Johann Strauss (son): Viennese Blood / Waltz op. 354

Johannes Wildner, Conductor
Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra

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Recorded live on July 3, 2015, at the Lustgarten in Potsdam, Germany.

Description of the work:
In the spring of 1873, Vienna was preparing for the upcoming opening of the World Exhibition. The festive atmosphere intensified when Archduchess Gisela married Prince Leopold of Bavaria on April 20.

The Imperial and Royal Court Opera also took advantage of the opportunity to boost its pension fund with a ball on April 22 in the rooms of the Society of Friends of Music. During the quiet hour, Otto Dessoff conducted a "serious" program, then Johann Strauss II, at the head of the 80-member opera orchestra, presented his waltz "Wiener Blut," Op. 354, composed especially for the ball. The title was taken from a collection of "small cultural images from the folk life of the old imperial city on the Danube" by Friedrich Schlögl, a veritable bestseller.

The "Blätter für Musik, Theater und Kunst" (papers for music, theater and art) attested to the novelty's "freshness of the original melody and genuine tanzanimo"; the "Wiener Tagblatt" summarized: "In these sometimes bold, sometimes sentimental three-quarter time signatures, truly fresh, free, genuine, and red Viennese blood flows."

The first editions for piano two- and four-hands, violin and piano, zither, and the orchestral parts were published on June 10, 1873. This was the first composition by Strauss to be published under the new owner after Friedrich Schreiber took over the Carl Anton Spina publishing house. The relatively short production period can be explained by the fact that the publisher wanted to take advantage of the expanded sales market created by the World Exhibition, which also promised international contacts.

A title edition published a few years later names the Danish King Christian IX as the dedicatee. In the operetta "Wiener Blut" (Vienna Blood), compiled by Adolf Müller Jr. from melodies by Johann Strauss II, the first theme of the waltz of the same name appears as the final song; the incipit of the text, which has become a well-known saying, is:

"Wiener Blut, eigener Saft, voller Kraft, voller Flamme" (Viennese blood, its own juice, full of strength, full of ardor).

Synopsis: Dr. Thomas Aigner


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