Both sets were written for balls during Carneval 1811: op. 39 for the Apollo-Saal, op. 44 for the "Ste. Catharinen Redoute." The Apollo-Tänze consist of 6 menuets (each with trio) and 4 Deutsche, each with multiple trios (n4 includes a vocal trio and its own short coda section), plus a long coda labeled "The Eruption of Vesuvius" and totaling some 450 measures. The Laendler is the penultimate section; a narrative logic for its placement is obscure, at best -- given that exactly the same placement occurs in the coda of the Catharinen-Tänze, it may simply have been a convention that Viennese audiences expected. (Click on the thumbnail for a larger image.) The characteristic violinistic key (D-major) and figuration, the design in a series of strains played en rondeau, and the Schnadahüpfl episode (section B), here generalized to a soft-loud alternation, are all present. Note, however, that the oom-pah bass shows up only in the third strain (C).
The Catharinen-Tänze consist of 12 Deutsche (each with trio) plus a coda of well over 200 measures. Here again, the Ländler is the penultimate section; plainly, it would be played more slowly than the rest -- see the "Tempo primo" that marks the beginning of the final section of the coda. The design is simpler than in op. 39: characteristic violinistic figuration and ABA form with A played softly and B loudly (Schnadahüpfl episode). In this case, the oom-pah bass is present throughout, simplified as a Leier (hurdy-gurdy) ostinato.
Another milestone: today's entry is the 175th post to this blog.
