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

Carl Maria von Weber - Events in brief


1786 Carl Maria von Weber was born on 18 November in Eutin, near Liebeck, North Germany.
1787-96 First musical lessons from his brother. His father forms the Weber Troupe. They start touring.
1796 He apprentices to Johann Peter Heuschkel. His mother gets sick in the town of  Hildburghausen.
1797 Settles in Salzburg and becomes a student of Michael Haydn.
1798 He publishes his first compositions, the Six Fughettas. His mother dies of tuberculosis.
1804 He becomes Music Director of the Breslau Theatre.
1806-07 He becomes private secretary, first of all, of The Duke Eugene of Karlsruhe and then, of Duke Frederick of Stuttgart.
1810 He is deported from Wurttemberg because of his father.
1810-13 Wanders in Germany. He is composing two clarinet concertos.
1813 Becomes Director of the Prague Opera.
1816 Takes over the Dresden Opera.
1817 Marries Caroline Brandt.
1821 Triumphant premiere of Singer in Berlin.
1823 He visits Vienna and meets Beethoven. His tuberculosis worsens.
1826 Big success in in London for the premiere of Oberon in April. He dies in London on June 5.
  • One day in 1806, after working in his office, Weber drank a glass he thought had wine and collapsed. The glass contained citric acid. When you recovered several weeks later, his singing skills were gone.


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