Everett Symphony tunes up Blue Danube Waltz

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, November 9, 2006

It was the background music as Homer Simpson floated in a space capsule eating potato chips. It was terribly abused by Ferris Bueller using a synthesizer. It was the symbol of love for Charles Edward Chipping in “Goodbye, Mr. Chips.”

And the music was prominently featured in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.” That prominence in 1968 certainly helped seal what appears to be its everlasting popularity.

The Blue Danube Waltz. It’s enduring. Enchanting. And best heard live.

The Everett Symphony Orchestra will treat listeners to the Blue Danube Waltz as they present “A Night in Vienna” tonight at Everett Civic Auditorium.

This is a night with the kings of waltz, Johann Strauss the younger, who penned the Blue Danube, and his father Johann Straus Sr. The Strausses have delighted listeners with their beautiful, melodic waltzes for generations. Who could ever have imagined that a mere three beats per measure would evoke such a desire to dance?

Though the Blue Danube, written in 1867 so coming up on its 140th birthday, has so imposed itself on popular culture, it was not always so popular. And not always a waltz.

The Blue Danube started life as a vocal piece for a local choral society. The lyrics, written by one Josef Weyl, a name no one would ever associate with the Blue Danube, were plodding and failed to inspire anyone, according to Internet accounts. The lyrics were quickly forgotten, except by Strauss.

When Strauss was commissioned to write something for the Paris Exhibition, he remembered those lyrics. He dug up the old music, dusted it off and converted it to a string orchestra piece. It became a legendary hit, outselling every other piece in the world in sheet music, according to various sources on the Web.

Still today, the Blue Danube invokes itself in cartoons, films, computer games and novels.

The Everett Symphony will bring this classic to life again. And the orchestra won’t forget Johann’s famous father either.

The Radetzky March, Op. 228, was composed by Johann Strauss Sr. in 1848. It was dedicated to Austrian Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, becoming a popular march for soldiers. According to the Web, when it was first played, in front of Austrian officers in attendance, they clapped and stomped their feet. This tradition is carried over today, by those in the audience who remember to do it, when the march is played in classical music venues in Vienna.

The symphony will play other selections to round out the Vienna experience, “Roses from the South” by Strauss Sr., “Thunder and Lightning Polka” by Strauss Jr. and the “Merry Wives of Windsor” by Nicolai.

Arts writer Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 or goffredo@heraldnet.com.