Johann Strauss II - Vom Donaustrande - Polka-schnell, op. 356

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• published: 17 Apr 2011
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Johann Strauss chose to dub his second stage work, Der Carneval in Rom [Première: Theater an der Wien, Vienna. 1 March 1873], "my polka opera" and from its score he crafted a total of five separate orchestral numbers - a waltz (op. 357), a quadrille (op. 360) and three polkas (opp. 356, 358 and 359). With one exception - the polka Nimm sie hin op. 358 - the titles of these dances had no connection with the plot of the operetta but rather anticipated the Vienna World Exhibition which opened in the Prater on 1 May 1873. As the Exhibition approached, excitement throughout the Austrian capital was heightened still further by announcements in the press for a spectacular charity concert to be given by the Strauss Orchestra in the Musikverein building on the evening of 6 April 1873. According to Johann Strauss himself in a letter (27.03.1873) to the Wiener Männergesang-Verein, the event, advertised as a "50th Jubilee Festival of Strauss Musical Productions", marked the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Strauss Orchestra by Johann Strauss I. Since, however, Father Strauss had formed his own orchestra in 1825 - and not 1823 - there were no real grounds for the celebration! Most of the Viennese newspapers were unquestioning of this spurious semicentennial, the Illustriertes Wiener Extrablatt (7.04.1873) even compounding the felony by specifying (incorrectly) that Strauss Father had made his debut with his Täuberln-Walzer op. 1 and pinpointing (also incorrectly) the date of this debut as 5 April 1823. It is not difficult to see how Strauss literature became riddled with inaccuracies, for another journalist in the Illustriertes Wiener Extrablatt (8.04.1873), seeking to remedy what he saw as erroneous reporting by his colleague, observed: "As far as the writer of these lines is aware, Strauss made his independent début at the 'Bock' on the Wieden in the year 1824, not 1823" ... Johann and Eduard Strauss shared the conducting of the Strauss Orchestra for the "50th Jubilee" concert, the first half comprising a programme of music by their father and brother Josef, who had died in 1849 and 1870 respectively. After the interval Johann and Eduard treated the audience to a programme of their own latest compositions, amongst them Johann's quick polka Vom Donaustrande which the composer conducted personally. The reviewer for the Fremden-Blatt (7.04.1873) noted in his concert report: "In the second half the most electrifying [number] was the polka 'Vom Donaustrande', a jolly dance piece on melodies from the operetta 'Karneval in Rom' by Johann Strauss". Another journalist, J.H. Miram, simply ended his article in the Illustriertes Wiener Extrablatt of 7 April 1873 with the words' "With the Jubilee Festival musical Vienna celebrates her leading, most prolific and most tuneful dance composers!!!" The polka Vom Donaustrande presents material from Acts 2 and 3 of the operetta, specifically: Theme 1A - Act 2 Duet (No. 9) Theme 1B - Act 3 Finale (No. 16) Trio 2A - Act 2 Finale (No. 12) Trio 2B - Act 3 Ballet music (No. 16 Finale)