Straussiana (Polka, Mazurka, Waltz)

Program notes

About the Work

Straussiana is Korngold’s affectionate bouquet of Johann Strauss, and a fitting choice for a Viennese open-air gala. He composed it in 1953, his last complete orchestral work, commissioned by an American publisher as a piece for school orchestras, arranging little-known melodies by Johann Strauss II into a three-movement suite: a Polka, a Mazurka, and a Waltz. The piece looks back, with both nostalgia and craft, to the dance music of the city Korngold had been forced to leave, filtering Strauss’s tunes through his own lush, cinematic orchestral imagination. Though written for young players, it is no mere teaching piece: Korngold’s harmonic richness and orchestral colour transform the Strauss melodies into something that glows with Hollywood warmth while keeping the lilt and sparkle of the Viennese ballroom. Heard in the Schönbrunn gardens, it is a knowing wink: a Hollywood master conjuring the spirit of old Vienna.

What to Listen For

Listen for the three contrasting dance characters: the crisp, bouncing Polka; the swaying triple-time lilt of the Mazurka; and the grand, lilting Waltz that crowns the set. Throughout, hear how Korngold’s orchestration upgrades Strauss: richer harmonies, fuller strings, glints of harp and woodwind colour that belong as much to a film score as to a ballroom. It is Strauss seen through a golden, slightly nostalgic lens.