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Draussen in Sievering
Johann Strauss II
Die Tänzerin Fanny Elssler: “Draussen in Sievering”
(arr Oskar Stalla and Bernard Grün)
Such was the demand for Strauss operettas that other composers continued to manufacture them out of Johann II’s dance music for literally decades after his death. The score of Die Tänzerin Fanny Elssler, compiled round a libretto by Hans Adler on the scandalous life of a celebrated Viennese dancer, is the second-hand creation of Oskar Stalla and his colleague Bernard Grün. First performed in the Deutsches Theater in Berlin in 1934, it scored a particular success with “Draussen in Sievering” (Yonder in Sievering), a number which, having appropriated one of Johann II’s most seductive waltz melodies and one of his most attractive polka tunes to make its romantic tribute to Vienna, could scarcely have failed.
From Gerald Larner’s files: “Draussen in Sievering”