Strauss, J Jnr (1825-1899) - Emperor Waltz
Nothing
changes, does it? When Dr. Burney in 1805 described the waltz as a “riotous
modern invention”, whose very name implied “to wallow, welter, tumble down
or roll in the dirt or mire”, he could just as easily have been denouncing
rock 'n' roll in 1956. When he wondered “how uneasy an English mother would
be to see her daughter so familiarly treated”, he could have been commenting
on the lambada or “Dirty Dancing”. This salacious popular entertainment
hit the big time when Johann Strauss Vater formed his rock - sorry,
dance
- band in 1825, whereafter it gradually gained acceptance as a social activity.
In 1844, Johann Strauss Sohn, who was born the same year as his
dad's band, formed one of his own, the key step in his transformation from
bank clerk to Waltz King, and embarked on a career which was to elevate
the waltz from the coffee house (c.f. disco) to the regal ballrooms of
Europe.
While
nothing assures respectability more than recognition by the Establishment,
Strauss also won admiration from some surprising quarters, namely the avant-garde
of the next generation. Mahler was a great fan, even paying tribute in
his Fifth Symphony, though he wryly observed that Strauss' very
facility prevented his becoming a “great composer” (presumably in the sense
of Beethoven or Brahms) - he had no need of symphonic development, because
when one tune had run its course, he simply pulled another, equally memorable,
out of his hat! Crying shame, that. Schoenberg was so incensed at the stodginess
of the “palm-court” arrangements of the 1920s that he organised a concert,
to show that it was not compulsory for piano, harmonium and string
quartet to mangle Strauss' elegant tunes. The arrangements by Schoenberg,
Berg, and Webern are well worth searching out, believe me!
You could
say Strauss made an art form out of the pot-pourri. He exercised
immense skill in coordinating the tunes pulled from his capacious headgear,
combining them with imaginative introductions and bridging phrases to transmute
mere dance sequences into exquisite tone-poems. I believe that Strauss
remains so universally well-loved because his music is not just stylish
and attractive, but also edifyingly well bolted together.
The names
given to these pieces were often just fanciful handles, but sometimes reflected
the character of the music. Thus the introduction to the Emperor Waltz
(or Kaiser-Walzer, if you want to be picky), written in honour of
Franz Josef in 1888, is in a march-like 2/4 giving it a regal, even pompous
feel. It also has a certain fussiness which, if I were Franz Josef, I might
wonder about. How effortlessly it leads, via a cadential 'cello solo, into
the first waltz tune - cunningly pre-echoed in the introduction - and on
into a colourful and varied full dress ball. The stately processional of
the introduction is brilliantly reflected in a central, majestic, tune,
resplendent in weighty brass, which you just know will come back
to form the sonorous climax (but surprisingly not the conclusion). If you
feel the urge to dance in the aisles, go ahead!
.
© Paul Serotsky
29, Carr Street,
Kamo,
Whangarei 0101,
Northland,
New Zealand
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