Sport-Polka Schnell, Op. 170 - Josef Strauss

Around the middle of the nineteenth century, the first ice skaters appeared on the frozen rivers and lakes and then, swept along by the athletic movement in Germany, the physical fitness craze quickly took hold in the Danubian Monarchy. When Josef Strauss, on 9 October 1864, during his farewell concert prior to leaving for a guest performance in Breslau, presented the new Sport-Polka schnell for the first time in the Dianasaal, all the established sports were experiencing rapid growth in Vienna. Only the men’s running competition had been cancelled since 1848: the long-distance run in the Prater Hauptallee was considered a “human torture” and consequently banned. Looking at the piano score of the Sport-Polka, it can be deduced that Josef Strauss once again had had his favourite sport, horse racing, in mind. The front cover shows a jockey with a female partner in a whirlwind dance—and that is precisely how fast the Sport-Polka is. It belongs among the lively compositions of the otherwise extremely reserved and rather shy “Pepi” Strauss.

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Painting: A Horse Race in Victoria Park, Leicester
Artist: Edward Benjamin Herberte
Date: 1874

Wiener Philharmoniker
Georges Prêtre
Neujahrskonzert 2008