Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, Op. 214

• Strauss composed this polka in the fall of 1858. He conducted the Strauss Orchestra in its premiere on November 28, 1858, in Vienna, at a hotel called Zum großen Zeisig.¹ It still exists under another name, and you can stay there! 
• The polka is named after Tritsch-Tratsch, a Viennese satirical journal (the name means “tittle-tattle” or “gossip.”) Strauss has been taking his orchestra to Pavlovsk in Russia every summer since 1856, and the Tritsch-Tratsch published gossip stories about Strauss’s alleged amorous conquests among Russian ladies. The composer didn’t contradict the rumors; instead he responded by writing this polka.²

“Seemingly no dance composition of such freshness, humorous coloring, and spicy instrumentation has been published in years.”  

A Viennese reviewer reacts to the release of the Tritsch-Tratsch polka (if you sense a double entendre, you’re probably not wrong).³

1. “Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, Op. 214 (Strauss Jr., Johann),” IMSLP, accessed September 2, 2021, https://imslp.org/wiki/Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka%2C_Op.214_(Strauss_Jr.%2C_Johann).
2. John Suchet, The Last Waltz: The Strauss Dynasty in Vienna (New York: St. Martin‘s Press, 2016), 100-101.
3. Ibid., 101.