Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) was considered the king of the Viennese waltz in his day. He is credited with bringing the waltz into fashion in his native Austria, particularly in the cultural and political capital of Vienna. He wrote hundreds of compositions, mostly light dance music and operettas, many of which have endured to the present. His most famous works include the Blue Danube waltz and the operetta Die Fledermaus.
Strauss penned An der schönen blauen Donau (By the Beautiful Blue Danube) in 1866, just after Austria’s defeat to Prussia in the Seven Weeks’ War. It fulfilled a commission from Johann von Herbeck, conductor of the Vienna Men’s Choral Society, in which Strauss was encouraged to write a waltz song to lift the spirits of his demoralized countrymen. The choral premiere, on February 15, 1867, did not go well: the lyrics by Joseph Weyl ridiculed Austria’s loss of the war and did not succeed in achieving the uplift Strauss desired. The piece was reworked into its familiar orchestral form (structured as an introduction, five distinct waltzes, and a coda that revisited several of these) in time for the Paris World’s Fair that April, where it created a sensation. It has since become a staple of the classical repertoire, an unofficial national anthem for Austria, and perhaps one of the most recognizable classical melodies of all time.
Blue Danube is also the finale of the Vienna Philharmonic‘s New Year’s Concert every year. The following sample, from 1987 with Herbert von Karajan conducting, demonstrates the style with which these Viennese players perform this music. Note especially the “Schleppen” or drag, an anticipation of the second beat that sometimes appears in the waltz groove. This and other performance traditions work together to make this waltz particularly Viennese.
A version that spotlights the dancing, from 2018:
This being a wind band site, here is one concert band arrangement of the full waltz. I have used the old and very faithful arrangement by Julius Seredy (beware the horn parts in E-flat!), and others are available by Marco Tamanini and Marc Oliver. See J. W. Pepper for more on these and other arrangements for all levels of band. All of these transpose the waltz from its original A major to B-flat major.
The original version (with lyrics updated in 1890 by Franz von Gernerth), for male choir and piano, sung by the group that commissioned it:
Of course, the waltz gets its name from the Danube river, which runs through 10 countries, hitting such notable cities as Ulm, Vienna, Linz, Budapest, Bratislava, Belgrade, and many more. Here is yet one more performance of the orchestral version, this time with a montage of beautiful Danube locations:
Read more at Wikipedia, ClassicFM, and Encyclopedia Brittanica. See the music at IMSLP.