Strauss & Co Hip-Hop

For the past 20 years, the Quatuor Anches Hantées has been exploring the work of Johann Strauss through numerous transcriptions that regularly feature in its programs. But our musicians are not the only ones to admire the composer: Brahms, Verdi, as well as Richard Strauss, Berg, and Webern were also fascinated by this extraordinary melodist.

The QAH presents a program that explores the many facets of Strauss’s influence.

How does his legacy still shimmer in the repertoire today? How did the waltz and polka—originally popular dances—spread to all the royal courts of Europe and beyond through music (or perhaps through dance), propelling Strauss to the status of a superstar? How do these transitions occur, from the street (popular/traditional/urban) to the concert hall (the learned)? QAH, working closely with its arrangers, seeks out and transcribes gems from a repertoire deeply marked by the Strauss dynasty.

Young composer Charles-David Wajnberg joins them for a new creation that will delve into the theme of influence, serving as the common thread throughout the program. His composition, in stark contrast to Strauss’s richly melodic writing, will highlight each aesthetic in turn.

Through his improvisations, dancer Bryan Montarou weaves, confronts, and intertwines his movements with the four musicians.