Gypsy Dance (Hellmesberger)

Robert Ambrose beautifully transcribed Max Schonherr's arrangement of Joseph Hellmesberger Jr. arrangement of Gypsy Dance from the ballet The Pearl of Iberia. This is an exciting, fast moving work, with a melody, that musicians and listeners will enjoy and remember.

Program Notes

Joseph Hellmesberger, Jr. (1855 – 1907) was an Austrian composer, violinist and conductor. His first violin teacher was his father, the violinist and conductor Joseph Hellmesberger, Sr. The younger Hellmesberger was a violin prodigy, performing as a soloist at the Vienna Conservatory at the age of eight and playing second violin in his father’s quartet at age ten. By the age of twenty-three Hellmesberger was a solo violinist of the Vienna Court Chapel and Vienna Court Opera and a violin professor at the Vienna Conservatory.

Hellmesberger’s first conducting appointment was as a theatre conductor in 1881. He conducted consistently for the rest of his life. In 1901 he became conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic, succeeding Gustav Mahler. He was forced to resign, however, after news of an affair with a married dancer from the Court Opera became public. In 1904 he accepted an appointment as Court Kapellmeister in Stuttgart but returned to Vienna the following year, remaining there until his death in 1907.

Hellmesberger’s earliest compositions date from the time of his military service between 1873 – 76. His compositional output includes twenty-two operettas and six ballets as well as dance music and lieder. Although not well known today, Die Perle von Iberien (The Pearl of Iberia) was one of Hellmesberger’s most popular ballets at the time. It was written while he was concertmaster and ballet music director of the Vienna Court Opera and was given its premiere in 1888 in Frankfurt. With choreography by the famous Viennese dancers Irene Sironi and Joseph Hassreiter, the ballet became a staple of the Court Opera’s repertory.

In 1902, Louis Roth created a piano reduction of the ballet that was published by Josef Eberle. In 1954, the Austrian composer, conductor and arranger Max Schönherr created a four-movement orchestral suite of music from the ballet. The second movement of this suite, Zigeunertanz (Gypsy Dance), provided the source material on which the present transcription is based.

The transcriber is indebted to Mr. Reto Parolari, owner of Edition Swiss Music, for approving this transcription and to Mr. Jim Cochran, owner of Shattinger Music Company, for his tireless efforts to track down the Schönherr arrangement.

Grade Level: 5
Copyright: 2012
Number of Players: Standard
Duration: 3:30

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Instrumentation

Piccolo
Flute 1
Flute 2
Oboe 1
Oboe 2
Bassoon 1
Bassoon 2
B-flat Clarinet 1
B-flat Clarinet 2
B-flat Clarinet 3
B-flat Bass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone 1
Alto Saxophone 2
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone

B-flat Trumpet 1
B-flat Trumpet 2
F Horn 1
F Horn 2
F Horn 3
F Horn 4
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Trombone 3
Euphonium
Baritone T.C.
Tuba

String
Bass
Harp
Piano

Timpani (3 drums)
Glockenspiel
Xylophone
4.3-octave Marimba
Tambourine
Triangle & Snare Drum
Crash Cymbals & Bass Drum