Débardeurs-Quadrille, Op. 97 - Josef Strauss

"Woodworkers". Starting in 1860, following large-scale remodeling of the building complex, the Dianabad could be used from autumn until well into spring as a concert hall and Ballroom. Ball organizer Hassa sought above all to revive masked balls in the Parisian style. The businessman achieved his goal by allowing a group of colourfully clad girls in so-called character costumes, most notable for their "freedom", to whirl about the Ballroom. During the carnival season of 1861, he named these hostesses, again in the Parisian style, Debardeurs (originally meant woodworkers, although that was completely irrelevant). The outfits of the cheerfully young girls consisted, as seen in the drawing on the piano score, of close-fitting trousers made of diaphanous materials, reaching to mid-calf, and a low-cut blouse, which displayed to best possible effect the wearer's charms. Hassa named the lovely troupe his "carnival guard". Josef Strauss was certainly not the ideal conductor for performances of the Debardeurs, but he dutifully wrote appropriate music every year for the large Quadrille of men accompanied by scantily-clad women: in 1861 this was in fact the Debardeurs-Quadrille, which had its premiere at the first masked ball at Dianasaal, held on 26th January 1861. In the following years, in keeping with the hostesses' changing masks, Josef Strauss also wrote the Folichon and Amazonen quadrilles (Op. 115 and Op. 118) for the masked balls at Dianabad.

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Painting: Milliner On The Pont Des Arts
Artits: Jean Beraud

Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kosice
Mika Eichenholz