Perpetuum Mobile

0 Full Score A3 - 1 Full Score - 1 Piccolo - 8 Flute I + II - 2 Oboe I + II - 2 Bassoon I + II - 1 Clarinet Eb - 5 Clarinet I - 5 Clarinet II - 5 Clarinet III - 1 Alto Clarinet Eb - 1 Bass Clarinet - 1 Soprano Saxophone - 4 Alto Saxophone I + II - 2 Tenor Saxophone - 1 Baritone Saxophone - 1 Flugelhorn Eb - 2 Bugel Solo + I - 2 Flugelhorn II - 1 Flugelhorn III - 3 Trumpet I - 3 Trumpet II - 3 Trumpet III - 2 Horn I Eb - 2 Horn I F - 1 Horn II Eb - 1 Horn II F - 1 Horn III Eb - 1 Horn III F - 2 Trombone I C - 1 Trombone I Bb (TC) - 1 Trombone I Bb (BC) - 2 Trombone II C - 1 Trombone II Bb (TC) - 1 Trombone II Bb (BC) - 2 Trombone III C - 1 Trombone III Bb (TC) - 1 Trombone III Bb (BC) - 2 Baritone C - 2 Baritone Bb (BC) - 4 Baritone Bb (TC) - 2 Bas Bb (TC) - 2 Bas Bb (BC) - 2 Bas Eb (TC) - 2 Bas Eb (BC) - 4 Tuba C - 1 Percussion I - 2 Percussion II - 1 Timpani

Johann Strauß Junior wrote this 'Perpetuum Mobile' opus 257 in 1861, inspired by a grand Viennese Ball. This event had been announced as a 'Carnival Perpetuum Mobile' with non-stop dancing and music. The Strauß Brothers conducted alternately, so the music and the dancing never stopped. This composition consists of 24 variations on a theme of 8 bars, allowing a small solopart to almost all instruments. As is often the case with Johann Strauß's compositions, the point comes at the end. This ingenious musical satire, subtitled 'A musical Joke', immediately became the big success of the Summer Concert Season of the Strauß Orchestra in the Russian town of Pavlovsk in 1862.