Seid umschlungen op443

Johann Strauss II

Seid umshlungen, Millionen Waltz, Op.443

Although it takes its title from a line in Schiller’s Ode to Joy, familiar to every musician from the last movement of Beethoven’s “Choral” Symphony, Seid umschlungen, Millionen has little with Beethoven. Dedicated to none other than Johannes Brahms, the composer’s great friend and humble admirer, it is perhaps the most classically inclined of all Strauss waltzes - with its serious introduction, its expressive strings anticipating the main theme, the woodwind forest murmurs, the yearning main theme itself, the abundant array of secondary themes, the exhilarating recapitulation and the impressive coda.