For the operetta by Strauss of the same name, please see Wiener Blut

Wiener Blut (operetta)

Wiener Blut is an operetta named after the "Wiener Blut" waltz, supposedly with music by the composer Johann Strauss the Younger, who did not live to witness the première. Such was the popularity of the original "Wiener Blut" Op...

.

Wiener Blut ('Viennese Blood' or 'Viennese Spirit') op. 354 is a waltz

Waltz

The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...

 by Johann Strauss II

Johann Strauss II

Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...

 first performed by the composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 on 22 April 1873. The new dedication waltz was to celebrate the wedding of the Emperor Franz Josef

Franz Joseph I of Austria

Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...

's daughter Archduchess Gisela Louise Maria

Archduchess Gisela of Austria

Gisela Louise Marie, Princess Imperial and Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Hungary and Bohemia, Princess of Bavaria was the second daughter and eldest surviving child of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and Empress Elisabeth...

 and Prince Leopold of Bavaria

Prince Leopold of Bavaria

Leopold Maximilian Joseph Maria Arnulf, Prinz von Bayern was born in Munich, the son of Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria and his wife Archduchess Augusta of Austria...

. However, the waltz was also chiefly noted by Strauss' biographers as the début of Strauss with the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

The Vienna Philharmonic is an orchestra in Austria, regularly considered one of the finest in the world....

 where for many years, the Philharmonic had dismissed any association with the 'Waltz King' as it had not wished to be associated with mere 'light' or 'pops' music. The festival ball celebrating the event was held at the famed Musikverein

Musikverein, Vienna

Wiener Musikverein, , commonly shortened to The Musikverein, has a twofold meaning: it is the name of a famous Vienna concert hall, as well as the short name for the music society, Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde [Society of Music Friends], that owns the building.This building is located on...

 Hall which is the venue for the famous present day Neujahrskonzert.

The waltz begins with a high spirited melody in C major

C major

C major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....

 with references to later waltz sections briefly played. It is the gentle first waltz melody which is instantly recognisable, with lyrical grace and an enthusiasm not apparent in his earlier light-hearted creations. Waltz 2A is rather more subdued although waltz 2B uplifts the mood to the one listeners would be familiar with since the beginning of the piece. As a composition befitting the wedding of the royalty, the waltz has its moments of grandeur (Section 3) where a triumphant melody in the home key of C major gave way into a rousing Viennese tune in F major

F major

F major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat . It is by far the oldest key signature with an accidental, predating the others by hundreds of years...

. The waltz has only 4 two-part sections as opposed to the earlier pattern of 5 two-part sections propounded by Josef Lanner

Josef Lanner

Joseph Lanner was an Austrian dance music composer. He was best remembered as one of the earliest Viennese composers to reform the waltz from a simple peasant dance to something that even the highest society could enjoy, either as an accompaniment to the dance, or for the music's own sake...

 and his father Johann Strauss I

Johann Strauss I

Johann Strauss I , born in Vienna, was an Austrian Romantic composer famous for his waltzes, and for popularizing them alongside Joseph Lanner, thereby setting the foundations for his sons to carry on his musical dynasty...

. The fourth section begins quietly in F major, with a climax with cymbal

Cymbal

Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...

s to come. The coda

Coda (music)

Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...

 recalls earlier sections (2 and 3) in a different key of E major

E major

E major is a major scale based on E, with the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps .Its relative minor is C-sharp minor, and its parallel minor is E minor....

 before the first waltz theme comes in again. The finale is exciting, with a stirring timpani

Timpani

Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...

 drumroll and a strong brass flourish.

'Wiener Blut' is one of few last Strauss compositions to be independent from his stage works, as he was concentrating on writing for the performing stage (and not actively writing music for the ballrooms) at that point of his career and Strauss has written at least 2 operetta

Operetta

Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...

s before penning this waltz, with the famous Die Fledermaus

Die Fledermaus

Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...

 still to come.

Animated cartoons

The song is heard when Strauss is playing the piano in the Tom and Jerry

Tom and Jerry

Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...

 episode Johann Mouse

Johann Mouse

Johann Mouse is the 75th one-reel animated Tom and Jerry short, created in 1953 directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby with music by Scott Bradley and Jakob Gimpel and narration by Hans Conried...