Die Bajadere (polka)

Last updated

"Die Bajadere" is one of Johann Strauss II's polkas, Op. 351. A bajadere was a temple dancer in the European vision of legendary India being popularized by the first translations of Indian classic literature into European languages. The European view melded all the world east of Suez into an exotic locale. The themes of "Die Bajadere" were drawn from the score of Strauss's first operetta, Indigo und die vierzig Räuber ("Indigo and the Forty Thieves"), loosely based on the Arabian Nights , which premiered in 1871 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.

'Die Bajadere' begins in the key of A major and has two complete sections in the same key before a brief Intrada heralds the Trio section of the work. The Trio section, in D major is heavily accented in the 1st part but is more lyrical in the second. After a general repeat of the same A major 1st part and its successive 2nd one, the polka proceeds into a frenzy, heavily-chorded phrase with an abrupt conclusion, all in the home key.

The work has been performed at two editions of the Neujahrskonzert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra: first time being the 2005 edition conducted by Lorin Maazel and second time as the first encore of the 2025 edition conducted by Riccardo Muti.

Marius Petipa's ballet La Bayadère premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg, February 4, 1877. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polka</span> Style of music and dance of Bohemian origin

Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in 2
4
originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruno Walter</span> German-born conductor, pianist, and composer (1876–1962)

Bruno Walter was a German-born conductor, pianist, and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the United States in 1939. He worked closely with Gustav Mahler, whose music he helped to establish in the repertory, held major positions with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Salzburg Festival, Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Staatsoper Unter den Linden and Deutsche Oper Berlin, among others, made recordings of historical and artistic significance, and is widely considered to be one of the great conductors of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vienna New Year's Concert</span> Annual classical music concert performed 30 December, 31 December and 1 January in Vienna

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 concert programme on 30 December, 31 December, and 1 January but only the last concert is every year broadcast on radio and television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony No. 1 (Mahler)</span> 1887/1888 symphony by Gustav Mahler

The Symphony No. 1 in D major by Gustav Mahler was mainly composed between late 1887 and March 1888, though it incorporates music Mahler had composed for previous works. It was composed while Mahler was second conductor at the Leipzig Opera in Germany. Although in his letters Mahler almost always referred to the work as a symphony, the first two performances described it as a symphonic poem and as a tone poem in symphonic form, respectively. The work was premièred at the Vigadó Concert Hall in Budapest, Hungary, in 1889, but was not well-received. Mahler made some major revisions for the second performance, given at Hamburg, Germany, in October 1893; further alterations were made in the years prior to the first publication, in late 1898. Some modern performances and recordings give the work the title Titan, despite the fact that Mahler only used this label for the second and third performances, and never after the work had reached its definitive four-movement form in 1896.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony No. 4 (Mahler)</span> Symphony by Gustav Mahler

The Symphony No. 4 in G major by Gustav Mahler was composed from 1899 to 1900, though it incorporates a song originally written in 1892. That song, "Das himmlische Leben", presents a child's vision of heaven and is sung by a soprano in the symphony's Finale. Both smaller in orchestration and shorter in length than Mahler's earlier symphonies, the Fourth Symphony was initially planned to be in six movements, alternating between three instrumental and three vocal movements. The symphony's final form—begun in July 1899 at Bad Aussee and completed in August 1900 at Maiernigg—retains only one vocal movement and is in four movements: Bedächtig, nicht eilen ; In gemächlicher Bewegung, ohne Hast ; Ruhevoll,poco adagio ; and Sehr behaglich.

