"The Coincidentals". Josef Strauss composed the waltz Die Zufälligen for the carnival of 1860. It was first mentioned in the invitations to the brothers Johann and Josef Strauss’ charity ball of 13th February 1860 in the Sofiensaal, as the third novelty by Josef Strauss. The première might already have taken place during the first half of this carnival, perhaps also in the Sofiensaal. There are two possibilities for interpreting the title. Either Josef Strauss wanted to create a counter-piece to the waltz Die Extravaganten, Op. 205, by his brother, which was also played for the first time in the carnival of 1858, or else it was a composition for the ‘Papageno balls’, held in those times in the Sofiensaal, for which Josef had to conduct the music. At these balls, little whistles were handed out to the gentlemen, as used by the bird-catcher Papageno in the opera The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. All these little whistles were mute, except one. Whoever managed to get the Papageno sound out of his whistle won a prize. It was, according to a contemporary, very amusing to watch the guests at the ball blowing feverishly with full cheeks in order to get the prize. But only one had the working, prize-winning whistle. Die Zufälligen received very well-deserved, warm applause, and was still popular when Haslinger’s publishing house released the sheet music in the summer of 1860.
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Painting: Boy with a Tin Whistle Imitating a Bird in a Cage
Artists: John St Helier Lander
Date: 1903
Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kosice
Karl Albert Geyer
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