This polka is a lighthearted salon piece composed by the 'Waltz King' in a style characteristic of mid-19th-century Viennese dance music. It is distinct for its crisp articulation and typical orchestral-to-piano transcription charm.
Maintain a steady, danceable pulse while ensuring the staccato notes remain light and non-percussive.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Alexandrinen-Polka (Op.198) is rated Henle level 3 of 9 — late beginner repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 4–5. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 5.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 3 — meaning you can already play level 2–3 pieces cleanly. Learning it one level early is possible as a stretch piece, but more than that usually leads to months of frustration.
A typical performance of Alexandrinen-Polka (Op.198) lasts about 2.5 minutes.
Alexandrinen-Polka (Op.198) is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.
Pieces at a comparable difficulty and character include Bonbon-Polka by Johann Strauss Jr., Cagliostro-Walzer(from Cagliostro) by Johann Strauss Jr., Bürger-Ball-Polka by Johann Strauss Jr. — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.