Orpheus-Quadrille, Op. 236

Composer: STRAUSS JR., Johann
  • Composed & premiered in 1860
  • Comprised of six sections (played without break):
    1. Pantalon (Pants)
    2. Été (Summer)
    3. Poule (Chicken or Hen)
    4. Trénis (named for the dance master Trenitz)
    5. Pastourelle (Shepherd Girl)
    6. Finale1
  • The music is based on melodies from Offenbach’s first full-length opera, Orpheus in the Underworld.
  • The quadrille was a popular musical form during the 18th and 19th centuries made up of a series of dances performed in sequence (listed above). The music is organized into a series of 8-measure themes, and time signatures alternate between 2/4 and 6/8.2

Sources

  1. “Orpheus-Quadrille, Op.236 (Strauss Jr., Johann),” IMSLP, accessed May 16, 2024, https://imslp.org/wiki/Orpheus-Quadrille,Op.236(Strauss_Jr.,_Johann).
  2. Maureen Buja, “Dance, Dance, Dance: The Quadrille,” Interlude (2022), accessed August 11, 2023, https://interlude.hk/dance-dance-dance-the-quadrille/.

Cut IDs

49083