Fanfare, TrV248

Anyone lucky enough to have attended one of the Vienna Philharmonic's annual balls in the Golden Hall at the Musikverein has heard Richard Strauss's imposingly solemn Fanfare. This short piece was written by the great German master of opera and symphonic poem in 1924 for an ensemble of 22 wind players (6 trumpets, 8 French horns, 6 trombones, 2 tubas) and two timpanists. It was premiered on March, 4^th of that same year at the Vienna Philharmonic's first ball, held to raise funds for the musicians' pension fund. Since then, the Fanfare has opened every ball until the guests of honour arrive. It has been held annually during the Vienna Carnival with the exception of two interruptions: between 1932-1948 and in 1991 (due to the Gulf War). At each ball, the orchestra's "conductor emeritus" is invited - starting with Richard Strauss, the list continues with the names of the world's greatest conductors such as Wilhelm Furtwängler, Carl Böhm, Leonard Bernstein, Herbert Blomstedt, Claudio Abbado, Carlos Kleiber, Pierre Boulez, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, György Solti, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, John Eliott Gardiner, Mariss Jansons, Sir Simon Rattle and many more. Richard Strauss had a strong emotional connection with Vienna. For many years he collaborated with the Vienna Philharmonic, which has played his music invariably since 1882. In 1913 he wrote the Festliches Präludium Op. 61 for organ and orchestra for the opening of the Concerthaus - Vienna. He was chief conductor of the Vienna Opera (1919-1924), and his operas Ariadne auf Naxos (with its second edition of 1916) and The Woman Without a Shadow (1918) were premiered on its stage. To protect his family from the Nazis, Strauss spent part of the war years in the Austrian capital. Vienna also unofficially celebrated his 80^th birthday.