‘I advised my brother – in order to win the Petersburg engagement for himself (I had already been there 10 times & earned a lot of money) to compose something they would get excited about in Petersburg and suggested that he should do a pizzicato polka. He was hesitant about getting started – he was always like that – so in the end I proposed to him that the polka should be the work of the two of us. He took me up on that & lo and behold – the polka created a furore in the true sense of the word.’ That is what Johann Strauss remembered about the origin of the polka in a letter he wrote to Simrock, his publisher, on 1 April 1892.
On 1 June 1869 OS (= 13 June NS) Jetty Strauss, who had also travelled to Pavlovsk, informed Josef’s wife Caroline in Vienna, ‘Pepi & Jean are now writing a polka together – that will again be something new.’ The autograph manuscript of the joint composition has been lost, and which parts were the work of which brother cannot be determined from the extant sources.
The first performance was given at Pavlovsk near St Petersburg at a musical evening held on 12 June OS (= 24 June NS). The enthusiasm of the Russian audience is clear from the fact that Johann was called back six times and the polka had to be repeated twice.
The first performance in Vienna was given in the Sofiensaal with Johann conducting on 14 November 1869, during a promenade concert given by the three Strauss brothers. It was the first appearance by Johann and Josef after their return from St Petersburg. The orchestration of the original version is documented in the Fremden-Blatt newspaper on 13 November, where it was announced that it would be ‘performed just by a quartet’. Seven days later Zeitgeist, another newspaper, reported that the polka had been ‘performed with precision by the quartet’. However, the Pizzicato Polka was also published in a version for large orchestra, with a new setting for the strings and with the winds not only playing in the opening tutti chord but also being included in the orchestration throughout.
Johann & Josef Strauss: Pizzicato Polka © by WienBibliothek im Rathaus (2019)
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! «Einführungsvortrag im Hotel Imperial» Alle Informationen zum Einführungsvortrag finden Sie HIER «Orchester-Dîner Johann Strauss» Genießen Sie nach dem Konzert das exklusive «Orchester-Dîner Johann Strauss» im Hotel Imperial. Weitere Informationen zu diesem Angebot finden Sie HIER «FAQ» Wenn Sie weitere Fragen rund um unsere Musikvereins-Konzerte haben, besuchen Sie bitte den FAQ-Bereich unserer Webseite.
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