Sofien-Quadrille, Op. 137 - Josef Strauss

"Sophie". On 13th May 1863, an advertisement appeared in the official gazette Wiener Zeitung which read as follows: ‘Opening today of the completely remodelled facilities of the Volksgarten, designed with the utmost elegance. Great festivity in honour of Her Imperial and Royal Highness, the Archduchess Sophie, celebrating her saint’s day, as well as the birthday of His Imperial and Royal Highness, the Archduke Ludwig Victor. On this occasion, for the first time: Sofien-Quadrille and Victor March [op. 138] by Josef Strauss. The piano edition of the Sofien-Quadrille bears the dedication note: ‘For the highest celebration of the saint’s day of Her Imperial and Royal Highness, Archduchess Sofie’. Josef Strauss had much reason to be grateful to Emperor Franz Joseph’s mother, Archduchess Sophie Friederike (1805-1872), because thanks to her invitation he could repeatedly give concerts in the palace of Schönbrunn. The Archduchess did not participate in the festivity of 15th May 1863 in the Volksgarten. Perhaps that was the reason why the Sofien-Quadrille was not performed on that day. In the notes of both the composer Josef Strauss and the horn-player Franz Sabay, another festivity in the Volksgarten, on 12th June 1863, is mentioned as the occasion for the première. Only after this date did the Sofien-Quadrille appear in the programmes of the Strauss orchestra. In the piano edition, the phrase after popular motifs has been added to the title, and in the advertisement of another concert, the phrase after popular motifs by Offenbach further clarified the character of the quadrille.

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Painting: Sophie, Archduchess of Austria
Artist: Joseph Karl Stieler
Date: 1833

Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kosice
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