Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The Blue Danube
While Germany brooded, Austria danced. In the gilded ballrooms of Vienna, smart officers in uniform made white clad young women spin, swirl and swoon to the tunes of the Strauss brothers. All the refined charm, jollity and gallantry of the Habsburg empire are contained in the Viennese waltz. Nietzche said: (I will quote the French translation) "Mais cette musique me semble parfaite. Elle s'avance, légère, souple, polie. Elle est aimable, elle ne transpire pas. 'Ce qui est bon est léger. Tout ce qui est divin marche d'un pied délicat': premier principe de mon esthétique". He was famously talking about Bizet. But aren't these words equally suited to Johan Strauss?
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Even Brahms, when asked for an autograph by Mrs. Adele Strauss, responded by inscribing on her fan the first few bars of The Blue Danube, followed by the words, "Unfortunately not by Johannes Brahms."?
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