Concert in Basel

Carl Michael Ziehrer
Walk In / Waltz
op. 518

Carl Michael Ziehrer was born in Vienna on May 2nd, 1843. At the age of nineteen he wrote his first compositions. The publisher Carl Haslinger, who at this point was already having initial conflicts with Johann Strauss II, recognized Ziehrer's talent and sponsored him in order to establish a counterweight to the popular Strauss. In November 1863, Ziehrer made his debut in the Dianabadsaal, and in 1865 he was engaged in the flower halls of the Wiener Gartenbaugesellschaft.

For a short time he worked as a vaudeville conductor in Berlin before taking over the position as Kapellmeister of the k. u. k. Infanterie-Regiments Hoch- und Deutschmeister No. 4. He gave concerts all over Europe, and in 1893 he even traveled to the Chicago World's Fair.

The highlight of his career was in 1907 when he was appointed k. k. Court ball music director (after Johann Strauss father and son and Eduard Strauss). He died in Vienna on November 14, 1922.

Ziehrer composed numerous operettas, of which only "The Tramps" (first performance in Vienna in 1899) was able to hold its own. On the other hand, his dances, especially his marches, are still performed today. The "Fan Polonaise" op. 525 traditionally opens the Vienna Opera Ball, known to this day are, for example, the waltz "Faschingskinder" op. 382, the quick polka „Loslassen" op. 386 or the march "Der Zauber der Uniform" op. 493 from the operetta "Die Tramps".

On December 10, 1904, the operetta "Der Schätzmeister" premiered in the Carl Theater. In number 9, the waltz song, the following is sung: "Come in, come in, here it is shifted quite unabashedly".

Ziehrer received an honorary grave from the city of Vienna in the Vienna Central Cemetery, after him the Ziehrer-Platz in Wien-Landstrasse is named.

Wolfgang Dörner, Spring 2017

Carl Michael Ziehrer - Hereinspaziert / Waltz op. 518
© by WJSO-Archive

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