Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen

Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen (Old Viennese Melodies in German) is a set of three short pieces for violin and piano, written by Fritz Kreisler. The three pieces are usually performed or heard separately, and are titled Liebesfreud (Love's Joy), Liebesleid (Love's Sorrow), and Schön Rosmarin (Lovely Rosemary).

It is not known when he wrote them, but they were published in 1905, deliberately misattributed to Joseph Lanner. They had become parts of Kreisler's repertoire well before September 1910, when he copyrighted them under his own name.

Kreisler often played these pieces as encores at his concerts. In 1911, he published his own piano solo arrangements of them as Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen. They have appeared in numerous settings for other instruments, or orchestrated.

Two of them, Liebesfreud and Liebesleid, were the subject of virtuoso transcriptions for solo piano by Kreisler's friend Sergei Rachmaninoff (1931), who also recorded these transcriptions.

Notes

External links

Fritz Kreisler

Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, and regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately recognizable as his own. Although it derived in many respects from the Franco-Belgian school, his style is nonetheless reminiscent of the gemütlich (cozy) lifestyle of pre-war Vienna.

Life and career

Kreisler was born in Vienna, the son of Anna (née Reaches) and Samuel Kreisler, a doctor. Of Jewish heritage, he was however baptised at the age of 12. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory and in Paris, where his teachers included Anton Bruckner, Léo Delibes, Jakob Dont, Joseph Hellmesberger, Jr., Joseph Massart, and Jules Massenet. While there, he won the "Premier Grand Prix de Rome" gold medal, competing against 40 other players, all of whom were at least 20 years of age.