"A masked ball" - Quadrille, op.272

Apart from providing its customary light musical entertainment at concerts and balls, the Strauss Orchestra also fulfilled an important social function by introducing into its programmes selections from operatic works that many of its audiences might not otherwise trouble to hear. The Strauss family's composers were also adept at arranging melodies from operatic works of the day into the form of quadrilles, one of the most popular dance styles in 19th-century ballrooms.

Such was the case with Giuseppe Verdi's opera, Un Ballo in Maschera. First staged at the Teatro Apollo, Rome, on 17 February 1859, a complete production was not mounted in Vienna until nearly eight years later. Johann Strauss pre-empted this, however, when on 21 December 1862 in the Volksgarten he presented the first performance of his quadrille on themes from Verdi's opera.