‘Dear Sirs / Herewith I have the honour to submit to the esteemed committee the title “Shooting Star” for a composition – to be precise a quick polka – for the Hesperus Ball.’ This brief announcement was sent by Jetty Strauss to Hesperus, an association of actors and musicians, and the letter was signed ‘Yours faithfully’ by her husband Johann. The date for the Hesperus Ball had already been advertised as 16 February in the Wiener Zeitung, a Vienna daily, on 10 January 1868. Jetty’s letter is undated.
Hesperos – the evening star of Greek mythology – is the planet Venus, seen sometimes in the evening, sometimes in the early morning (Hesperus had a sister society named Aurora). So how did the polka get the title “Shooting Star”? On the evening of 30 January 1868 a meteor was observed in towns to the north of Vienna. It must have been an impressive event, as from 1 February it was reported in many newspapers, both in Austria and abroad, ‘The phenomenon, a ball of blue flame […] disappeared with a crash like thunder’ (Neue Freie Presse, 1 February); ‘The luminous phenomenon was one of splendour and magnificence […] a meteor moving slowly forward in an easterly direction […] The speed of the luminous body increased unusually rapidly and with it the phenomenon grew bigger […] almost the diameter of the sun […].’ (Neue Freie Presse, 3 February).
This means that Jetty’s letter was written at the beginning of February 1868, not earlier, but not later either, because from 6 February there were already announcements that Johann Strauss was preparing a quick polka with the title “Shooting Star” for the Hesperus Ball. He thus had ten days to complete a composition which is orchestrated so as illustrate in music dazzling flashes of light and thunder.
Johann Strauss II. Thunder and Lightning op. 324 © by WJSO-Archive
Monday, 28. December 202619.30 o' clock Taipeh / National Theater for Performing Arts (國家戲劇院 / - 國家音樂廳)
Concert in Taipeh
Johannes Wildner conductor
Program Johann Strauss II : Overture to the operetta "The Gypsy Baron" Eduard Strauss I : Brakes off / Quick polka op. 238 Josef Strauss : From Afar / Polka mazurka op. 270 Josef Strauss : On Holiday Travels! / Quick polka op. 133 Johann Strauss II : Voices of Spring / Waltz op. 410 Josef Strauss : Delirien / Waltz op. 212 Josef Strauss : Jockey / Quick polka op. 278 Johann Strauss II : Tales from the Vienna Woods / Waltz op. 325 Break Johann Strauss II : Overture to «A Night in Venice» Johann Strauss II : Thunder and Lightning / Quick polka op. 324 Johann Strauss II : Fledermaus-Quadrille op. 363 Johann & Josef Strauss : Pizzicato Polka Johann Strauss II : Excursion Train / Quick polka op. 281 Josef Strauss : Fire-Proof! / Polka française op. 269 Johann Strauss II : The Blue Danube / Waltz op. 314
Taipeh / National Theater for Performing Arts (國家戲劇院 / - 國家音樂廳) 21-1 Chung-Shan S. Road Zhongzheng District 10048 Taipei Website About the concert hall Travel Directions Show Map
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