The Classical Music Minute

New Year Celebrations with Die Fledermaus

January 10, 2022 Steven Hobé, Composer & Host Season 1 Episode 37
The Classical Music Minute
New Year Celebrations with Die Fledermaus
Show Notes Transcript

Description
On New Year’s eve, there are a handful of audience favourites that conductors around the world choose to perform. One such crowd-pleaser is the Die Fledermaus Overture by Johann Strauss II. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop!

Fun Fact
The first London performance of Die Fledermaus did not take place until 1895, "Twenty years after its production as a lyric opera in Vienna…it was [composer and conductor Gustav] Mahler [who] raised the artistic status of Strauss's work by producing it at the Hamburg Opera House”.

About Steven
Steven is a Canadian composer living in Toronto. He creates a range of works, with an emphasis on the short-form genre—his muse being to offer the listener both the darker and more satiric shades of human existence. If you're interested, please check out his website for more.

A Note To Music Students et al.
All recordings and sheet music are available on my site. I encourage you to take a look and play through some. Give me a shout if you have any questions.

Got a topic? Pop me off an email at: TCMMPodcast@Gmail.com 

Support the show

On New Year’s eve, there are a handful of audience favourites that conductors around the world choose from. One such crowd-pleaser is Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus Overture.

Operettas first became popular in Europe around the 1850s. And Strauss had a knack for composing snappy tunes that got European toes tapping.

The Die Fledermaus operetta (aka The Bat, sometimes called The Revenge of the Bat) was premiered in 1874 in Vienna, recognized for its fast pace and comical edginess. 

The overture features a selection of waltzes and polkas each quite infectious to the ear. It doesn’t conform to a classical structure; in fact, this offbeat form would go on to influence the later style of broadway music. 

There is a recurring waltz for the strings that returns throughout the overture, lending a flavour of merrymaking as the strings swirl around almost in a drunken stupor. No wonder this is frequently chosen to bring in the New Year.