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INVITATION TO DANCE
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Johann Jr. wrote more than 170 waltzes, earning the title "The Waltz King." His most prolific period of waltz composition was in the 1860s, when the music perfectly mirrored the carefree and pleasure-seeking ambience of Hapsburg Vienna. Starting in 1871, he also composed 16 operettas, including "Die Fledermaus" (1874) and "Der Zigeunerbaron" (1885). Strauss' music has the complexity and structural sophistication of classical music, but is so rich in danceable melody that it appeals to all who hear it.
At the same time that Johann Jr. and Sr. were at work, a musical organization of another type was just getting started. In 1842, a group of musicians formed what would eventually become the Wiener Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic). Unlike most European musical ensembles that belonged to royal courts or were created under the aegis of a conductor or composer, the Vienna Philharmonic was founded by its musicians. Throughout its history, they selected new members, decided on the repertory for concerts, and even chose who would conduct. This self-governing organization played all of the great works by the Viennese classical composers (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert) and premiered works by most of the preeminent composers who lived or worked in Vienna after 1842.
To have the right to audition for the Vienna Philharmonic, an instrumentalist must first be a member of the Vienna State Opera for at least three years. Members of the opera orchestra are Austrian civil servants, with a regular salary, health insurance, and a pension. When they are accepted into the Vienna Philharmonic, the musicians still belong to the opera orchestra. They shuttle back and forth between the opera house and the Musikverein, Vienna's splendid concert hall.
The orchestra players elect committees from their own membership to run the organization. These musician-managers, assisted by three secretaries and an accountant, are responsible for most of the operations of the Vienna Philharmonic. In 1997, the Philharmonic finally ended what had been an increasingly controversial policy of not having any women members. Anna Lelkes, a long-time harpist in the opera orchestra, became the first female musician admitted.
Some of the founding members of the Philharmonic actually came from local dance orchestras, including those led by Johann Sr. The Vienna Philharmonic has not always included waltzes and other 19th-century Viennese dance music in its repertoire, but the internationally broadcast New Year's Concert has shown another side of this remarkably versatile and intensely musical orchestra. Most of these musicians have what Johann Jr. called "Wiener blut" (Vienna blood) coursing through their veins, so the waltzes come to them as naturally as Haydn or Mahler.
Top banner photos: Walter Cronkite, host of the annual concert from Vienna; the Musikverein's exterior and the golden interior of it's main concert hall, Großer Musikvereinssaal, site of each year's musical gala (photos: ©2001 Robert Zival, Musikverein). |
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Charlotte Balzereit, harpist with the Vienna Philharmonic. |
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Established in 1842, the Vienna Philharmonic is currently comprised of nearly 150 musicians. |
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