The Blue Danube

The Danube waltz composed by Johann Strauss in late fall 1866 and winter 1866/67. The actual title of the waltz is On the Beautiful Blue Danube and played it takes about nine minutes. He was played soon to a secret Austrian national anthem and is regularly the year.

Formation

Johann Strauss was initially invited by the Vienna Men's Choral Club to participate in a summer Liedertafel in July 1865 in Hietzing. Since its annual obligations in Pavlovsk not allow this, he first promised in 1866 for a composition.

1866 Strauss was reminded of his promise still open by the men's choir club. However, in the meantime, the war between Prussia and Austria had taken place with the lost of Austria Battle of Hradec Kralove, so that the question of an appropriate premiere was quickly in space. Furthermore, since many balls in the carnival season were canceled, it was agreed that for the Liedertafel 1867, bringing the glee club replaced its traditional fools evening, a waltz should arise. The promise made in 1865 sparked Strauss ie a with the waltz On the Beautiful Blue Danube.

The waltz was designed by Johann Strauss from the outset in two versions, with the orchestral version was first time by the end of 1866. Then was presented by the Police Commissioner Josef Weyl, home of the poet Men's Choral Association, this text by parodical character and time-critical satire, only after Johann Strauss got the second version for male choir and piano as a choral waltz.

On February 15, 1867, the premiere of the choral version was held in the hall of Diana bath. Contrary to some assertions, almost all Strauss- biographies and their uncritical takeovers stands today, starting from the research of Norbert Linke since the beginning of the 1980s with reference to the original sources to establish without doubt that this waltz was not only received jubilantly that night, he " [ ... ] hit, igniting a ' [ ... ] That, New Fremdenblatt ' was on February 17, 1867 even announced: the opening number of the second division was a decided hit, '" which the history of music, the term" hit " is first occupied.. The Men's Choir presented after the performance of Johann Strauss as " honorarium " a gold ducats.

Nevertheless, the waltz did not gain acceptance. Johann Strauss is after the first performance in the orchestral version on March 10, 1867 kk People's Garden, across from his brother Josef expressed:

" The waltz like the devil to get just to the coda does it 'm sorry - of if I had wanted a success."

The original text by Josef Weyl, the association poet of Vienna Men's Choral Society was, ( as amended by the premiere, excerpts, B = bass, T = tenors ):

B: Wiener, be happy ... T: Oho, why? B: No- so bli - icks only - T: I pray, why? B: A glimmer of light ... T: We gaze anything yet! B: egg, Carnival is here! T: Oh, well! B: Drum defy time ... T: ( miserably ): O God, the time ... B: The gloom. T: Ah! That would g'scheit! What use is the regret, mourning, Drum happy and funny are!

As Strauss but later appeared in Paris at the World's Fair in 1867 and much needed new compositions, he remembered. Under the name of " Le beau Danube bleu" the piece immediately became a huge success was. The Blue Danube Waltz is today mostly listed as pure orchestral waltz.

In 1889, Franz von Gernerth wrote a new text, the " so blue Danube " is now considered the title of the waltz with.

Danube so blue, so beautiful and blue by Valley and Au wogst you calm down, greets you our Vienna, your silver band ties land on land, beat and cheerful heart at your beautiful beach.

The first performance with his words took place on July 2, 1890 on the occasion of summer Liedertafel the Vienna Men's Choral Association at Dreher Park in Meidling instead (now Schönbrunnerstraße 307).

Strauss reached in the original naming of the piece back on two poems by the Hungarian poet Karl Isidor Beck, each containing the text passage On the Beautiful Blue Danube, which however was not referring to Vienna, but to Baja, the birthplace Becks: Baja is the "blue" Danube, where a distinction from the nearby river Tisza, which is described as "blond", is made.

Anthem and New Year

The music critic Eduard Hanslick described the Danube waltz in 1874 as one in a book from 1888 called in a ranking " wordless peace Marseillaise. ": The national anthem, O du mein Austria and Strauss's Blue Danube Waltz. And at the premiere of Gernerths writes text to the press: "It is gratifying that the long ago popularized outside of Austria and even side of the ocean, the anthem of the city of Vienna ' now finally also her worthy text is highlighted. " () As at April 29, 1945, on the occasion of the proclamation of the independence of Austria, no national anthem was available, was intoned before the Parliament of the Blue Danube Waltz. He was also played in the first matches of the national football team after the Second World War. And even today, he is still next to the Radetzky March, O my Austria, the much more modern I am from Austria and some other than the secret anthem.

The waltz is traditionally also for every year in the Austrian Radio ( ORF on all programs including the youth radio station FM4 ) and on television shortly after midnight - after the ringing of the Pummerin - sent. He is also a fixed part and highlight of the New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic, though it is never part of the official program and always (like the Radetzky March ) is played as an encore.

The Austrian Broadcasting began on August 1, 1955 by 17 clock his television pilot program by importing landscape images with music with a logo still image to which the Danube waltz was played. Probably in the 1960s, at least in the 1970s, it is a stylized electronic version was made ​​up of eight tones. This station identification was played for the ORF logo until the late 1980s, shortly before each transmission start (morning and afternoon), then came the sentence " Here is the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation with its television ", a longer break with clock and logo and then again the tone sequence. As long as there was a transmission circuit, was played to him the official national anthem.

More reception

A number of composers and pianists around the turn of the century as Moriz Rosenthal, but also later ( György Cziffra ), have written virtuoso concert paraphrases of the work. The best known is from Adolf Schulz- Evler.

The Blue Danube Waltz was the last piece that was able to complete the on-board orchestra in the First Class dining room during the last lunch on the British luxury liner Lusitania before it was sunk on 7 May 1915 by a German U - boat off the Irish coast.

Very aware of the Danube waltz is also by its use in Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey become.

It is used as a signature tune for the traffic in New Zealand and for the coastal radio in Uruguay.

Inner Chinese airlines played him as a sedative during landing.