Vom Donauufer
From the Banks of the Danube

Military band director Julius Fučík (1872-1916) was one of the most prominent representatives of his profession. Upon graduating from the Prague Conservatory, where he had studied under Milde, Bláha and Dvořák, he served the mandatory tour of his national service in the band of Infantry Regiment (IR) 49 under band directors Schlögel and J.F. Wagner. Following a short interlude in civilian employments, he commenced his tour of band director with IR 86 which was stationed in Sarajevo, Budapest, and Subotica at that time. From this unit he went to IR 92 which was stationed in the Czech city of Terezín near Prague. He served in this regiment, when he retired from military service, and eventually moved to Berlin in 1913. There he was active as conductor, composer, and also as a publisher. Fučík died in Berlin in 1916 as he had contracted a tumor in one of his legs. In 1900 Fučík’s regiment deployed from Bosnia to the Hungarian capital – and there an especially important period in the life of the composer commenced. His diary shows the following entry on Dec. 21, 1906: “…My activities as a composer did not decrease. Quite to the contrary, they even increased due to my successes. I therefore hope that I shall be in a position to achieve the plans and aims which I set for myself. Many of my pieces were printed…” His waltz “From the Banks of the Danube”, Op. 135 was completed in Budapest. Though this waltz – like many other works too - was principally written for both band and orchestra, it is in reality a true waltz for the wind band. It was his unmistakable musical writing that made such works truly independent compositions, and Fučík must not shy back to have them compared with waltzes by the great composers of that realm. His symphonic introductions in particular make his waltzes clearly stand out when compared to the works of other composers. These features lift them to a higher level of musical quality.

Please visit the website of RUNDEL Julius-Fučík-Edition
www.juliusfucik.de