestra under Johann’s direction.Remarkably, following this performance the Association did not sing thisdelightful work again until after the First World War. Burschenwanderung.Polka française (Student Travels. French polka) op.389 Despitethe enthusiastic reception accorded to Johann Strauss’s seventh operetta, Das Spitzentuchder Königin (The Queen’s Lace Handkerchief), at its première on 1 October 1880in the Theater an der Wien, public interest in the new work slackened off morequickly than had been anticipated. But this in no way diminished the bargainingpower of the theatrical agent Gustav Lewy, who swiftly succeeded in placing thestage work with the Friedrich-Wilhelmstädtisches Theater in Berlin, as well aswith theatres in Graz, Hamburg, Hanover, Lemberg, Budapest, Prague, Munich andTrieste. In Vienna, Strauss conducted his first benefit performance of Spitzentuchon 20 October, and left four weeks later with his wife Lili for premières ofthe operetta in Berlin and Hamburg. Beforedeparting for Germany, however, he still had one obligation to discharge.Rudolf Weinwurm, chorus-master of the Wiener Männergesang-Verein, who had ledthe first performances of Johann’s choral waltzes An der schönen blauen Donau(1867) and Wein, Weib und Gesang! (1869), had recently left to take up the postof chorus-master with the Akademischer Gesangverein in Wien (Academic ChoralSociety in Vienna). It was in his new capacity that he requested Strauss tocontribute a new choral composition for his first ’Liedertafel’ (Programme ofSongs) with the Akademischer Gesangverein, due to be given in the Sofienbad-Saalon 7 December 1880. Johann willingly complied and, to a poem by August Seuffert(1844-1904), wrote his Burschenwanderung Polka française which he dedicated tothe Society. Seuffert’s text sings of the joys of student drinking festivalsand celebrates the memory of the legendary Herr von Rodenstein, who was inreality reported to have been a devout nobleman from Odenwald who died as apilgrim in Rome in 1500. As Dr John Whitten points out, however, the poetViktor von Scheffel presented Rodenstein as an "heroic drunkard" who,in order to pay his bills, was forced to pawn his villages. His last hebequeathed to the students of Heidelberg - who likewise promptly drank awaytheir inheritance! On6 March 1881 the Viennese were introduced to the first performance of Burschenwanderungin its version for orchestra alone when the composer’s brother, Eduard,conducted it with the Strauss Orchestra during a ’Carnival Revue’ concert in theGreat Hall of the Musikverein building. This purely orchestral arrangement maybe heard on Volume 19 of the Marco Polo J. Strauss Jr Edition. Gross-Wien.- Tout Vienne. Walzer (Great Vienna, Waltz) op. 440 "Thisis a memorable day for the City of Vienna, being the birthday of ’Gross Wien’ -that is, of the new capital as enlarged by the incorporation of the suburbs.Yesterday Vienna was contained within 55 square kilometres; to-day it extendsover 178 square kilometres, which makes it half the size of London, more thantwice as large as Paris, and nearly three times as large as Berlin. The palaceand park of Schönbrunn now stand within the city... Those favourite resorts offair-weather excursionists, the villages of Hietzing, Dornbach, Hetzendorf, Döbling,and Baumgarten, have ceased to be rural, and even the Kahlenberg and itsbrother mountain, the Leopoldsberg, have become enclosed in the metropolitanarea". Thus wrote the Vienna correspondent for the London Times newspaperon 21 December 1891, chronicling the incorporation of the 44 suburbs whichpreviously lay outside the old outer defences of the city (the ’Linien’) toform the present day districts XI to XIX, and the resultant growth inpopulation by some 400,000 to around 1,342,000 civilians and 22,600 activemilitary personnel. Demolition of these mid-18th-century fortifications -constructed as a defence against further attack by the Turks, who had kept thecity beleaguered for three months in 1683 - had commenced in 1890. They hadlong been objects of execration because of the tolls levied on all who passedthrough them. At the stroke of midnight such duties were abolished amid greatrejoicing. The police made one arrest - a man who shouted: "Hurrah! Noweverything in Vienna is going to be dearer"! JohannStrauss’s waltz Gross-Wien, which came into being in early 1891, chronicles thework then under way to extend the boundaries of the Austrian capital, and wascomposed as a choral waltz for performance by the famous Wiener Männergesang-Verein(Vienna Men’s Choral Association) during that year’s Vienna Carnival. When theAssociation suddenly resolved to give only one ’Liedertafel’ (Programme ofSongs) per year, the performance was postponed until the autumn. There thenarose the possibility of a performance by a rival choral society to be arrangedby the Vienna Authors’ and Journalists’ Association, ’Concordia’, but on 18April 1891 Strauss notified a correspondent: "I felt the time was alreadytoo far advanced and I promised the first performance of the waltz to themilitary committee for the Grand Concert on May 10 in the Sängerhalle; but onlyfor orchestra... Should you ever intend to organise something with theparticipation of the Männer-Gesangverein... then the promise originally givenwill remain in force, that is, the first performance of the waltz Gross-Wien,with the contribution of the Männer-Gesangverein". Accordingly, theorchestral première of the new work was given at the Sängerhalle MonsterConcert in the Vienna Prater on Sunday 10 May 1891, conducted by the composer.