Pester Polka for
String Quartet
Josef
Schrammel (1852-1895) was a Viennese violinist and composer. In 1878, along
with his better known brother Johann, Josef and virtuoso guitarist Anton
Strohmayer, created an ensemble and a type of music that was every bit as
Viennese as that of the Strauss Family. Both Schrammel brothers were
accomplished violinists and Josef was also a Vienna folk music specialist.
In 1884, the clarinetist Georg Dänzer joined their group and they became
known as the Schrammel Quartet. Both brothers and Strohmayer wrote numerous
works--waltzes, marches, polkas and galopps--for this combination. Their
wonderful works, which were based on the folk melodies of old Vienna, became
known as "Schrammelmusik". In the German-speaking world and throughout much of Europe,
their music achieved the kind of fame which had been accorded the Strauss
waltzes. In Vienna, their music was held in the highest regard by the likes of
Brahms and Johann Strauss, Jr., both of whom could always be found in the
audience, along with many other famous musicians, whenever the Schrammel Quartet
gave a public concert. It is fair to say that Schrammelmusik is even more
Viennese than the music of the Strausses. Schrammel ensembles--i.e., two
violins, a clarinet and the 13 string bass guitar--could regularly be found
playing at Heurigens, the wine bars, found on the outskirts of Vienna, so
typical of that city and no place else. There, the Viennese drank the new wine
at long tables and linked arms singing old Viennese folk melodies to forget
The Pester
Polka (The Pest Polka, Buda and Pest originally two separate cities divided by
the Danube had yet to become on municipality) composed during a visit by the
Quartet to Pest. The Strauss brothers as well as Brahms had all written
Hungarian dances and Schrammel no doubt took these as inspiration. From the
first notes, the violins sing out a wailing Hungarian ditty. It is not a fast
polka but slow and somewhat belabored as so many Hungarian melodies were. The popularity of Schrammelmusik
quickly led to arrangements for virtually every kind of small ensemble as well
as the piano. While
our soundbite is of the original combination, keep in mind that our version is for string quartet, a combination in which this music no
doubt was often heard in the cafes of Vienna.
Parts:
$9.95
