High Austria!

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High Austria! is a march by Johann Strauss Sohn (op. 371). The work was premiered on June 25, 1875 (orchestral version) in the Vienna Volksgarten under the direction of Eduard Strauss . The date and place of the first performance of the version for male choir and orchestra have not survived.

Remarks

The work was compiled based on motifs from the operetta Cagliostro, which premiered in Vienna in 1875 . It joins a series of compositions (opus numbers 369 , 370 , 372 , 373 and 374 ) that take up all the themes from this operetta. The march exists in two versions: a purely orchestral version and a choral version. The text of the choir version, which was written by Richard Genée , contains the line Right in Freud and Lust, and the cry: 'Hoch Österreich!' . Hence the title name is derived. In addition to some passages from the operetta mentioned, melodies were also used in the march that may have been originally written for the operetta but were not included in the final version of the stage work. Since Richard Genée not only wrote the text of the choir version, but also contributed to the musical development of both the operetta and this march, one should correctly speak of a joint work by Johann Strauss and Richard Genée. Both versions of the march were not very successful in the long run.

The playing time on the CD listed under individual records is 2 minutes and 50 seconds (orchestral version) and 2 minutes and 49 seconds (choral version). These times may vary somewhat depending on the conductor's musical conception.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Source: English version of the booklet (pages 55 and 136) in the 52 CD complete edition of the orchestral works by Johann Strauss (son), published by Naxos (label) . The work can be heard as the first track on the 19th CD (orchestral version) and the fourth track on the 52nd CD (choral version).