In the Little Jelly Doughnut Woods

Often referred to as "The Waltz King," Johann Strauss, Jr. wrote nearly as many polkas as waltzes. This polka is by far his cutest...and it includes two types of bird whistles! Offering myriad opportunities to teach about color, stylistic nuance and musical independence, this light selection can easily belong in the middle or at the end of your concert program! So far as I can tell, In the Little Jelly Doughnut Woods is not at all about jelly doughnuts (darn). The original title was Im Pawlowsk Walde, or “In the Pavlovsk Woods”, Pavlovsk being a southern suburb of St. Petersburg, Russia, which is where the piece premiered on September 6, 1869. According to naxos.com, when the audience demanded several encores, the “commercially-minded” Mr. Strauss wanted to give it a local flavor back in his hometown, thus retitling the piece Im Krapfenwald’l or “In Krapfen’s Woods,” which referred to a popular area in the far northwestern corner of Vienna.