The Blue Danube
The Blue Danube is the common
English title of
An der schönen blauen Donau op. 314 (
By the Beautiful Blue Danube), a
waltz by
Johann Strauss the Younger, composed in 1867. Originally performed
9 February 1867 at a concert of the
Wiener Männergesangsverein (Vienna Men's Choral Association), it has been one of the most consistently popular pieces of music in the classical repertoire. Its initial performance was only a mild success, however, and Strauss is reputed to have said, "The devil take the waltz, my only regret is for the
coda—I wish that had been a success."
The waltz originally had an accompanying song text written by Josef Weyl. Strauss adapted it into a purely orchestral version for the
World's Fair in
Paris that same year, and it became a great success in this form. The instrumental version is by far the most commonly performed today. An alternate text by Franz von Gernerth,
Donau so blau (
Danube so blue), is also used on occasion.
The sentimental Viennese connotations of the piece have made it into a sort of unofficial
Austrian
national anthem. It is a traditional encore piece at the annual
Vienna New Year's Concert.
The composer
Johannes Brahms loved this waltz. It is reported by Norman Lloyd in his "Golden Encyclopedia of Music" that when asked by Frau Strauss for an autograph, Brahms autographed Mrs. Strauss's fan by writing on it the first few bars of the Blue Danube. Under it he wrote "Unfortunately
not by
Johannes Brahms."
*It was prominently featured in the soundtrack of
Stanley Kubrick's influential 1968 film
2001: A Space Odyssey. Because of its use in the film, it became extremely popular.
*Kubrick also placed the Blue Danube in the background of a World War I era party in his 1957 film
Paths of Glory.
*In a 1942
Warner Bros. cartoon,
A Corny Concerto, starring
Daffy Duck.
*In a 1942
Warner Bros. cartoon,
High Note.
*In the 1986 '
John Hughes' teen-comedy "
Ferris Bueller's Day Off,"
Matthew Broderick's character Ferris is heard playing the Blue Danube on his syntheziser, but rather than producing musical notes, the synthesizer, with the aid of a computer, produces coughing, sneezing, gagging, vomiting, and flatulent sounds, all in synch to the Blue-Danube melody.
*In a 2000 Japanese film,
Battle Royale.
*It featured in the computer game
Elite, played as background music by an in-game docking computer.
*A sketch from
Monty Python's Flying Circus takes advantage of the piece's fame, featuring, in typical
Monty Python fashion, "the exploding version of the Blue Danube."
*In
The Simpsons,
Homer Simpson munched on floating potato chips to the tune of
The Blue Danube while in space in the episode
Deep Space Homer. The uniform rotation of both Homer and a chip is a reference in itself to "2001: A Space Odyssey".
*In the 2004 film,
Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, the Troubadour sings the song called "Sweet Wings of Love", with the tune of
The Blue Danube.
*In the 1997 film,
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, directed by Clint Eastwood, it is used to intensify the comedy of a scene involving a transvestite.
*In the 1997 film
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, sound bytes of
The Blue Danube are played during the genital cover-up scene" with the married Austin and Vanessa at the end of the film.
*In
The Mayhem of the Moving Mollusk episode of
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo,
Scooby-Doo and
The Snail Monster sing
The Blue Danube while dancing around.
*In the
Jellyfishing episode of
SpongeBob SquarePants,
SpongeBob SquarePants and
Patrick Star sing
The Blue Danube while showing
Squidward Tentacles how it's done.
*In the 2006 film,
Curious George,
The Blue Danube is featured when Ted, the Man in the Yellow Hat, accidentally falls into the igloo, where the penguins live in the zoo.
*In the game
The Ship (computer game), it's played on some radio
The
Blue Danube of
A Video Digest*
Blue Danube (Gastric Version)*
Blue Danube (Ventriloc Version)*
Blue Danube (Gastric Ad Version)*
The accompanying lyrics (in German)
