Vom Rhein zur Donau, Waltz for Violin and Piano, op. 138
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The violinist, conductor and composer Béla Kéler, by his birth name Albert Paul von Kéler, was born at 13th of February 1820 in the house No. 41 at town hall square of the city of Bartfeld (today´s Slovakian name: Bardejov). After his studies of music in Levoča, Debrecen and Prešov, he obtained the position of first violinist at the „Theater an der Wien“ in Vienna. The same time he studied harmony, counterpoint and started to compose. Since 1854 he received the position as conductor of the orchestra of Johann Sommer in Berlin, he already used the name Béla Kéler. Later he became leader of the military band under count Mazzuchelli. The last twenty years of his life he spent as leader of the spa-orchestra in Wiesbaden and was devoted on composing. He performed in all European cultural centres, as London, Manchester, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris, Munich, Dresden, Leipzig etc. Still he often and gladly returned to his home city Bartfeld. Kéler has written 27 big waltzes, 27 marches, 20 csárdás, 18 polkas, 15 songs, 13 galops, 12 overtures, a ballet and several „musical paintings“, such as the idyllic Carpathians, his first important composition which praises the Slovakian nature. The most frequently played theme of Kéler´s work are the 32 bars from his csárdás Memory of Bartfeld, op. 31, which were used by Johannes Brahms for his Hungarian dance No. 5 in the original notation of the author. Kéler´s music, in the time of its creation, could hold his own with the Vienna masters Joseph Lanner and „king of waltzes“ Johann Strauss jun. Already in his lifetime his 138 compositions were edited in 12 European countries. His manuscripts now belong in parts to the collection of the Šariš museum at Bardejov. In the year 2014 the Béla-Kéler-society was founded in Bardejov. The purpose of the society is the presentation of the inheritance of Béla Kéler. More in: www.belakeler.eu

In his early stage of composing, Béla Kéler wrote 49 waltzes without opus number, mainly for piano. Since 1845 he wrote 27 waltzes for orchestra with opus number. Generally he transcribed them for violin and piano, piano solo, and piano at four hands. All waltzes have a fixed structure: Introduction, five independent dances and finale. Kélerfinished the waltz From Rhine to Danube,op. 138 at 17th of March 1876. By German and Austrian motifs hegives an atmosphere of the two European rivers at which he worked.
   

Performers: Czechoslovak Chamber Duo was founded in 2004 by the Czech violinist Pavel Burdych and the Slovakian pianist Zuzana Berešová in the city of Brno. Both musicians are constant guests of music-festivals in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia. The duo also performed in cities as Rome, Paris, Seoul, Lisbon, Bucharest, Sofia, Athens, Vienna, Belgrade, Budapest, Prague and Bratislava. Each year new projects to jubilees of famous composers are prepared. More in: www.chamberduo.eu