Johann Strauss II – The Blue Danube Waltz

Johann Strauss II – The Blue Danube Waltz

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An der schönen blauen Donau op. 314 was originally titled On the Beautiful Blue Danube and was written as a waltz by Johann Strauss II in the year 1867. The usual English title of this piece is The Blue Danube. Since its first performance on February 9, 1867 at a concert hosted by the Wiener Männergesangsverein (Vienna Men’s Choral Association), this piece of music has gone on to become one of the most popular works in the classical repertoire. It is believed that Strauss stated something along the lines of “The devil take the waltz, my only sorrow is for the coda — I wish it had been a success!” after the first performance of the piece was only a moderate success.

The song lyric that was initially intended to accompany the waltz was composed by Josef Weyl. In the same year, Strauss converted it into a version that was performed only by an orchestra at the World’s Fair that was held in Paris, and it was a huge hit in this form. The instrumental version is by far the one that is played the most often in modern times. On occasion, Donau so blau, another phrase written by Franz von Gernerth, is also used. Donau so blau translates to “Danube, so blue.”

The tune is now considered something of an unofficial national anthem for Austria due to the nostalgic Viennese undertones that it has. The encore performance of this piece at the annual Vienna New Year’s Concert is a tradition. The first few bars are also used as the interval signal for programs broadcast outside of Austria by Österreich Rundfunk.

It was reported by another composer, Norman Lloyd, in his “Golden Encyclopedia of Music,” that when Frau Strauss asked Johannes Brahms for an autograph, Brahms responded by writing the first few bars of “Blue Danube” on a fan that Mrs. Strauss had given him. Mrs. Strauss kept the fan as a memento of their encounter. Unfortunately, it was not composed by Johannes Brahms, as he had written below it.

This is an amazing transcription by Jakob Gimpel, born in Lviv, now Ukraine 🇺🇦 Unfortunately, despite its incredible virtuosity, beautiful tenderness of the slow sections, brilliant elegance and genial brevity, this transcription is extremely rare to be heard.

Jakob Gimpel was a Polish concert pianist and instructor. He was born on April 16, 1906, and passed away on March 12, 1989. Gimpel started his studies on the piano with his father, Adolph, and then went on to study the instrument with Cornelia Tarnowska, Eduard Steuermann, and Alban Berg. Gimpel also studied music theory with Alban Berg. In 1923, Gimpel had his debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, which was led by Pierre Monteux. His debut took place in Vienna, Austria. He performed Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto for the audience.

Gimpel embarked on a tour with violinists Bronisaw Huberman, Erika Morini, Nathan Milstein, and Gimpel’s brother, Bronislav Gimpel. In 1937, Gimpel assisted Huberman in establishing what would later become the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (then known as the Palestine Symphony Orchestra). In 1938, Gimpel made his way to New York City, and a few years later, he relocated to Los Angeles.

Recorded appearances by Gimpel may be found in movies such as Gaslight, Possessed, Letter from an Unknown Woman, Strange Fascination, The Story of Three Loves, Planet of the Apes, and The Mephisto Waltz, amongst others. Gimpel’s cinematic credits are extensive. Gimpel also provided the music for two of the most iconic cartoons of all time, namely Rhapsody Rabbit and the Tom and Jerry short Johann Mouse, which won an Academy Award.

Gimpel was one of the first European-American musicians to return to Europe after World War II, and he gave hundreds of performances in West Germany in the year 1954. He was also one of the first European-American artists to return to the United States. Between the years 1971 and 1986, Gimpel held the position of professor in residence at California State University, Northridge. In 1975, he was presented with the Ben-Gurion Award from the State of Israel, and in 1975, the West German Order of Merit, First Class, was bestowed upon him.

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