Sunflower (polka)

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Sunflower is a polka mazurka which is attributed to Johann Strauss Sohn (op. 459). The place and date of the premiere are not known.

Remarks

The polka was put together based on motifs from the operetta Jabuka , which premiered in 1894 . The work thus joins a series of compositions (opus numbers 455 , 456 , 457 , 458 , and 460 ) that take up all the themes from this operetta. However, there is one special feature here. Strauss had originally only committed himself to compiling a waltz based on motifs from this operetta. He did that with the waltz I'm good to you! (op. 455) also made. When later the discussion arose about the further utilization of operetta topics for other pieces of music, Strauss and his client could not agree on a price. As a result, it turned out that conductor Louis Roth should be entrusted with the production of these works. He then also provided piano reductions from the Živio! (op. 456), and the polkas The Comitat is going up! (op.457), Dance with the Broomstick (op.458), Sunflower (op.459) and finally the Jabuka Quadrille , (op.460). All of these pieces are only available in the original as a piano reduction. For the CD recordings under the Naxos label, all of these pieces had to be arranged by conductor Christian Pollack . For the reasons mentioned above, it is also uncertain whether and when these pieces were performed at all when they were composed. In the Polka Sonnenblume , motifs from the introduction to the third act of the operetta Jabuka , the song See the sun burn out in splendor (No. 17 of the score) and the sunflower duet (No. 10) ( I bloom for you, I am good to you ) quoted.

The playing time on the CD listed under individual records is 5 minutes and 42 seconds. This time can vary somewhat depending on the conductor's musical conception.

Web links

Individual proof

  1. ↑ Source: English version of the booklet (page 99) in the 52 CD complete edition of the orchestral works by Johann Strauss (son), publisher Naxos (label) . The work can be heard as the ninth track on the 37th CD.