Central European Mix Tape

Podcast  

Straddling the Danube and located in the center of Europe, Austria-Hungary was one of the major powers at the beginning of the 20th century. It was a melting pot of over 50 million Germans, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Ukrainians, and others. Edison recordings of Austro-Hungarian performers were released abroad on Goldguss Walze cylinders and also marketed to immigrant communities in the United States as part of various foreign Blue Amberol series, mainly German and Bohemian. Additionally, foreign artists recorded works by Austro-Hungarian composers, most frequently Johann Strauss II, but also Jenő Hubay and Karel Komzák. Although this playlist includes a Strauss waltz, it goes beyond the standard Viennese bonbons of waltzes and galops, offering instead a broader sampling of the musical diversity of Austria-Hungary as captured by Edison.

—Chris Warden, Reed College; Dain Lopez, UC Santa Barbara

Hungarian

Austrian

Bohemian (Czech)

Polish