Durch's Telephon

Johann Strauss II

Durch’s Telephon (By Telephone) Polka, Op.439

Exhilarating ballroom exercise though it was, in comparison with the waltz the polka was neither as sexy for the dancer nor as interesting for the composer. Its high-energy requirement meant that it rarely lasted longer than two or three minutes - in straightforward ternary form - while its high-speed rhythmic activity gave the composer little opportunity to do more than put a cheerful tune to it and dress it up in colourful orchestration. So the easiest way of distinguishing a new polka from hundreds like it was to give it a memorable title - Fireproof, Velocipede, Steeplechase, Far Out, No Holds Barred, No Brakes - anything to catch the eye and stimulate the imagination. Advances in science were a useful source of polka titles - Electric, Electro-Magnetic, Electric Sparks, Electrophor ­- particularly if the new piece was intended for a university ball. Durch’s Telephon (By Telephone) was written, appropriately enough, for a Concordia press ball in 1890, when the telephone was in an early stage of its development but was clearly going to change the journalist’s way of life. For a composer who had already written Taubenpost (Pigeon Post) and Schnellpost (Express Post) polkas Durch’s Telephon was a natural progression. While he obviously did not have the variety of rings available to the owner of the present-day mobile phone, he could call on melodic resources rich enough to supply three good tunes in less than two minutes.