Gross-Wien

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Gross-Wien op. 440 is a waltz by Johann Strauss II written in 1891 and was a choral waltz for the Wiener Männergesang-Verein (Vienna Men's Choral Association) during the Vienna Fasching (Carnival) of the same year. The text for the choral version of the waltz was by Franz von Gernerth.

The waltz's title was a chronicle of events in and around Vienna as the Imperial City underwent vast development through the years. Although the waltz was intended as a choral work for the association, its first performance was actually at the Vienna Prater, on 10 May 1891 for a 'Monster Concert' of over 500 musicians from the combined military orchestras of Vienna under Strauss' baton. The premiere of the waltz was also purely in orchestral version as the planned performance with the choral text was delayed until 4 October of the same year at the Sängerhalle under the direction of chorus-master Eduard Kremser.

The first performance at the Prater was also attended by the Austrian ruling family, as well as the King and Queen of Denmark and the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland. Strauss' waltz brims with confidence and maturedness never heard in his far earlier works with musical ideas that never seemed repetitive despite the fact that he wrote waltzes at a prodigious rate.

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Based on original text by Peter Kemp, The Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain. Used with permission.