Wein, Weib und Gesang

Johann Strauss II

Wein, Weib und Gesang (Wine, Women and Song): Waltz, Op.333

Like the Blue Danube Waltz a couple of year before it, Wine, Women and Song was written for the Vienna Men’s Choral Association, for whom Johann II was to provide no fewer than nine choral compositions in all - six waltzes, two polkas and a march. As with the Blue Danube, however, he scored it in such a way that it could be performed as an orchestral piece, without the choral parts, and it is in this form that it has achieved its universal popularity. While there is no need to refer to the text supplied by the Association’s official poet Josef Seyl for the choral version, it might be as well to remember the old Viennese rhyme

Wer nicht liebt Wein, Weib und Gesang

Der bleibt ein Narr sein Leben lang.

which roughly translates as

He who doesn’t like wine, women and song

Will remain a fool his whole life long.

Certainly, that hedonistic sentiment is accurately reflected in the four cheerful waltzes that make up the main part of the piece. The introduction, on the other hand, one of the longest and most developed of its kind, begins in a thoughtful frame of mind with an Andante quasi religioso which is not only sensitively scored but also discreetly contrapuntal in texture. It shouldn’t be taken too seriously, however, since the composer himself has no qualms about transforming his “religious” melody into the second of the waltzes. The length of the introduction - which also includes a march and the obligatory fanfare as well as an anticipation of the fourth waltz - is compensated for by a very short coda.