(See Volume 23) Notuntil 4 October 1891 did the Wiener Männergesang-Verein present the choralpremière of Strauss’s Gross-Wien Walzer. The venue was again the spacious Sängerhalle,which had been built for the 4th German Singers’ Federal Festival in 1890, andthe occasion was a concert of popular music (’Volkskonzert’) to raise funds forthe Archduchess Valerie’s Foundation for the Institute for Officers’ Daughters.An audience of 10,000 (including the Archduchess Stephanie - a widow sinceCrown Prince Rudolf’s death at Mayerling in 1889) was present to witness theperformance by the Association, with its chorus-master, Eduard Kremser,conducting the Freiherr Ferdinand von Bauer Infantry Regiment (No. 84) in placeof its bandmaster, Karl Komzák. The text was by the Association’s Franz von Gernerthwho, in 1890, had provided the successful new words for Strauss’s waltz By thebeautiful blue Danube (op. 314) that are still generally adopted today. Gernerth’stext for Gross-Wien opens with the line: "Let us sing of you, you Viennaof the future!", and closes with the words: "Three cheers for theEmperor, who built Gross-Wien!" Reporting on this choral première, thecritic of the Neue Freie Presse (6.10.1891) remarked: "The new waltz’Gross-Wien’ rang out splendidly in the great hall, text by Franz von Gernerth,music by Johann Strauss, who had intended to come to Vienna yesterday [sic]from his country seat in Schönau in order to attend the concert, but wasprevented from doing so because he was unwell". The Deutsche Zeitung(5.10.1891), however, was less enthusiastic, stating that the new waltz"made little impression; in our opinion it was sung at somewhat too briska tempo". Thepianoforte first edition of Gross-Wien is dedicated "with deepestreverence" by its composer to "his Imperial and Royal Highness HerrArchduke Karl Ludwig" (1833-96), grandfather of the monarch who was tobecome the very last Austrian Emperor, Karll (1887-1922). Karl Ludwig had,furthermore, been among the audience for the waltz’s world première at theMonster Concert in the Prater. Programmenotes © 1991 Peter Kemp. The Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain. Theauthor acknowledges, with gratitude, the work of Dr. John Whitten and ProfessorFranz Mailer in the preparation of these notes. WienerMännergesang-Verein TheVienna Men’s Choral Society, the oldest choral society still active in Vienna,was founded in 1843 by Dr. August Schmidt, in spite of the suspicions of the Metternichgovernment. The following year the choir sang at the invitation of the Emperorand in 1845 appeared with the orchestra of the Court Opera. Two years later JohannStrauss dedicated to the society his Sängerfahrten concert waltz, to mark thetwentieth anniversary of the death of Schubert. The following decade broughtsome collaboration with the Strauss orchestra and in 1857 the first performanceof the Pilgrims’ Chorus from Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser, with the dedication, in1867, of the famous Blue Danube waltz-sequence. The Wiener Männergesang-Vereinhas continued to tour widely and in 1975 celebrated the 150th anniversary ofthe birth of younger Johann Strauss with a concert of works dedicated by him tothe choir. The director of the Männergesang-Verein is Xaver Meyer, born andtrained in Vienna, and former director of the Vienna Boys’ Choir. He is thefounder of the Vienna Madrigal Choir and since 1961 has served as artisticdirector of the Vienna Academy Chamber Choir. Czecho-SlovakState Philharmonic Orchestra (Košice) TheEast Slovakian town of Košice boasts a long and distinguished musicaltradition, as part of a province that once provided Vienna with musicians. TheState Philharmonic Orchestra is of relatively recent origin and was establishedin 1968 under the conductor Bystrik Rezucha. Subsequent principal conductorshave included Stanislav Macura and Ladislav Slovák, the latter succeeded in1985 by his pupil Richard Zimmer. The orchestra has toured widely in Easternand Western Europe and plays an important part in the Košice Musical Spring andthe Košice International Organ Festival. ForMarco Polo the orchestra has made the first compact disc recordings of rareworks by Granville Bantock and Joachim Raff. Writing on the last of these, onecritic praised the orchestra for its competence comparable to that of the majororchestras of Vienna and Prague. The orchestra has contributed many successfulvolumes to the complete compact disc Johann Strauss II and for Naxos hasrecorded a varied repertoire. JohannesWildner JohannesWildner was born in the Austrian resort of Mürzzuschlag in 1956 and studiedviolin and conducting, taking his diploma at the Vienna Musikhochschule andproceeding to a doctorate in musicology. A member of the Vienna PhilharmonicOrchestra, he has toured widely as leader of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra’s JohannStrauss Ensemble and of the Vienna Mozart Academy. As a conductor he hasdirected the Orchestra Sinfonica dell’Emilia Romagna Arturo Toscanini, theBudapest State Opera Orchestra, the Silesian Philharmonic, the Malmö SymphonyOrchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic and others. He has recorded works bySchumann, Wagner and Mozart for Naxos and is one of the main conductors in theMarco Polo Johann Strauss II complete edition.
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      An der schonen, blauen Donau, Walzer, Op. 314

