100 years Tango Jalousie

The album JALOUSIE celebrates the creation of one of the world’s most played melodies in the 20th century, the “Tango Jalousie” by Jacob Gade.

JALOUSIE is recorded with the internationally acclaimed soloist, danish violinist Niklas Walentin, the critically acclaimed conductor Nabil Shehata and one of Germanys great orchestras, The Philharmonie Südwestfalen.

Jacob Gade (1879-1963) became world famous for a single composition: Tango Jalousie (“Jealousy, Tango tzigane”). For decades, this tango was at the top of the charts, having been recorded over and over again and broadcast on radio stations around the world. Later, the tango appeared in vocal recordings with world famous singers like Frankie Laine, Vera Lynn and Placido Domingo, again setting sales records, and in 2017, the Vienna Philharmonic produced a recording of Tango Jalousie. But Jacob Gade created much more than this mega-hit.

The new recording by the Philharmonie Südwestfalen, conducted by Maestro Nabil Shehata and featuring Niklas Walentin as soloist, gives us the opportunity to become more familiar with the composer Jacob Gade. Not only does this album include two versions of Tango Jalousie, one for salon cinema orchestra (the original version), and one for symphonic orchestra, but it also features hitherto unrecorded works. Let’s start at the beginning, for Jacob Gade’s life reads like a novel, and when it comes to drama and romance, his oeuvre is second to none.

“The album “Jalousie” celebrates the creation of one of the world’s most played melodies in the 20th century, the “Tango Jalousie” by Jacob Gade. Composed in 1925, originally intended for the screening of the famous silent movie “Don Q”, the music was an instant hit and quickly spread to other countries. Through the 1920’s it was recorded by some of the most popular bands and was a standard tune at all the dance halls, famous restaurants, hotel lobbies and social venues in Europe. In 1935, ten years after its composition, the tune became world famous when the great orchestra, Boston Pops, recorded the melody. The recording became the first to ever sell more than a million copies worldwide.

This album is proud to present all the major pieces for solo violin and orchestra by Jacob Gade and hitherto unrecorded works. It also contains two versions of Tango Jalousie: the grand orchestral arrangement made famous by Boston Pops and the original version for salon orchestra, original played in 1925 at its premiere in Copenhagen. The album is recorded with the internationally acclaimed soloist, danish violinist Niklas Walentin, the critically acclaimed conductor Nabil Shehata and one of Germanys great orchestras, The Philharmonie Südwestfalen. The album is printed with comprehensive linernotes from danish flute soloist, author and long-time Gade-expert, Toke Lund Christiansen, taking the listener through Jacob Gades private and professional life.”