Waltz into Space: Vienna’s Cosmic Birthday Bash
This year marks the 200th birthday of legendary Austrian composer Johann Strauss II. Vienna, his hometown, is planning an interstellar celebration that will extend around the globe and into deep space. The city designed a playful campaign around Strauss’ famous Danube waltz based on its association with the mesmerizing space docking scene in the classic sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Here’s how you can participate from home or in Vienna, Madrid or New York City.
The Waltz King
Johann Strauss II launched his musical career in 1844 and, over the course of his lifetime, he achieved international acclaim comparable to today’s mega pop stars like Taylor Swift. His waltzes are well-known to even casual music fans.
Strauss lived his entire life in Vienna and there are several historic sites to visit, including a gold statue in Stadtpark, Strauss Hall concert venue and the apartment where he composed the classic Danube waltz.
2025: The Year of Strauss
The city has an epic calendar of events planned for 2025 so it’s a grand time to visit. If you have a trip planned, check out the Vienna tourism site that lists five bucket list Strauss-related activities for each season.
I highly recommend seeing Vienna in spring. It’s when I visited on a Viking Danube River cruise excursion. The weather was pleasantly warm, flowers erupted everywhere and the city’s gilded surfaces sparkled in the April sun.
Waltz into Space
May 31 marks Strauss’ birthday and the highlight of the yearlong celebration. An interstellar “Waltz into Space” concert by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra at the MAK (Museum of Applied Arts), will include a performance of the Danube Waltz. The waltz will be transmitted into space at the speed of light, catching the NASA Voyager 1 space probe in 23 hours.
The transmission is intended to correct a perceived slight. When Voyager 1 was launched into deep space in 1977, a Golden Record was stowed onboard. The contents include spoken greetings, images of life on Earth and global music including Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. It was included on the probe so that if Voyager was encountered by aliens, the record would serve as a “Meet the Humans” experience.
The Vienna Tourist Board created a funny short film, explaining why the Danube waltz was excluded from the record, despite its association with space as depicted in the classic Kubrick film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The space transmission on May 31 will be the world’s attempt to right this wrong.
Livestreams and “Claim a Note”
If you can’t be in Vienna on May 31st, you can still join the mission. On the Waltz into Space website, you can claim your favorite note in the waltz. A commemorative digital certificate confirms your selection of one of the 13,743 SpaceNotes.
The hourlong concert will include outdoor live streams at three locations:
- Strandbar Hermann beach along the Danube in Vienna
- New York’s Bryant Park
- Madrid in front of the European Space Agency’s Deep Space antenna
Details for the New York event which will begin at 2:30 pm on May 31st are still in development. I’ll post them when available.