My orchestration of the Haslinger piano score of this polka by Ziehrer.

It has been recorded before in what I assume is Ziehrer’s orchestration but I was in need of some light relief in polka schnell format and this was on my virtual desk. I didn’t listen to the recording beforehand but I have now. It was obviously never going to be the same, particularly as I don’t know much Ziehrer of this period, but I hope I captured the spirit of the piece and of the time. The interest for me, apart from wanting to do something quick and jolly, was seeing what a relatively inexperienced composer and an uneducated, geriatric computer programmer could do with the same music and more or less the same tools without spending a lot of time on it. Nothing startling in either case!

The recording is on Youtube but it doesn’t say whether it’s Ziehrer’s orchestration. Some pieces in that series are arrangements. The CD notes say which but Youtube posters don’t usually bother. If it isn’t real Ziehrer it’s a good try but the quiet ending is not in the piano score which is a bit basic anyway, particularly in the area of dynamic markings. The conductor adds more in than I do but may have had access to a full score. I prefer not to do too much that’s not in the score.