Presents
Franz Schubert
Wiener Damen Ländler for String Quintet, D.734
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) left around 400 Dances, including Waltzes, Landlers, Ecossaises, German Dances, Minuets, Cotillons and Galopps, among them some of the most beautiful music that he wrote. During Schubert’s lifetime, his dances were amongst his most popular works, with both the public and his publishers. He apparently wrote them quite spontaneously, often after improvising for his friends. Throughout the 19th century they were often performed alongside of those of the Lanner and Johann Strauss Jr. and Sr. They no doubt served as a model.
The Wiener Damen Ländler (Country dances, i.e. Ländlers for the Ladies of Vienna)D 734 are a set if 16 which was composed in 1822 and published in 1826. It was his publisher who chose the title and apparently this caused Schubert considerable irritation. Like most of his dances, these were originally for piano alone, but as always, Vienna's hungry publishers soon made arrangements for all sorts of combinations. Nowadays, the Wiener Damen Ländler are heard just as often string quartet as they are for piano.
Parts: $12.95
