From a musician’s standpoint, is this is a very difficult piece? I am listening to it as I post, and there are some very intricate time changes at the beginning, and of course the different melodic aspects of the music (I hesitate to call them “movements” since I do not know if a waltz can contain them) seem to me to be very challenging.
It is my all time favorite “classical” piece of music, (you music scholars will know why I put that word in quotes), and can move me to tears of joy.
Quasi
I love The Blue Danube waltz. As a kid it was the first piece of classical music I learned the name for. A little later, as a silly girl in junior high, I would imagine myself in a formal gown, with a little tiara, dancing to “The Blue Danube” with a guy in a uniform who was probably a prince. Then I learned to play it on the piano, and had my favorite sections, and then I heard it in “2001”. I still love the sweep of the music. Got to be one of my favorite pieces. Maybe that doesn’t say much, as my favorites are all so different from each other, but I…just…like…it.
Actually, it may sound more like a cliche, but to most of Vienna, it’s a religion. To be correct, the orchestra pauses after the first strains, so the audience can applaud.
And the correct title is On the Beautiful Blue Danube. Love it. It’s great. Who cares if it’s overdone, it rules. Dammit!
(And DAMMIT, I lost my Strauss CD!!! I’m looking everywhere for it! WAAAHHH)
Hey, Quasi…
To answer your question, no, I don’t think performing The Blue Danube is unduly technically difficult. I believe it’s an orchestral piece, however, and since I’ve never played in an orchestra, I’ve never performed this piece as it was originally composed. I’ve only played it on piano as an arrangement.
That said, I’m not sure what you mean when you say “intricate time changes in the beginning.” I think the whole piece is in 3/4 time, if I’m not mistaken. IMO, time changes aren’t really difficult – it’s when you have two different kinds of “times” going on at the same time, you know, one part is playing 2 notes while another part is playing 3 notes, all for the duration of just one beat. That’s what’s difficult for me anyway.
They talk about “movements” in terms of symphonies, btw. Usually a symphony has 4 movements, the 1st one introduces the theme, the 2nd movement is usually a slower, more subdued kind of variation, the 3rd is in 3/4 time many times, and the 4th is the finale – this is all kind of general, however. Some symphonies only have 3 movements.
Anyway, I’m not a music scholar by any means, but that’s my contribution…
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[Edited by bibliophage on 10-27-2001 at 05:15 PM]
Of course you’re correct, Guin. I simplified the title a bit for the “uninitiated”.
Also, it sounds as if you may have seen the Walter Cronkite specials coming live from the Vienna Opera House on New Year’s Day featuring the music of the “Waltz King”, Johann Strauss. If you have not, I highly recommend it. It’s on PBS, and indeed the conductor pauses the music in order for the audience to show appreciation for this most beautiful work of musical art. I have the last 6 performances on tape and watch them all frequently.
Quasi
As long as we’re being painfully correct, I’ll call it „An der schönen blauen Donau.” Now just watch somebody come around and correct me.