An der schönen blauen Donau 5-Minuten-Fassung

For recordings in the 1960s, it was common practice to simply shorten concert waltzes and overtures. The reason for this is simple. The length of the disc was limited, so some repeats simply had to be deleted or whole sections omitted.

This 5-minute version was commissioned by Upper Austria Tattoo 2023 / Kons. Mag. Dr Harald Haselmayr.

This ‘compact version’ has the following sequence: Waltz 1 starts without an introduction, followed immediately after Waltz 2 by a leap into the coda section. What is omitted? Waltzes 3-5 are skipped completely without damaging the composition. However, part of Waltz 3 is played faithfully in the coda before the reprise of Waltz 1 follows and leads into the finale. The Danube Waltz is rarely found on wind orchestra programmes due to its difficult introduction and length. This compact version will change that in many ways. The audience will like it, after all, the simple D major triad of the 1st waltz has probably made it into the ‘Hall of Fame’ of the most famous motifs in music history.