The origin of the Vienna New Year Concert and the introduction of the classic songs.

The Tradition and Evolution of Vienna New Year Concert

Vienna New Year Concert The New Year is a festival for people all over the world. People celebrate the New Year in various ways, but every big city in the world will hold a high-level concert to announce the beginning of the New Year with relaxed and wonderful music.

The tradition of holding concerts in the New Year originated in Vienna. Today, the annual Vienna New Year Concert is still the most striking annual music event in the world. Most TV stations and radio stations in the world are broadcast live, with tens of millions of listeners. Tickets for the Vienna New Year Concert must be booked several years in advance every year. The distribution right of CD and video materials of concerts is the focus of competition among record companies, because it means high reputation and rich commercial profits. China CCTV also sent a special film crew to Vienna for live broadcast on 1996, so that China people can know more about Vienna and the New Year concert.

On the morning of June 65438+1 October1every year, the splendid Vienna Golden Hall, the "Vienna Philharmonic Friends Association" hall in Vienna, Austria, is decorated with flowers and holds the Vienna New Year Concert under the global attention. The repertoire is the music works of Johann Strauss II and his family, who is known as the "King of Waltz". It is played by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the oldest and highest quality orchestra in the world. The New Year Concert shows the most civilized, cheerful and bright side of mankind. Elegance, relaxation, luxury and enthusiasm are the biggest characteristics of the Vienna New Year Concert.

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, as the oldest and most famous orchestra in the world, has extremely high requirements for the taste of the music they want to play. However, it is worth noting that the position of the Strauss family in the orchestra project is higher than that of many great composers, including Richard Wagner and ohannes brahms.

Why is there such a famous New Year concert? Why play the Strauss family? Why did the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra become the authoritative interpreter of Strauss' family works in the world? These origins began a century and a half ago.

1848: the beginning of the Vienna new year concert

1847 65438+February 3 1, a concert is being held on an outdoor stage outside Vienna. At that time, a newspaper in Leipzig described it like this: "The conductor is a man with curly hair and dark skin. His lips are slightly upturned, giving people a feeling of genius. He lifted the violin, and with the shaking of the head, a small but high-quality band floated bright and smooth music. "

The dark-skinned, "Moorish-like" conductor is Johann Strauss I, the founder of the outstanding Strauss music family. At that time, he organized a band to tour all over Europe and had a good reputation. The concert lasted until the New Year bell rang in 1848, and the band played a work by the famous Viennese composer joseph haydn as a celebration of the New Year. Then the band played a song by Johann Georg Scherzer (which later almost became a Viennese folk song): "Dance and sing, whether we are rich or poor …" Then the band began to play cheerful dance music continuously: waltz, polka, Laendler … The concert became a grand dance, and the whole venue was a dance floor. The audience danced to the music and wonderful works were asked to join.

This concert a century and a half ago is the beginning of the new year concert in Vienna now.

1873: The first cooperation between Johann Strauss II and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

1On April 22nd, 873, in order to celebrate the completion of the spherical building of Vienna Golden Hall, Johann Strauss II conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra to play his work "The Aristocratic Descent of Vienna" (Op? 354)。 According to records, Strauss played the violin while conducting. The report at that time wrote: "The orchestra played dutifully and wholeheartedly, which made the performance a' Strauss-style' success." The audience's response was so enthusiastic that the piece had to be played again. The success of this concert laid the foundation for the cooperation between the "King of Waltz" and the "serious" Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

1873165438+1October 4th, the World Expo was held in Vienna. Johann Strauss II conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra to perform many works of his family, including the famous Blue Danube.

1899: Farewell to the "King of Waltz"

Since Johann Strauss II has his own orchestra, he seldom cooperates with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, but their personal friendship is still very good. 1894 10 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Johann Strauss II's conducting career, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra held a series of concerts. Johann Strauss II sent a thank-you letter: "I am deeply grateful to the artists of the orchestra for their wonderful performances and the great happiness they brought me."

1899 On May 22nd, when Johann Strauss II's opera Bat premiered, the composer conducted the orchestra to play the overture at the Vienna Opera House. However, during the opera performance, Johann Strauss II caught a cold and died of pneumonia on June 3rd. 1899.

192 1 year: the monument to Strauss was completed.

Even after the death of this great composer, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra did not immediately become his staunch supporter. 1902 the Vienna philharmonic orchestra played Johann Strauss II's sound of spring (Op? 4 10) and wine, women and songs (Op? 333), this performance has had a far-reaching impact.

