Neu Wien
Neu Wien (New Vienna), opus 342, is a waltz written by Johann Strauss II in 1870 and dedicated to Nicolaus Dumba (1830-1900), who was a fervent patron of Arts and was the Chairman of the Wiener Männergesang-Verein (Vienna's Men Choral Association) and Vice-President of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien (Society of Friends of Music in Vienna). New Vienna was written in the form of a choral waltz at the request of the Choral Association and was first performed at the Fasching of 1870 for the Association's 'Narrenabend' (Fool's Evening) where Strauss had similarly dedicated his waltz Wein, Weib und Gesang op. 333 for the same festivity. Strauss himself did not perform the choral work at its première on 13 February 1870 because of a commitment to the Prince Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst to provide music for the latter's ball on exactly the same day as the Association's 'Narrenabend'. The new work was therefore entrusted to the musicians of the 49th (Baron Hess) Infantry Regiment under the direction of Eduard Kremser to provide its premiere. Although the waltz was intended as a choral work with text by the Association's poet and good friend of Strauss Josef Weyl, today, the work is more familiar