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Sphärenklänge (Music of the Spheres): Waltz, Op.235
Gerald Larner wrote 2 versions of differing length — choose one below.
Josef Strauss (1827-1870)
Sphärenklänge (Music of the Spheres): Waltz Op.235
arranged by Max Schönherr (1903-84)
The one Strauss represented in this programme is Josef, who was born two years after Johann and eight years before Eduard. Although he entered the music business only reluctantly – he was already a successful architect and engineer – he proved to be not only a high accomplished composer of waltzes, polkas and other ballroom dances but one with a personality and sensitivity that, in spite of family resemblances, were entirely his own. The effortlessly floating main theme of Sphärenklänge is a characteristically inspired example. In today’s performance that peerless waltz will be heard in an arrangement by Max Schönherr, a stylish conductor and Strauss specialist, in a rarely heard version with a part for coloratura soprano.
From Gerald Larner’s files: “Sphärenklänge/Schönherr.rtf”
Josef Strauss (1827-1870)
Sphärenklänge (Music of the Spheres): Waltz, Op.235
The Viennese waltz as the Strauss family developed it - with its four or five main sections offering two tunes each - was a formidable challenge to a composer’s melodic invention. It was a challenge they were always ready to accept, however, not least because they had perfected the musically rewarding art of setting a waltz melody free from its triple-time accompaniment. The inspired main theme of Sphärenklänge, the one that glides in on violins and woodwind once the waltz tempo is established, floats with heavenly serenity above the gently articulated but persistent rhythm of even crotchets below it. Melodies of this distinction - there are rarely more than one in each waltz - are usually anticipated in a slow introduction, as this one so appealingly is in an episode as atmospheric as any scena in a ballet. Like its counterparts in most other Viennese waltzes, it is then presented in its definitive form as the first main theme and is finally recalled in glory at the end. The nine comparatively modest tunes that are heard in the meantime in this particular piece are chosen not so much for their spherical relevance as for their entertainment value and their potential as contrasting material.
From Gerald Larner’s files: “Sphärenklänge”