      

      1: An der schonen, blauen Donau, Walzer, Op. 314

      07:35

      s gibt nur a Kaiserstadt, Polka, Op. 291

      

      2: s gibt nur a Kaiserstadt, Polka, Op. 291

      04:23

      Wein, Weib und Gesang, Walzer, Op. 333

      

      3: Wein, Weib und Gesang, Walzer, Op. 333

      10:41

      Hoch Osterreich!, Marsch, Op. 371

      

      4: Hoch Osterreich!, Marsch, Op. 371

      02:49

      Neu Wien, Walzer, Op. 342

      

      5: Neu Wien, Walzer, Op. 342

      09:39

      Sangerlust, Polka francaise, Op. 328

      

      6: Sangerlust, Polka francaise, Op. 328

      03:46

      Bei uns z Haus, Walzer, Op. 361

      

      7: Bei uns z Haus, Walzer, Op. 361

      08:47

      Aufs Korn, Marsch, Op. 478

      

      8: Aufs Korn, Marsch, Op. 478

      02:26

      Myrthenbluten, Walzer, Op. 395

      

      9: Myrthenbluten, Walzer, Op. 395

      09:08

      Burschenwanderung, Polka francaise, Op. 389

      

      10: Burschenwanderung, Polka francaise, Op. 389

      04:45

      Gross Wien, Walzer, Op. 440

      

      11: Gross Wien, Walzer, Op. 440

      09:14

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