The real turning point occurred in 192 1. At that time, in order to celebrate the completion of the Johann Strauss II Monument in Vienna, the famous conductor Arthur Nikisch conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra to play the composer's "The Artist's Life" (Op? 3 16), blue danube, wine, women, songs. Because of Nikisch's great prestige and influence at that time, many conductors began to imitate him to play the works of the Strauss family. 19251On October 25th, in order to commemorate the100th anniversary of the composer's birth, conductor Weingartner conducted and played the Blue Danube. Prior to this, this work has become an international tour of Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on June 5438+08 and June 5438+08. 1October 25th1925 10 concert is also the first concert composed entirely of Strauss family works.

1929: the formation of the tradition of playing Strauss's works

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra formed a tradition of playing Strauss's works, which benefited from an enthusiastic supporter of Strauss's works at that time: Clemens Kraus. August 1929, 1 1 conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Salzburg, Austria, and held a series of concerts composed entirely of Strauss family works. Due to the great success of the concert, he held similar concerts every year until 1933. Of course, besides Johann Strauss II's works, there are other people's works in his family, which is the embryonic form of the New Year concert.

1939: First New Year Concert

The birth of the most famous Vienna New Year concert in the world today is unusual. It began in the gloomy era of the orchestra-1939, and the war that broke out in Europe turned into World War II. Due to the rapid changes in the situation, there are many factions within the orchestra, each holding its own views. At this critical moment, the orchestra held a concert composed entirely of the works of the Strauss family, which released a message to the outside world (this message goes far beyond the music itself), indicating the loyalty of the Vienna Philharmonic Association and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra to Austria.

The concert will be held on1939 65438+February 3 1, with a public rehearsal on the 30th. This kind of performance later became part of Austria's rich cultural tradition. The first real New Year concert was 194 1 1, and the conductor was also Clemens Kraus. During the war years, Klaus was in charge of concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra's private schools until the end of World War II. 1945 65438+ 10. In the hard years after the war, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra remained loyal to Austria. 1945 held a New Year concert on June 2nd. 1

From 1946 to 1947, the orchestra conductor was changed to josef krips. Although he led the orchestra to hold the New Year concert in San Francisco for the first time, it did not win wide acclaim. From 1948, Clemens Kraus took charge of the orchestra again. Until Klaus died in 1954, there were seven New Year concerts. In the 13 New Year Concerts conducted by Klaus all his life, he turned the New Year Concert into a very special music event in Vienna. Although there is no TV to preserve his conducting art, from various documents, we can still think that his interpretation of the Strauss family works is still authoritative.

1955: Cooperation with Boskovsky for 25 years.

The unfortunate death of Clemens Kraus has brought a huge problem to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra: Who can take his place and continue his success? The orchestra held several plenary meetings for this purpose, and finally chose Willie boskovsky.

Boskovsky). At first, this choice caused a lot of controversy, but as time went on, more and more facts proved how correct this choice was. Boskovsky conducted 25 New Year concerts-from 1955 to 1979. He made the Vienna New Year Concert so successful that when he retired due to illness, he also announced the end of an era. What makes Boscowski different is that the old Austrian tradition, which can only be aroused by memories, dreams and Strauss' musical magic, was displayed by Boscowski through his conductor and his violin, making the world completely forget their time. In the Boskovsky era, the tradition of performing concerts for the Austrian army on the evening of 65438+February 30th every year was added. It is worth mentioning that 1959 TV station intervened in the concert. Due to the role of radio and television, the Vienna New Year Concert has become the most famous music event in the world and a symbol of Austrian music culture.

1980: appearance of conductor of the year.

1980 When Boskovsky retired due to illness, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra chose lorin maazel, a conductor who made brilliant achievements in the international music field. He conducted the New Year Concert until 1986 65438+ 10/. Since then, the conductor of the New Year Concert has changed every year. The conductor of 1987 is the famous herbert von karajan.

Von karajan), he gave an unforgettable concert, followed by claudio abbado (1988 and 199 1 year), carlos kleiber (1989 and 1992) and zubin mehta (/kloc-). 1995 and 1998), riccardo mutti (1993 and 1997), lorin maazel (1994, 1996). All these conductors were the most successful conductors of Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in that year's music season. 1999 The New Year Concert conducted by lorin maazel kicked off the year of Strauss-1999 marked the 0/00th anniversary of Johann Strauss II's death and the 0/50th anniversary of Johann Strauss I's death. The 2000 New Year Concert was performed by Ricardo Muti.

