Freut euch des Lebens (Enjoy Life!) op. 259

The waltz Freut euch des Lebens (Enjoy Life!) was composed and dedicated by Johann Strauss Jr. to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna and was first performed on January 15, 1870, for the inauguration of the Golden Hall of the Musikverein. The title echoes a phrase Strauss himself wrote in a letter to his wife Adele: “Enjoy life, and complain only when there is truly something to complain about.” The success and wide circulation of this composition are also attested by the publication, already in 1870, of versions for violin and piano and for solo piano by Tito Ricordi.

Ponchielli completed the “Reduction from the piano part (!)” for the Cremona Band on June 1, 1871; on the first page of the manuscript score, next to the title Godetevi la vita! (Enjoy Life!), the composer humorously adds the remark “(if you can!).” The first performance of the waltz is reported in the Corriere Cremonese in the program of the concert held on June 4, 1871, in Piazza Cavour.

The piece, in B♭, opens with an introduction in 2/4 where echoing triplet fanfares alternate with quaver figures, creating a sense of grandeur. This is followed by the traditional sequence of five waltzes, all in bipartite form except for the third, which has a slightly more elaborate structure.

In the extended coda, after an introductory section, the first waltz and part of the second return. The presentation of a new musical idea then leads to the conclusion of the piece.

Ponchielli humorously indicates the repetition of a section in the fifth waltz with the instruction:
“Please, with heartfelt tears, proceed from Mr. A to Mr. B.”