Die Tanzinterpellanten, Walzer, Op. 120 - Josef Strauss

"The Dance Petitioners". Josef Strauss composed the waltz Die Tanz-Interpellanten for the balls of the 1862 Carnival. On 17th January 1862, a preview of the ball programmes appeared in the Fremden-Blatt. In it the novelties to be expected from Johann and Josef Strauss were enumerated, mentioning as Josef’s first work the waltz Die Tanz-Interpellanten. Unfortunately no mention was made in the article regarding for which evening the work was scheduled, nor is its title of much help. "Interpellants" are petitioners (e.g., in parliament), but also people who present a specific objection (e.g., in court). If the waltz had been destined for the lawyers’ ball, it would have been provided with a pertinent dedication. Perhaps Josef’s work was played at a grandiose masquerade ball that was held during this Carnival Season in the Theater an der Wien, but no proof of this assumption exists. On 19th February 1862, an invitation by the brothers Johann and Josef Strauss to their charity ball to be held on 25th February in the Sofiensaal appeared in all the newspapers. Two big orchestras would play, as promised, one conducted by Johann, and the other, under Josef Strauss’s baton. Together, both conductors would perform fifty dance pieces, including all the novelties of the 1862 Carnival Season. From Josef Strauss, the waltzes Die Tanz-Interpellanten and Hesperus-Ball-Tänze, Op. 116, were expected. Again, it was not noted for which ball Tanz-Interpellanten was destined. One may suppose that the work was first performed during the 1862 Carnival, because it is highly unlikely that a waltz of this calibre was not presented to the public until as late as 25th February in the Sofiensaal. Neither the composer’s notes nor those of the horn player Franz Sabay contain any indications in this regard. In the reports on the Strauss ball of 25th February, only one work was specially singled out, and that was Josef Strauss’s Sturm-Polka, Op. 75, from the year 1859.

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Painting by Vladimir Pervuninsky

Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kosice
Michael Dittrich