The Blue Danube Waltz is Vienna’s unofficial theme song and a staple of the Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert. It’s a tune you’ve heard countless times throughout your life, from watching Tom & Jerry as a child to turning on your favourite FM station in the morning. But how much do you really know about the piece that has transcended generations? Here are five tidbits to share with your seat-mates as you wait for the curtain to rise…
1. The Blue Danube Waltz was written as a commissioned piece.
Strauss was originally asked to write a choral piece for the Vienna Men’s Choral Society, but he put it on the back burner and never followed up. Following Austria’s defeat in the Seven Weeks’ War, Strauss was asked if he would return to his abandoned commissioned work and produce an uplifting waltz to boost morale.
2. The title of the waltz was inspired by a poem.
You may have envisioned Strauss Jr. standing on the river bank when the iconic bars of his famous melody sprang to his mind, but in reality he was inspired by a poem by Karl Isidor Beck, a Hungarian-Austrian poet. Each stanza of said poem ended with “…beautiful blue Danube” — but Beck was actually referring to a stretch of the Danube that flowed through Hungary.
3. Strauss considered the premiere of the waltz a failure.
To be fair, the original presentation — performed with a choir in 1867 — included lyrics that did not go over well with the audience. Strauss did not write the lyrics himself. A poet for the choral society composed the verses using post-war political satire that may have distracted from the arrangement’s beauty. (Don’t worry – we don’t plan to revive this version in the Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert.)
4. More lyrics followed later.
Twenty-three years after the original attempt, new lyrics were penned by a member of the Austrian Supreme Court. The updated words are decidedly prettier and more refined, but the waltz is almost always performed as an instrumental version.
5. Pop culture has continued to immortalize the waltz.
While The Blue Danube Waltz has been used repeatedly in popular culture, TV and film for about a century, it saw a resurgence in popularity (and overuse?) following 1968’s Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which featured the piece in its iconic space station docking scene (a scene which has itself been referenced in pop culture on repeat).
Of course the best way to experience The Blue Danube Waltz is in person, with a full live orchestra. It’s a time-honoured tradition that this beloved piece serves as the encore in our Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert. What a perfect way to embrace the music that has underscored your life and make it your entrance music to 2025!
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