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Wienerwald Lerchen
by Johann Strauss II (1825–1899)
Johann Strauss II
“Wienerwald Lerchen” (arr Max Schönherr)
Professor Dr Max Schönherr, a scholar and conductor who specialised in the music of the Strauss family, put his expertise in the idiom to effective use when he converted one of Johann II’s polkas ('s gibt nur a Kaiserstadt, 's gibt nur a Wien, Op. 291) into a coloratura vocal piece to fanciful words by Hans Werner, “Wienerwald Lerchen” (Larks of the Vienna Woods). The birdsong imitations in the virtuoso vocal part and in the scoring for woodwind are brilliantly done.
From Gerald Larner’s files: “Wienerwald Lerchen”