Spring concert in the Golden Hall

Johann Strauss II
The Sighs of the Liguorian Monks / Playful polka
op. 57 (1849)

When the revolution broke out in Vienna in 1848 Johann Strauss — then still referred to as ‘Strauss son’ — was in Bucharest. His attempt to use dubious means to extricate himself from the financial disaster of an unsuccessful tour of the Balkans drove him into the arms of the rebels.

Back in Vienna he played — in the absence of any other opportunities to perform — for the supporters of the revolution. At the beginning of August he could offer them a special attraction at the tavern ‘At the sign of the Blue Bottle’ in the suburb of Neulerchenfeld: a ‘playful polka’ entitled The Sighs of the Liguorian Monks, op. 57. The title alludes to the expulsion of the Redemptorist fathers from Vienna; they were accused of having acted as informers for Metternich’s secret police. The form of the foreign-sounding name which the Viennese used — ‘Ligourianer’ — slipped into the first edition of the polka, but this was corrected as soon as it was reprinted. A remnant of this incorrect form used by the Viennese is, however, still to be found in the piece — indeed it could not be put right.

In the trio the musicians have to sing to its melody the mocking verse ‘Ligouri ci gouri gouriani ani ani’; this is followed by a so-called ‘charivari’, a coarse caterwauling orgy of noise which the revolutionaries used to perform outside the homes of unpopular people. Such demonstrations were usually improvised; the way the charivari is more or less composed in the case of The Sighs of the Liguorian Monks is an exception.

The title page of the piano edition shows the fathers leaving Vienna and falling into hell, where the devil catches them in a large net. Two youths shown using a rope to climb back into the world of the living may represent the efforts of the monks to return. After the victory of the restoration the remaining printed copies of the polka are said to have been confiscated by the police.

Because of the policy of the publisher, H.F. Müller, an edition of the orchestral version was never printed, so that this has only been preserved in the form of a copy which was probably based on the original handwritten parts.

Synopsis: Dr. Thomas Aigner

Translation: Dr. Leigh H. Bailey

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Sunday, 15. May 201611.00 o' clock
Vienna ⁄ Musikverein ⁄ The Große Musikvereinssaal

Spring concert in the Golden Hall
«Eduard-Strauss-Schwerpunkt» anlässlich des 100. Todestages

Johannes Wildner conductor

Program
Heinz Sandauer : Festive Fanfare of the Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra
Johann Strauss II : Overture to the operetta "The Gypsy Baron"
Eduard Strauss I : Brakes off / Quick polka op. 238
Josef Strauss : Heart’s Sorrow / Orchestral Fantasy *
Eduard Strauss I : Jubilee Waltz / Waltz op. 296
Josef Strauss : Ardent Love / Polka mazurka op. 129
Johann Strauss II : Vienna Blood / Waltz op. 354
Johann Strauss II : Thunder and Lightning / Quick polka op. 324
Break Josef Strauss : Allegro fantastique / Orchestral Fantasy*
Josef Strauss : Mysterious Powers of Attraction (Dynamiden) / Waltz op. 173
Johann Strauss II : Csárdás from the opera «Knight Pásmán» op. 441
Johann Strauss II : The Sighs of the Liguorian Monks / Playful polka op. 57
Johann & Josef Strauss : Pizzicato Polka
Eduard Strauss I : Who’ll Join the Dance? / Quick polka op. 251
Johann Strauss II : The Blue Danube / Waltz op. 314
Encore Johann Strauss II : Niko-Polka (Quick polka) op. 228
Josef Strauss : Eingesendet / Polka schnell op. 240
Johann Strauss I : Radetzky March op. 228

Hinweis:
* Bei den mit dem Stern gekennzeichneten Werken handelt es sich um eine österreichische Erstaufführung.
Wir danken der Wienbibliothek im Rathaus für die Zurverfügungstellung des Notenmaterials und die wertvolle wissenschaftliche Kooperation!

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Johannes Wildner
© by Lukas Beck

Johannes Wildner
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