The polka-mazurka is a dance, musically similar to the mazurka, but danced much like the polka. Many polka-mazurkas were composed by Johann Strauss II and his family. Johann Strauss I did not compose any of this type of music; the first polka-mazurka example written by the Strauss family was in the year 1854 by Johann Strauss II, entitled La Viennoise op. 144.The polka-mazurka was not credited to the Strauss family alone, as many Viennese composers in the 1850s era also wrote many examples. This variant of the polka was seen as cross-cultural, as many of its influences can be seen in the French-polka with its feminine and deliberate steps as well as the exciting schnell-polka, where Eduard Strauss composed many famous pieces of this type.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josef Strauss</span> Austrian composer

Josef Strauss was an Austrian composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eduard Strauss</span> Austrian composer

Eduard "Edi" Strauss 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. The family dominated the Viennese light music world for decades, creating many waltzes and polkas for many Austrian nobility as well as dance-music enthusiasts around Europe. He was affectionately known in his family as 'Edi'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johann Strauss III</span> Austrian composer (1866-1939)

Johann Maria Eduard Strauss III was an Austrian composer whose father was Eduard Strauss, whose uncles were Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss, and whose grandfather was Johann Strauss I. Born in Vienna, he was unofficially entrusted with the task of upholding his family's tradition after the dissolution of the Strauss Orchestra by his father in 1901. His talents were not fully realized during his lifetime as musical tastes had changed in the Silver Age with more popular composers such as Franz Lehár and Oscar Straus dominating the Viennese musical scene with their operettas, although his uncle, Johann Strauss II, supervised his development as a musician, a fact disputed by Eduard Strauss.

Tausend und eine Nacht, Op. 346, is a waltz composed by Johann Strauss II in 1871. The waltz's melodies were drawn from his first operetta, Indigo und die vierzig Räuber. It was his first attempt at ensuring that the more memorable melodies from the stage works would survive obscurity by finding new life as a new orchestral work, a practice which he would retain in future stage works. Such a move would also benefit sheet music publishers who can sell the piano editions of the new works to the public who can readily identify individual music pieces.

Schatz-Walzer, Op. 418, is a Viennese waltz by Johann Strauss II composed in 1885. The melodies in this waltz were drawn from Strauss' operetta Der Zigeunerbaron, which premiered to critical acclaim on 24 October 1885. Der Zigeunerbaron, a Hungarian-influenced work, remained Strauss' best-remembered operetta after Die Fledermaus. The waltz version was first performed on 22 November that year in the concert hall of the Vienna Musikverein, with Eduard Strauss conducting.

<i>Also sprach Zarathustra</i> 1896 symphonic poem by Richard Strauss

Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 is a tone poem by German composer Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's 1883–1885 philosophical work of the same name. Strauss conducted its first performance on 27 November 1896 in Frankfurt. A typical performance lasts roughly 33 minutes.

Bayadere may refer to:

An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64, is a tone poem for large orchestra written by German composer Richard Strauss in 1915. It is one of Strauss's largest non-operatic works; the score calls for about 125 players and a typical performance usually lasts around 50 minutes. The program of An Alpine Symphony depicts the experiences of eleven hours spent climbing an Alpine mountain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludwig Minkus</span> Austrian composer (1826–1917)

Ludwig Minkus, also known as Léon Fyodorovich Minkus, was an Austrian composer of ballet music, a violinist and teacher of music.

<i>Cagliostro in Wien</i> 1875 operetta by Johann Strauss II

Cagliostro in Wien is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II to a libretto by F. Zell and Richard Genée. It premiered on 27 February 1875 at the Theater an der Wien, featuring Marie Geistinger and Alexander Girardi.

Indigo-Marsch, opus 349, is a march composed by Johann Strauss II. Its melodies are incorporated from Strauss' first operetta, Indigo und die vierzig Räuber. The work was first performed on 9 April 1871 at a concert in the Musikverein in Vienna, with Eduard Strauss conducting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony No. 2 (Strauss)</span> Symphony by Richard Strauss

The Symphony No. 2 in F minor was written by Richard Strauss between 1883 and 1884. It is sometimes referred to as just Symphony in F minor. He gave it the Opus number 12, and it also appears in other catalogues as TrV 126 and Hanstein A.I.2. It is not listed in von Asow's catalog.

<i>Schlagobers</i> 1921-22 ballet by Richard Strauss

Schlagobers, Op. 70, is a ballet in two acts with a libretto and score by Richard Strauss. Composed in 1921–22, it was given its première at the Vienna State Opera on 9 May 1924.

References

  1. Archived 2005-04-04 at the Wayback Machine La Bayadère