Delirien

Josef Strauss

Delirien (Delirium): Waltz, Op.212

Josef’s Delirien Waltz is constructed in much the same way as his Sphärenklänge. The introduction, however, is quite different: this one is a tiny tone poem depicting the nightmare vision of delirious sleep. If the main theme, which is appealingly anticipated by a solo flute shortly before its definitive entry on violins, is less poetic than that of Sphärenklänge its melodic line is no less sensitively drawn - a distinctive feature of the best of Josef’s waltz tunes - and its return at the end is no less worth looking forward to.