Josef Strauss - Transactionen - Walzer, op. 184

The title of the waltz Transactionen conjures up thoughts of the stock exchange, shares, capital, interest, and so on, because, according to the dictionary, transactions are financial deals of all sorts. The artist of the title page of the first edition of this masterwork suspected the entrepreneur to be none other than the god of love Amour, who places a man's right hand into a woman's left. Therefore, these transactions would be the passionate reunion of two lovers or, perhaps, their reconciliation. There may, however, be another interpretation of the title given to these sensitive waltz melodies. During the Carnival season of 1865, the 38-year-old Josef Strauss collapsed in the middle of the ball season because of a seizure caused by his serious and — as it would turn out later — incurable brain disease, and had to stay away from the dance halls for a time. Seriously ill, he probably knew how to interpret the signs, but he did not give up and appeared unexpectedly soon again at the helm of the orchestra. Josef Strauss had started the Carnival of 1865 with a waltz "dedicated to the law students of the Viennese School" and which received the title Actionen, Op.174. During the first performance, attentive listeners noticed the strangely contained and depressing introduction, which, however, lasts only a few measures. The sadness passes quickly.

In the summer of 1865, Josef Strauss had to go on vacation, which only became possible when Eduard Strauss returned to Vienna from Russia, where he had taken the place of his brother Johann. Meanwhile, the exhausted Josef had to remain at the helm of the orchestra and conduct all the events in Vienna. Only then could he put down the violin and the baton, but before embarking on a trip through the marvellous countryside of his homeland, Josef Strauss presented, at a charity concert on 2nd August 1865 in the Volksgarten, a work which still reflected his frightening experience during the Carnival season. It is a waltz that, while danceable, borders on symphonic music of impeccable beauty which is permeated by the premonition of another even more harmonious sphere — beyond all earthly affairs. Therefore, Josef Strauss called the work Transactionen.

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