Strauss

I

Introduction

Strauss, name of a family of Austrian composers, of whom the two most important members were father and son. Throughout the 19th century, the Strausses composed an endless stream of waltzes, polkas, marches, galops, and quadrilles.

II

Johann Strauss the Elder

The father, Johann Strauss the Elder (1804-1849), was born in Vienna, the son of an innkeeper. At the age of 14 he joined a band as a violinist. In 1821 he became deputy conductor of an orchestra led by Austrian composer Joseph Lanner, then Vienna’s leading dance conductor. After a falling out with Lanner, Strauss organized his own orchestra in 1825. It soon surpassed Lanner’s and all other Viennese dance orchestras in popularity. During the 1830s Strauss toured Europe, popularizing the waltz. He himself composed 152 waltzes, as well as many polkas, galops, quadrilles, and marches. Among his best-known waltzes is “Lorelei—Rhein-Klänge” (Lorelei—Sounds of the Rhine, 1844). His best-known composition is probably the “Radetzky Marsch” (Radetzky March, 1848).

Strauss’s rival, Lanner, died in 1843. But after another year the Viennese selected Strauss’s son, Johann the Younger, as successor to both Lanner and Johann the Elder. Over the last years of his life, Strauss the Elder’s resentment at his son’s success grew steadily. He had left his family in 1842 to live with his mistress, with whom he had more children. His reactionary attitude in the 1848 revolution (see Revolutions of 1848) deepened the estrangement from his son, who supported the revolutionaries. He died in 1849, after contracting scarlet fever from one of his children. At his funeral, Johann the Younger conducted the Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

III

Johann Strauss the Younger

Johann Strauss the Younger (1825-1899) also was born in Vienna. Against his father’s wishes, but helped by his mother, he took violin lessons with the leader of his father’s orchestra and studied harmony and counterpoint. Johann’s debut as conductor at the age of 19 established him as the upcoming waltz king, and he was soon conducting his own orchestra. After the death of the elder Strauss, Johann the Younger united his group with the orchestra his father had made famous. His many tours through Europe and a visit to the United States in 1872 featured his own dance music, especially his waltzes. Like his father he conducted with his violin in his hand and joined the orchestra in important passages. Two of his brothers—Josef and Eduard—often substituted as conductors of his orchestra and also composed many dance pieces.

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In 479 works Johann the Younger proved himself an unrivaled melodic genius and a daring musical innovator in rhythmic and orchestral respects. Foremost among his waltzes are “An der schönen, blauen Donau” (The Blue Danube, 1867), “Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald” (Tales from the Vienna Woods, 1868), “Wiener Blut” (Vienna Blood, 1872), “Rosen aus dem Süden” (Roses from the South, 1880), “Frühlingsstimmen” (Voices of Spring, 1883), and “Kaiser-Walzer” (Emperor Waltz, 1888).

After 1870 Strauss turned to writing operettas. His masterpiece was Die Fledermaus (The Bat, 1874), written during a hectic six weeks. Although coolly received by its first-night audience, it soon became a beloved exemplar of the operetta genre, endlessly revived, with its melodies played all over the world. Based on a French comedy, Le Réveillon, its plot is light and merry and its music is lively and frothy. Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron, 1885) was the only other Strauss operetta to approach Die Fledermaus in popularity. The two works established an international reputation for Viennese operetta.

Die Fledermaus was soon added to the repertory of the Vienna State Opera, where it is still performed annually on New Year’s Eve. On New Year’s Day the Vienna Philharmonic plays a concert of waltzes and other dance music by the Strauss family. The program, telecast around the world, closes with the “Radetzky Marsch” by Johann the Elder.

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