There is only one imperial city, there is only one Vienna

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There is only one imperial city, there is only one Vienna is a Schnellpolka by Johann Strauss Sohn (op. 291). The work was first performed on October 8, 1864 in the orchestral version in Pavlovsk , Russia. The first performance of the combined choir and orchestral version took place on February 3, 1874 in the Dianabad Hall in Vienna.

Remarks

This polka exists in two versions. The first version is a pure orchestral version. It was written in the summer of 1864 during the composer's annual trip to Russia. The original title was forget-me-not polka . The title, which was then changed, is a quote from the Singspiel Aline or Vienna in Another Part of the World by Wenzel Müller (1759–1835) with a text by Adolf Bäuerle (1786–1859). The Singspiel, released in 1822, had long since disappeared from the repertoire of theaters, but the quote 'there's only a imperial city, there's only a Vienna was still very well known in Vienna at the time. The premiere in Vienna took place on December 4, 1864 in the Volksgarten . Incidentally, Johann Strauss did not quote the music of Wenzel Müller in this work. Instead he quotes the Austrian imperial anthem by Joseph Haydn . The work is to be understood as a homage to his hometown Vienna and the reigning emperor there.

The second version was created in Mardi Gras in 1874. The Vienna Men's Choir expected Johann Strauss to write a new choral work for this season. Originally, a waltz composition was desired. However, the composer was unable to meet this request for a limited time. He was just finishing the operetta Die Fledermaus . On the other hand, he was also not ready to prematurely publish an already finished waltz from this operetta and edit it for the choral society. As a solution, they resorted to the Polka, which was created almost ten years earlier, 's only gives a Imperial City,' s only gives back a Vienna . Richard Genée , who also worked closely with Johann Strauss on the work on the Fledermaus (which not only concerned the libretto), was given the task of writing a text and a musical arrangement for the polka as a combined choir and orchestral version. He followed this order and this is how this second version of the polka was created, in which Richard Genee, strictly speaking, had a greater share than Johann Strauss. The text chosen by Genee and the renewed use of the quote from the Austrian imperial hymn underlined the patriotic orientation of the work.

Both versions of the polka were well received by the audience and are still performed today, if only occasionally.

The playing time of the orchestral version is 2 minutes and 55 seconds on the CD listed under individual records. The choir version runs 4 minutes and 17 seconds. Depending on the musical conception of the conductor, these times may vary somewhat.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Source: English version of the booklet (pages 51 and 135) in the 52 CD complete edition of the orchestral works by Johann Strauss (son), publisher Naxos (label) . The work can be heard as the fifth track on the 17th CD and as the second track on the 52nd CD.