, (Courtesy - www.cpestrauss.com)
In the hope of avoiding confusion –
I have a list of works by Johann Strauss II for which the full score is lost. On it is the Brünner Nationalgarde Marsch, Op 58. In 1848, Johann Strauss II took his orchestra to Brunn (now Brno) for a festival. This march was written then and dedicated to the Brünner Nationalgarde.
At exactly the same time, Johann Strauss I wrote his Brünner National Garde Marsch, Op. 231. There is no dedication on the piano score and I can find no evidence that he went to the festival (but I haven’t looked very hard!). Whether this was a deliberate spoiler, or someone commissioned the second work as an interesting comparison, I don’t know.
I have orchestrated both from the piano scores. To add my own little bit to the confusion I have also produced versions for the military band Johann Strauss I was writing for at that period
I think the Johann Strauss I march has a swing and a lightness of touch that the Johann Strauss II lacks, but there’s not much in it.
There are recordings of other versions of these of varying quality. I know I bang on about tempi, but you’d have thought it wouldn’t take much insight to play a march at something resembling march speed. Yes, I know it varies a bit with period and nationality, but you have to be able to march to it.
