This sixteenth volume in Marco Polo’s ongoing Johann Strauss I Edition includes dances that reflect topical events, obsessions and the ever ubiquitous cult of the personality.

The set of waltzes with the title Die Dämonen (The Demons) was received with tumultuous applause on the occasion of the ‘extraordinary festival evening’ in the Sperl ballroom on 23rd November 1842.

Strauss’s regular involvement in celebrations to honour the ruling Emperor and Empress can be heard in the two quadrilles written to celebrate their name-days.

First heard during a a charity concert for one of Vienna’s children’s hospitals, the Loreley-Rhein-Klänge (Lorelei-Rhine-Sounds) waltzes quickly established themselves as Strauss’s undisputed showstopper, not surpassed until his Radetzky March written half a decade later.