Relaxed and elegant Vienna New Year Concert

1987 at the new year concert, when the cheerful melody of the last Radsky March sounded, the audience couldn't help clapping with the beat. At this time, the conductor herbert von karajan turned around imaginatively and motioned for the audience to applaud with the strength and rhythm of the music. From then on, whenever the last Radsky March of the concert sounded, the applause of musicians and audience became the reserved program of Vienna New Year Concert.

1989 At the New Year Concert, when the string vibrato at the beginning of the music "Blue Danube" sounded, the audience gave a warm applause. At this time, the conductor carlos kleiber interrupted the conductor, turned around and said to the audience (who also watched the live broadcast to the whole world on TV), "Let's usher in a beautiful, happy and peaceful New Year." Therefore, in the future New Year concert, there is another content: when the string vibrato at the beginning of the music "Blue Danube" is interrupted by the applause of the audience, the conductor will turn to address the audience and wish the audience a happy New Year. Most notably, in 1996, lorin maazel expressed his New Year wishes in dozens of languages, and the penultimate sentence was his slightly blunt Chinese "Happy New Year!" Followed by English "Happy New Year!"

For a century and a half, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra has been using music to commemorate these great members of the Strauss family: Johann Strauss I, the founder of the Strauss family, who brought the waltz from the folk dance floor to the elegant concert hall; Johann Strauss II, the first person who brought the Qing opera into the traditional opera house, created a large number of waltzes handed down from generation to generation, "the king of waltzes"; Josef strauss-the first person to integrate Beethoven's musical techniques into waltz creation; Edward Strauss-led the "Strauss Orchestra" to travel around the world and introduce family music to people all over the world.

For a century and a half, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra has been welcoming the New Year with music. No matter the changes of times and personnel, the core of Vienna New Year Concert has never changed, that is, the love for Vienna and Austria and the yearning for peace, joy and artistic life.

Golden Hall-the world's leading concert hall

The "Golden Hall" where the Vienna New Year Concert was held once fascinated many music lovers all over the world, and it was the "Golden Hall" that gave birth to the voice of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Speaking of it, this hall has a history of more than one hundred years. It was completed in 1870, and its official name should be Music Association Hall, designed by architect Ophir Hansen. There are 1 654 seats and about 300 stations in the hall. The magnificent architectural style and gorgeous sound effects make it worthy of the resplendent reputation. In the annual TV New Year Concert, music lovers all over the world can watch the "Golden Hall" while listening to music. From the day the concert hall was completed, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra camped here. The "Golden Hall" and the Vienna Philharmonic complement each other, and the "World's No.1 Orchestra" and the "World's Chief Concert Hall" complement each other.

The Golden Hall is the oldest and most modern concert hall in Vienna. It is a legal place to hold Vienna New Year Concert every year.

The Golden Hall was built in 1867 and completed in 1869. This is an Italian Renaissance building. The exterior walls are yellow and red, and there are many statues of music goddesses standing on the roof, which are simple and chic. The Vienna Symphony Orchestra holds at least 12 concerts here every quarter. 1870 65438+1On October 6th, the Golden Auditorium of the Concert Hall held its first performance. From 1872 to 1875, the famous musician Brahms was responsible for organizing concerts in the concert hall. Since 1939, the Vienna New Year Concert has been held here every year, with the time of 65438+ 10/0/.Due to the interruption of the war, 1 959 resumed.

Vienna New Year Concert is famous all over the world. More than 30 countries and regions watched the live broadcast of 1993 New Year Concert through TV satellite, with more than 10 audience. There is a collection hall in the hall, which is divided into two rooms. One is an exhibition, which regularly holds exhibitions of collectibles for people to visit. One is the archives room, and the shelves on one side are filled with a large number of handwritten, woodcut and printed music books and scores; On the other side is a row of iron boxes, which contain music manuscripts, letters and other musicians' handwriting, including Mozart's Music Manuscripts: The Last Symphony and Schubert's Manuscripts: The Unfinished Symphony. In the middle of the room is a long row of tables for researchers to consult. The archives used to be Brahms' office. Before he died, he repeatedly told him to donate all his thousands of music books and music scores to the archives.

The concert hall belongs to the Austrian Friends of Music Association, which has more than 7,000 members and is said to be the oldest and largest music organization in the world. The first performance 1 187 was performed by colleagues of the association.