Immediately after the close of the official 1869 Vienna Carnival calendar, Johann and Josef Strauss began preparations for their joint Russian summer season of concerts in Pavlovsk from 9 May (= 27 April, Russian calendar) until 10 October (= 28 September). But a number of concert engagements had to be fulfilled before their departure, including a journey by the Strauss orchestra under the direction of all three brothers, Johann, Josef and Eduard, to the Hungarian town of Pest on the banks of the Danube. To coincide with the opening of Pest's imposing new Redoutensaal building, the brothers had organised two concerts there on 16 and 17 March. It was at the first of these that Johann conducted his quick polka Éljen a Magyar!, composed especially for the occasion and dedicated "to the Hungarian Nation". From his early days as a composer Johann was as much at home with the music of Hungary as he was with that of his native Vienna, and this exciting work, further enhanced at its première by the participation of the Budapest Men's Choral Association, was triumphantly applauded and had to be repeated several times. The Coda of the work features a fleeting quotation from the Rákóczi March, which Berlioz had earlier utilised in his Damnation of Faust (1846), but which owes its origins to the patriotic Magyar Rákóczi song.
Johann Strauss II. Hail to Hungary! «Eljen A Magyar» / Polka schnell op. 332 © by WJSO-Archive
Saturday, 12. March 200519.30 o' clock Vienna ⁄ Musikverein ⁄ The Große Musikvereinssaal
Concert at the Musikverein Vienna
Martin Sieghart conductor
Program Ludwig van Beethoven : Twelfe Contredances for Orchestra Franz Schubert : "Kupelwieser-Walzer" für Klavier, D Anh. I, 14; instrumentiert von Gottfried von Einem Johann Strauss I : Cachucha-Galopp op. 97 Josef Strauss : From Afar / Polka mazurka op. 270 Josef Strauss : Music of the Spheres / Waltz op. 235 Josef Strauss : Forward! / Quick Polka op. 127 Break Johann Strauss II : Overture to the operetta "The Gypsy Baron" Johann Strauss II : Greetings from Austria / Polka mazurka op. 359 Johann Strauss II : Eljen A Magyar! « Long Live the Magyar!» / Quick polka op. 332 Johann Strauss II : Roses from the South / Waltz op. 388 Johann & Josef Strauss : Pizzicato Polka Johann Strauss II : Excursion Train / Quick polka op. 281 Johann Strauss II : Emperor Waltz op. 437 Encore Johann Strauss I : Radetzky March op. 228
Vienna ⁄ Musikverein ⁄ The Große Musikvereinssaal Musikvereinsplatz 1 1010 Vienna Austria Website About the concert hall Travel Directions Show Map
Do you want to be informed about our events? Sign up for our newsletter.
Concerts
Orchestra
Media
Shop
Licenses
Contact
Sitelinks
Partner
Newsletter