Champagner Polka op211

Johann Strauss II

Champagner Polka (Champagne Polka), Op.211

Described by its composer as “a musical joke,“ the Champagne Polka - which was written at the height of the polka craze in 1858 - pops its punch line at an early stage and, as the rhythms fizz and the orchestration bubbles, repeats it several times over. While it is a celebration of the high life in one sense, it is also a tribute to the low-life tavern song "Mir is's alles an's, ob i a Geld hab oder kan's !" (Nothing matters to me as long as I have money) which provided the melodic material of the piece.