Polka-mazurka Polka-mazurka The polka-mazurka is a dance, musically similar to the mazurka, but danced much like the polka. Many polka-mazurkas were composed by Johann Strauss II and his family. Johann Strauss I did not compose any of this type of music; the first polka-mazurka example written by the Strauss family was in the year 1854 by Johann Strauss II, entitled La Viennoise op. 144.The polka-mazurka was not credited to the Strauss family alone, as many Viennese composers in the 1850s era also wrote many examples. This variant of the polka was seen as cross-cultural, as many of its influences can be
Explosions-Polka Explosions-Polka Explosions-Polka, op. 43, is a polka written by Johann Strauss II in 1847. The title was inspired by a discovery of guncotton or nitrocellulose by German scientist Christian Friedrich Schönbein in 1840. The Viennese press eagerly reported this discovery many years later in 1846, describing many products that can then be made 'explosive'. The polka is one of Strauss's novelty pieces, capturing a vogue. The "Explosions-Polka" was written for a benefit concert entitled 'Lust-Explosionsfest' (Joyful Explosions Festival), held in the Sträussl-Säle of the Josefstädter Theater on 8 February 1847. The polka incorporates many explosion effects throughout the piece, and