The marriage of the Crown Prince Rudolf (1858-1889) to Princess Stephanie of Belgium (1864-1945) in 1880 was a cause of great jubilation in Austria and the municipal council of Vienna commissioned Strauss for a large scale work to be performed in honour of the couple. However, the expense involved worked against Strauss, so he was instead requested to make his contribution on a smaller scale and both Johann and Eduard were allowed free rein to demonstrate thei skills in any way they chose. Johann contribution (this choral waltz, also uploaded as a purely orchestral number) received its first performance on 8th May 1880 at a festival in the Vienna Prater with the composer conducting the orchestra of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse Infantry Regiment. The piece, with its companion the 'Jubelfest' Marsch opus 396 was meant to have been performed as the royal couple and the emperor were riding along the route in open horse drawn carriages, but the 20000 crowd of wellwishers blocked the route and the waltz was not heard by the trio. After this, the only other performance with the Association was at a concert at Schwender's New World establishment on 14th July 1881 with the Strauss Orchestra conducted by the composer. It is rather odd that this gorgeous waltz has fallen into virtual oblivion as it is one of the most carefully crafted waltzes that he ever wrote and deserves far more hearings to appreciate this 'lost' masterpiece.
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