Schatz-Walzer ("Treasure Waltz"), Op. 418, is a

Viennese waltz Viennese waltz () is a genre of ballroom dance. At least four different meanings are recognized. In the historically first sense, the name may refer to several versions of the waltz, including the earliest waltzes done in ballroom dancing, dance ...

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...

composed in 1885. The melodies in this waltz were drawn from Strauss'

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

Der Zigeunerbaron ''The Gypsy Baron'' () is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II which premiered at the Theater an der Wien on 24 October 1885. Its German libretto by Ignaz Schnitzer is based on the unpublished 1883 story ''Saffi'' by Mór Jókai. Jokai ...

'' ("The Gypsy Baron"), which premiered to critical acclaim on 24 October 1885. ''Der Zigeunerbaron'', a Hungarian-influenced work, remained Strauss' best-remembered operetta after ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original literary source for ' was ...

''. The waltz version was first performed on 22 November that year in the concert hall of the Vienna

Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Grea ...

, with

Eduard Strauss Eduard "Edi" Strauss (15 March 1835 – 28 December 1916) was an Austrian composer who, together with his brothers Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss made up the Strauss musical dynasty. He was the son of Johann Strauss I and Maria Anna Streim ...

conducting. Strauss often presented music from his operettas as new and independent orchestral works, following the example of fellow operetta composer

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...

. Offenbach frequently performed the

overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which ...

of a new stage work the premiere of the work, which exposed the music to a wider audience and promoted the sales of piano transcriptions of it (sheet music). The first waltz theme is from the Act II finale aria ''"So voll Fröhlichkeit"'' ("So full of happiness"). The waltz also includes the melody of the Act II trio ''"Ha, seht es winkt, es blinkt, es klingt"'' ("See it beckon, it gleam, it clink"), in which the title character Sandor Barinkay and his gypsy friends Saffi and Czipra celebrate finding a hidden treasure in his estate (thus the title of the waltz). \relative c' The work begins in

C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...

, in a march-like tune (''"Du kannst den Zigeunern getrost vertrau'n"'') before the ''"So voll Fröhlichkeit"'' first waltz section melodies enter. The first part of the second waltz section is the trio (''"Ha, seht es winkt, es blinkt, es klingt"''), which is followed by the second part (''"Nun will ich des Lebens mich freuen"'') in

G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

. The third waltz section begins with the tranquil passage ''"Nur keusch und rein"'', followed by the dramatically romantic second part (''"Ja, das Alles auf Ehr"'') in

E-flat major E-flat major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically D minor). The E-fla ...

. A peaceful fourth waltz section in C major is next (''"Doch, mehr als Gold und Geld"'') before the climax with

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...

s in

(''"Das war' kein rechter Schiffersknecht"''), which is punctuated throughout with

trombones The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the air column inside the instrument to ...

and

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

s. The coda recalls earlier material briefly before the first waltz section dances in and rushes headlong into a dazzling finish, underlined by a

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

drumroll and brass flourish.

Anton Webern Anton Webern (; 3 December 1883 – 15 September 1945) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and musicologist. His music was among the most radical of its milieu in its lyric poetry, lyrical, poetic concision and use of then novel atonality, aton ...

created an arrangement for string quartet, harmonium, and piano in 1921.

References

External links

* ,

Vienna New Year's Concert The Vienna New Year's Concert () is an annual concert of classical music performed by the Vienna Philharmonic on the morning of New Year's Day in Vienna, Austria. The concert occurs at the Musikverein at 11:15. The orchestra performs the same co ...

2016,

Mariss Jansons Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons (14 January 1943 – 1 December 2019) was a Latvian Conducting, conductor, best known for his interpretations of Gustav Mahler, Mahler, Richard Strauss, Strauss, and Russian composers such as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, ...

Vienna Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...

{{Authority control Waltzes by Johann Strauss II 1885 compositions