Dance into the New Year

L. v. Beethoven: Overture “The Consecration of the House” in C major, Op. 124
Romances for Violin in F major and G major
Music for a Ballet of Knights, WoO 1

F. Schubert: Ballet Music Nos. 1 & 2 from Rosamunde

Johann Strauss: Overture to A Night in Venice
Where the Lemons Blossom, Waltz

Josef Strauss: Jockey Polka

Johann Strauss: The Doves of San Marco, Polka française
Lagoon Waltz
Furioso Polka

Yuki Serino, violin
Thomas Rösner, conductor

Dance and rhythmic movement have always been closely connected with the creation of music. Many great composers wrote works that were originally intended for dance, even though today they are mostly performed purely as concert pieces. The young Ludwig van Beethoven, for example, wrote the little-known Music for a Ballet of Knights as his first orchestral work, composed for a masked ball in Bonn.

Franz Schubert also composed ballet music for the play Rosamunde, which – although today it is usually performed without dance – became widely celebrated. Stylistically, it already anticipates the works of the Strauss dynasty, which brought the Viennese dance tradition to new heights in the 19th century.

This New Year’s programme thus brings together lively, exhilarating polka rhythms and timeless waltz melodies with dance music from the Viennese Classical period.

Photo: Yuki Serino © Christian Schneider