The Blue Danube

A 19th century IOU

The "Blue Danube" story starts with a debt. Johann Strauss II owed the Vienna Men's Choral Society a piece. They'd first asked him back in 1865, but he pushed it back to 1866 instead, to fulfill his busy agenda in the meantime (The man had a nervous breakdown 12 years ago, have mercy!)

Between the asking and the delivering, Austria lost a war to Prussia in seven weeks flat. Technically, it was a bit more than that, but nobody was naming this war "The Nine-and-a-Half-Weeks-Including-Diplomatic-Faff War," so "Seven Weeks' War" stuck as the punchy version.

The war having canceled a bunch of that year's Carnival balls, the society slotted Strauss's overdue piece into 1867 instead.

The premiere that actually went pretty well, contrary to popular belief

Josef Weyl, the society's official house poet, wrote the choir lyrics.

When I did my research for this article, I found many posts mentioning that the February 1867 choral premiere was a flop. It was actually quite the contrary: The press called it a "Schlager" a "hit", and it was reportedly the first time that word was ever used to describe a piece of music! The flop theory was debunked by Norbert Linke, longtime chairman of the German Johann Strauss Society (1985–1991) who wrote a well-regarded Strauss biography (Johann Strauß (Sohn), 1982).

What is true is that Strauss himself wasn't fully satisfied with it. After a separate orchestral performance the following month, he reportedly told his brother that "the devil can take the waltz, I only regret the coda".

It wasn't until later that year, when it was performed as a purely orchestral piece at the Paris World's Fair, that Blue Danube stopped being merely one hit among many and became THE hit. Strip away the choir, and suddenly you have a piece that would go on to soundtrack basically every Viennese ballroom.

It is estimated that the published editions of the waltz sold almost 1,000,000 copies in a short time! No Spotify, no streaming, no internet, and it still reached more people than Mark Zuckerberg's Metaverse managed with $45 billion, a full social media platform, and every marketing advantage the 21st century could offer.

Austria's most unofficial official anthem

The Blue Danube doesn't hold any legal status as a national anthem, but try telling that to Austria. It's the traditional encore at the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert,

It also, somewhat improbably, became the theme song of humanity's voyage into space when Stanley Kubrick used it in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The scene that features the song shows a pen flying in space that the stewardess places back in the pocket of Dr. Heywood R. Floyd. Fun fact, did you know that Strauss would always have a pencil in his pockets, along with a sheet of paper ? He was constantly afraid of losing out on a good tune. I don't think that scene was a reference to that but I think it's a pretty cool coincidence.

Now it's your turn to dock the spaceship

You don't need a full Viennese orchestra to attempt this one, just patience. Give it a shot here, preferably with the confidence of a man who accidentally invented the sound of an entire century instead.

The title was meant to be satirical, just like the lyrics — both playing off the very real hardship of a cholera epidemic and the poverty gripping Vienna's population in the aftermath of the war against Prussia.

Viennese, be glad!
Oh, why?
No, just look around!
I beg you, why?
A glimmer of light!
We see nothing yet.
Hey, Carnival is here!
Ah, well, then!
So defy the times!
Oh God, the times!
Of gloom.
Ah! That would be wise!
What use is regret,
of mourning,
so be glad and cheerful!
Honor the Carnival right,
even if
the finances are so bad,
let's dance!
Nowadays,
whoever sits in a room sweats
, just like the dancer.
At the ball!

The farmer scratches himself badly,
That times are so hard;
He takes his bare hands,
He runs to the tax office
and pays.
The money is gone now, that's for sure,
They won't give it back,
So, since it's Carnival right now,
There's a ball at the village inn,
'There are still some pretty girls around,
We'll dance up a storm, Even
if we're short of money.
Almost the whole world has no money!

A fat landlord, he's very annoyed,
All the apartments in the house are empty,
'It doesn't matter, he goes despite his anger,'
Just go to a masked ball.
Even if six tenants are missing,
The others will just be rented out,
Tomorrow an artist moves in,
But he certainly won't pay anything,
If they seize his property, it's annoying,
The people have nothing to show for it,
That's what the landlord thinks to himself
And dances in anger.

The artist feels both
comfort and sorrow in the Graces' presence,
like a little fish in a lake;
embodied in the brightest ray, he sees
his long-dreamed-of ideal.
He is the one whose brow the Muses have kissed,
whose life sweetened,
whom beauty greets.
Where joy and love blossom in bud,
the artist feels at home.
Swiftly in motion,
fresh and young, every artist
masterfully proclaims himself; therefore, rightly, art is held in such high esteem by the ladies.

Even the politically critical gentlemen
like to spin wisely in circles,
though they may seem to move boldly,
yet they never get anywhere.
As they tumble along, they usually spoil
the broth in their minds despite their efforts.
However precisely they write notes,
they unfortunately always fall out of time.
So go ahead,
dance without rest or respite,
seize the moment,
for its happiness
does not return.
Use in haste
what is allotted to you today,
for time flies,
and the rose of joy fades!
So dance, yes, dance!