Eduard Strauss I (1835–1916)
A Centenary Celebration • 3
Introduction and Dedication
Throughout Eduard Strauss’s life, his compositions were unfavourably compared with those by his elder brothers, Johann II (1825–1899) and Josef (1827-1870). Some 19th-century music critics were excoriating in their dismissal of Eduard’s compositions, yet many of his works, especially those dating from the 1870s and 1880s, easily stand comparison with those crafted by his two famous siblings. Moreover, in two particular dance genres – the quick polka and the galop – Eduard was in a class of his own. As the Strauss authority Professor Franz Mailer (1920–2010) stated: ‘Posterity must make restitution to Eduard Strauss.’ It is to be hoped that this present recording, the third in this Marco Polo series, will further encourage a reassessment of ‘handsome Edi’s’ unique musical genius.
With one exception, the works on this album are performed in Eduard Strauss’s own arrangements, the material for which was drawn principally from The Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain’s own archives. We are grateful to the Austrian conductor Kurt Schmid (b. 1942) for arranging from its piano score the quick polka Pegasus-Sprünge, Op. 51, for which orchestral parts were never published.
This album is dedicated to the memory of the conductor John Georgiadis (1939–2021), who was key to the success of the first two volumes in this series and also of our four-volume Marco Polo series Contemporaries of the Strauss Family. For this present recording, Czechian conductor Marek Štilec, a protégé of Michael Tilson Thomas, has taken up Maestro Georgiadis’s mantle.
© 2023 John Diamond and Peter Kemp
The Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain
曲目
01. Wo Lust und Freude wohnen!, Op. 202
02. Herz und Welt, Op. 131
03. Glühlichter, Op. 216
04. Brausteufelchen, Op. 154
05. Theorien, Op. 111
06. In lieb’ entbrannt, Op. 117
07. Mit frohem Muth und heiter’n Sinn, Op. 153
08. Pegasus-sprünge, Op. 51 (Arr. for Orchestra by Kurt Schmid)
09. Heitere Weisen, Op. 207
10. Aus den schlesischen Bergen, Op. 260
11. Stimmen aus dem Publikum, Op. 104
12. Ein Jahr freiwillig, Op. 102
13. Widmungsbl?tter, Op. 242
14. Zeitvertrieb, Op. 248
15. Denksprüche, Op. 244