For the medical students’ ball in the Carnival season of 1868, which was held in the Sofien-Saal in Vienna, Josef Strauss had composed a new waltz with the title Sphärenklänge, ‘respectfully dedicated to the gentlemen students of medicine at the University of Vienna’; as can be read on the title page of the piano edition, which was brought out by the Viennese music publisher Carl Anton Spina. The new composition — played by the Strauss Orchestra after midnight — was ‘particularly well received’ by the ball guests. On the other hand, the next day the reporter for the Fremden-Blatt newspaper grumbled disapprovingly, ‘The melodies of this waltz were better than its title, since it makes a rather strange impression when at the medical students’ ball, of all places, one is reminded musically of “the other world”.’ The basis of this critical remark is the ancient notion, already formulated by the Greek philosopher, mathematician and scientist Pythagoras, that as the heavenly bodies move in space sounds are produced (the music of the spheres), which, however, cannot be heard by mortals.
Music of the Spheres / Waltz © by Kulturverein Wiener Blut
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