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Annen-Polka, Op. 117

Johann Strauss II (1825–1899) · sheet music

  • Time 2/4
  • Levels 8–9
  • Passages 4

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Johann Strauss II, Austrian romantic (1825–1899). The reading release has 4 passages from this piece at levels 8–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 45–48 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 5–8 at level 9.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Annen-Polka, Op. 117.

  1. Hands together · bars 45–48 level 8
  2. The hardest bars · bars 5–8 level 9

How to play Annen-Polka, Op. 117

  1. Tempo:Think of a graceful dance in two rather than a fast gallop. Practice at a relaxed pace first, then raise the speed in small steps while keeping the sixteenths light.
  2. Right hand:The right hand plays quick sixteenth-note groups. Practice them slowly with a very light finger action so they stay clear when you speed up.
  3. Left hand:Keep the left hand in a steady oom-pah pattern, with a firm bass note on the beat and a lighter chord after. It sets the dance rhythm.
  4. Hands together:Practice hands together by playing the left-hand pattern while the right hand plays only the first note of each group. Then add the rest of the notes.
  5. Rhythm:Feel two strong beats to the bar, with the sixteenths fitting inside them. Counting one-and, two-and is enough.
  6. Dynamics:Use contrast between loud and soft strains to keep a repeat from sounding identical. A lighter touch on the second time through is a classic dance-band choice.
  7. Practice:Break each strain into two-bar fragments and play them as a loop. The repetition helps both memory and speed.

Common mistakes

  • Playing the sixteenth notes unevenly, speeding up at the end of each group. Fix: Practice with a metronome at a slow tempo and keep the finger motion small.
  • Making the left-hand chords as loud as the bass notes. Fix: Play the bass note firmly and the chord lightly, like a quick tap.
  • Racing through repeats. Fix: Hold the tempo steady and let the dynamics change instead.

Structure: polka (main strains, trio, return)

Like most Strauss polkas, it is built from short, repeated strains. A contrasting trio in a new key sits in the middle, and the opening strains return to close the dance.

A · Main strains
Graceful two-beat phrases that fall in a chain of quick sixteenth-note turns over a light bass. These are the tunes most listeners remember.
Trio · Trio
A change of key and a gentler, more flowing mood, with repeated-note pickups and new accidentals to watch.
A · Return
The opening music comes back and rounds off the dance.

About Annen-Polka, Op. 117

Johann Strauss II wrote the Annen-Polka in 1852, early in his career, for the Annenfest, the St. Anne festival that was a popular public celebration in Vienna. It was first played on 24 July 1852 in the garden of the inn Zum Wilden Mann in the Prater park, an unlikely setting for such a delicate dance; some sources give the festival date of 26 July instead.

Strauss dedicated it to all women named Anna, Nina, or Nanette. It became one of the greatest successes among his polkas, audiences of the time took to it at once, and it is still one of his most frequently performed works.

It is a short dance piece with a light two-beat pulse and tuneful repeated strains, closer in spirit to the graceful French-style polka than to the fast galloping kind. It later spread in many arrangements, including a sung version in the operetta Eine Nacht in Venedig.

  • The polka is dedicated to every woman named Anna, Nina, or Nanette, not to a single person.
  • A dedication to Empress Maria Anna is sometimes claimed, but no evidence for it has been found.
  • His father, Johann Strauss I, had already written an Annen-Polka of his own, Op. 137, in 1842.
  • A sung version appears in the operetta Eine Nacht in Venedig, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold's 1931 arrangement of it is nicknamed the Schwipslied, the tipsy song.

Why the first passage is level 8

That passage is level 8 rather than 7 because a hand plays several notes at once, a hand plays full chords, it leaps a whole step plus an octave, its chords go beyond simple triads.

Polkas are built from repeated strains, so once you learn one strain you will recognize it when it returns. Check the key signature at the start of each passage, since the trio moves to a new key.

Questions about Annen-Polka, Op. 117

How hard is Annen-Polka, Op. 117 to play?
Its passages grade from level 8 to level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 5–8 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of Annen-Polka, Op. 117 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 8, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 45–48 for both hands together, the level-8 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 8 because a hand plays several notes at once and a hand plays full chords.
What key and time signature is Annen-Polka, Op. 117 in?
The engraving on this page is in 2/4 time.
Who composed Annen-Polka, Op. 117?
Johann Strauss II, Austrian romantic (1825–1899). Johann Strauss II wrote the Annen-Polka in 1852, early in his career, for the Annenfest, the St.
Can I practice Annen-Polka, Op. 117 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 4 graded passages from Annen-Polka, Op. 117 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Why is it called the Annen-Polka?
It is named for the Annenfest, the St. Anne festival held in Vienna each July. Strauss's orchestra first played it at the festival in the Prater in July 1852.
Who was Annen-Polka written for?
Strauss dedicated it to all women named Anna, Nina, or Nanette, which fits a piece written for St. Anne's festival. A dedication to Empress Maria Anna is sometimes mentioned but is not supported by evidence.
How long does it take to learn the Annen-Polka?
A short polka like this is learnable in a few weeks of regular practice for a player at about the level of the passages on this page. Getting the sixteenth notes clean and even takes the longest.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 4 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 8
bars 45–48 both hands · bars 49–52 both hands
Level 9
bars 5–8 both hands · bars 89–92 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

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