Wien wird erst schön bei Nacht für Blasorchester (und opt. Gesang)

Robert Stolz (1880–1975) hardly needs an introduction. He was a successful composer and conductor from Graz. Among the highlights of his career were two Oscar nominations. His extensive body of work has still not been fully explored. Many of his melodies, however, remain unforgettable to this day, and his work as a conductor—especially in the genre of Viennese music—has been immortalized on countless recordings. What made his work so special was succinctly captured by Marcel Prawy as follows: “Unlike Johann Strauss II or Franz Lehár, Stolz is a composer whose music can withstand any arrangement, capable, as it were, of wearing any suit: his music sounds magnificent whether performed by a philharmonic orchestra, sung by a world-class tenor or a jazz singer, or played by a band, a guitar, a zither, or solo piano. The importance of arrangement makes this man from Graz the American among the masters of European music.”¹ In close collaboration with Clarissa Henry and the Edition Rex, as well as Hans Stolz and the Astoria Musikverlag, new arrangements for wind orchestra will be created from 2026 onward. The aim is to establish the works of Robert Stolz as a permanent part of the repertoire in this genre as well.

This arrangement presents a global hit (1915) by Robert Stolz. The German lyrics were written by Wilhelm Stark. The work has also been published under the title “Berlin wird bei Nacht erst schön” and is an integral part of the operetta “Frühjahrsparade.” The arrangement for wind orchestra is designed for both a purely instrumental version and a version for solo voice with orchestral accompaniment (In the vocal version, the measures indicated in brackets are not played.).