My orchestration from the Spina piano score of this quick polka by Eduard Strauss. It dates from about 1876.

Possibly the most interesting thing about the score for me was the advertisement on the back page. I was amazed just how much of the Strauss brothers’ back catalogue was still in print. I had assumed that the demand for most pieces would die after a season or so but works by Johann and Josef going back decades were available and virtually everything Eduard had written was still there. There were hundreds of pieces on the list.