Not currently on display at the V&A

John Strauss! John Strauss! The Girls are All Mad

Sheet Music
ca.1850 (published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The waltz became a fashionable dance in Regency Britain after its endorsement by the wife of the Russian Ambassador Dorothea Lieven. Diarist Thomas Raikes later noted: 'No event ever produced so great a sensation in English society as the introduction of the waltz in 1813'. This music sheet is illustrated with vignettes of gentlemen and ladies dancing and about to dance presumably the 'endearing waltz', which according to the quote by Lord Byron on the cover, surpassed other types of dance including the Irish jig, the Scotch Reel, the Rigadoon and country dance.

The comic song was sung by John Orlando Parry (1810-1879), the successful actor, comedian, songwriter and singer who gave up the stage for the concert hall in 1842 and who performed at The Royal Gallery of Illustration for nearly nine years with a series of comic impersonations and musical monologues. The title of this comic song probably refers to Johann Strauss (1804-1849) the prolific composer of Viennese waltzes.



Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleJohn Strauss! John Strauss! The Girls are All Mad (published title)
Materials and techniques
Chromolithograph, intermediate pages composed of printed text
Brief description
Music sheet for John Strauss! John Strauss! The Girls are All Mad, comic ballad sung by Mr. John Parry Jnr., and Mr. W. Ball, written and composed by Philip Klitz, lithograph by George Edward Madeley, published by T.E. Purday, ca.1850
Physical description
Music sheet for John Strauss! John Strauss! The Girls are All Mad, comic ballad sung by Mr. John Parry Junr., and Mr. W. Ball, written and composed by Philip Klitz, lithograph by George Edward Madeley, published by T.E. Purday. Representing groups of Victorian dancers in five roundels, presumably dancing Waltzes by Johann Strauss
Dimensions
  • Front cover height: 34cm (approx)
  • Front cover width: 25cm
Credit line
Gabrielle Enthoven Collection
Subject depicted
Association
Summary
The waltz became a fashionable dance in Regency Britain after its endorsement by the wife of the Russian Ambassador Dorothea Lieven. Diarist Thomas Raikes later noted: 'No event ever produced so great a sensation in English society as the introduction of the waltz in 1813'. This music sheet is illustrated with vignettes of gentlemen and ladies dancing and about to dance presumably the 'endearing waltz', which according to the quote by Lord Byron on the cover, surpassed other types of dance including the Irish jig, the Scotch Reel, the Rigadoon and country dance.

The comic song was sung by John Orlando Parry (1810-1879), the successful actor, comedian, songwriter and singer who gave up the stage for the concert hall in 1842 and who performed at The Royal Gallery of Illustration for nearly nine years with a series of comic impersonations and musical monologues. The title of this comic song probably refers to Johann Strauss (1804-1849) the prolific composer of Viennese waltzes.

Collection
Accession number
S.1-2014

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Record createdJanuary 2, 2014
Record URL
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