Johann Strauss II - Kaiser-Walzer (Emperor Waltz), Op. 437

Strauss often played in the glittering Imperial balls, conducting the orchestra and playing the first violin at the same time.   The majestic launch of this fascinating waltz presents the backdrop of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the hegemony of the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph in 1888. Johann Strauss II was Music Director of the Dance Hesperides of the Imperial Court from 1863 to 1872 and composed on occasion for the celebration of an imperial anniversary. The ingenuity of the melody of the Emperor Waltz, which was originally orchestrated for a full orchestra, is such that it was easily adapted for the four or five instruments of a chamber ensemble by the Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg in 1925. This waltz is a tender and somewhat melancholic work, which at times turns its gaze nostalgically to the old Vienna. The waltz praises the majesty and dignity of the old monarch, who was fully devoted to his people. It begins with a majestic, magnificent march, which soon re

Grieg - Events in brief

Edvard Grieg with friends in Leipzig.

1843 Edvard Grieg was born in June in Bergen, Norway.
1859 Begins studying at the Leipzig Conservatory in Germany.
1862 First public appearance with the Four Pieces for Piano, Op. 1
1864 Meets Rikard Nordaak, who radically changes his life.
1867 Marries his cousin Nina Hagerup. He founds the Norwegian Music Academy.
1870 Meets Franz Liszt in Rome.
1874 Ibsen asks him to write stage music for his play "Peer Gynt".
1876 First performance of Peer Gynt.
1888 First interpretation of the Peer Gynt Suite No. 1
1894 PhD in Music from Cambridge University.
1898 Organizes the Norwegian Music Festival
1907 He dies in September in Bergen after a heart attact 

  • Although he was buried with every honor from his grateful homeland, his ashes were buried in a niche on the mountain above Troldhaugen with no sign other than his name and his wife's.

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