Iue Annual Review 2011

Where Music Meets the TU Vienna

Josef Strauss¹

Josef Strauss

Josef Strauss was a member of the famous Strauss musical dynasty, which was rooted in Vienna and strongly inflenced the classic and romantic periods. Against the will of his father, he began his career as a civil engineer at the Wiener Polytechnikum, the predecessor of today's Technische Universität Wien. His technical talent manifested itself in several inventions and patents including the construction of a novel street-sweeping vehicle. His achievements as an engineer were even recognized by some awards.
In addition, Josef Strauss was a highly gifted composer comparable to other musicans of that time. As deputy of his famous brother Johann, he debuted in the Strauss orchestra as both a composer and conductor and achieved great success. He dedicated the rest of his life to music and his work encompasses numerous, excellent pieces including waltzes, polkas, and quadrilles among others. Nevertheless, his fascination for technics was still reflected in his compositions. For instance, the curing effect of magnetism motivated the title of the waltz "Streichmagnete" (magnetic stick), which can be heard on this year's Annual Review CD.

On the CD version of our Annual Review 2011:

Streichmagnete, op. 141

Waltz

[7:45]

Performed by the TU Orchestra

¹ Author: Fritz Luckhardt, Source: Wikipedia, Licensing: Public domain

Contributors

TU Orchestra

The Orchestra of the Vienna University of Technology was founded in 1984 by Gisela Kemmerling, the wife of the rector at that time. The goal of the orchestra is to promote musical activities at the university and to contribute significantly as a musical hallmark to the self-concept of its alma mater. As well as students and associates of the University of Technology, students from other universities in Vienna and other interested instrumentalists are warmly welcome as participants.
The orchestra has given concerts in every semester since its founding with both full symphonic instrumentation and chamber music ensembles of all sizes. The repertoire includes compositions from all stylistic epochs from J.S. Bach to Gottfried von Einem, as well as premier performances of works which have been especially composed for the orchestra. Tours have taken the orchestra to Budapest, Graz and Salzburg, as well as to Turkey, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and Slovenia. Very soon, chamber music groups will be formed with various instrumentation to provide musical accompaniment for festive occasions and international congresses at the University of Technology.
In 1996 the orchestra broadened its musical spectrum and performed an opera for the first time at the Vienna University of Technology. This was "La Serva Padrona" by Pergolesi, which they also presented in a guest performance in Italy. This development was continued successfully in both Italy and Vienna with performances of Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" (1998), Rossini's "Il Barbiere di Seviglia" (1999) and Haydn's "L'Infedeltà delusa" (2000). In 2003/2004 further opera projects were successfully realized: "Don Carlo" by Verdi and "Die Zauberflöte" and "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" by Mozart.
The orchestra's 15th anniversary was celebrated in 1999 in the Großer Musikvereinssaal (the concert hall of the Vienna Music Association, home to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) as a benefit concert for the charity "Menschen für Menschen" with a performance of Haydn's oratorio "Die Schöpfung".
The orchestra was on tour in Slovenia for New Year's Eve 2005/06. In May 2006 they were invited to travel to Istanbul, where they performed at a local German high school for the opening of a week of culture.
In December 2004 the orchestra celebrated its 20th anniversary with a gala concert in the Wiener Konzerthaus.
We celebrated the 25 year existence of our orchestra on December 13, 2009 with a gala concert in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Music Association. The program included the 9th symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven.