''The Emperor Waltz'' is an album of

phonograph records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

by Bing Crosby of songs featured in his film '' The Emperor Waltz''.

Background

This was not a soundtrack recording as Crosby recorded the songs separately some months after completing the film in September 1946. A song called "Get Yourself a Phonograph" had been recorded for the film but was eventually omitted. Crosby had previously recorded "I Kiss Your Hand, Madame" on May 24, 1929 with a trio giving support but this time he has the benefit of a full orchestral backing. The song "The Kiss in Your Eyes" was adapted from a slow waltz called "Im Chambre séparée" ("Separate Rooms") written by Richard Heuberger. "Friendly Mountains" was arranged by Joseph J. Lilley based on original Swiss airs and the music for "

Emperor Waltz ''Kaiser-Walzer'', Op. 437 (''Emperor Waltz'') is a waltz composed by Johann Strauss II in 1889. The waltz was originally titled ''Hand in Hand'' and was intended as a toast made in August of that year by Emperor of Austria Franz Joseph I on the ...

" was written by

Johann Strauss Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ove ...

the younger in 1888. Johnny Burke wrote the lyrics for the last three mentioned tunes.

Reception

The album reached the No. 2 spot in the Billboard best-selling popular record albums chart on August 7, 1948. It was 9th in the year's top-selling popular record albums listing.

Track listing

These songs were featured on a 2-disc, 78 rpm album set, Decca Album No. A-620.

LP releases

The songs from A-620 were included in the 10" vinyl LP '' Top o' the Morning / Emperor Waltz'' issued by Decca Records in 1950 with catalog No. DL 5272. In 1962, the songs were also included in the Decca 12" LP ''But Beautiful'' (DL 4260) in the 15 part '' Bing's Hollywood'' series.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emperor Waltz Bing Crosby albums 1948 albums Decca Records albums