Johann Strauss(1825-1899)
- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
Johann Strauss (or Johann Strauss son), one of Austrian music's most
famous names who studied music secretly against his father's will,
later became the leader of his father's band and the indisputable
"waltz king"; his waltz 'On the Beautiful Blue Danube', is the main
theme in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
He was born Johann Sebastian Strauss on October 25, 1825, in Vienna,
Austria. His father was the composer Johann Strauss Sr. Young Johann Strauss
studied music secretly with his father's first violinist in the Strauss
orchestra. He was reprimanded by his father who wanted him to be a
banker. He continued studies of counterpoint, harmony, and violin, and
concentrated fully on a career as a composer at the age of 17, when his
father left the family.
Young Strauss made his debut at the Dommayer's Casino in Hietzing, the
upscale district of Vienna. He became the rival of his father and
gained popularity performing with his own orchestra. He took the side
of revolutionaries when Vienna was racked up by the bourgeois
revolution of 1848. He publicly played La Marseillaise and was hauled
up by the Viennese authorities. That caused him denial of position of
the Hofballmusikdirektor (Royal Ball Music Director). His career
continued after the death of his father in 1849, which allowed the
merger of two Strauss orchestras under the baton of Johann Strauss.
Strauss took his united orchestra on extensive tours in Austria,
Germany, Poland, Italy, France, and Britain. Russian Tsar Alexander II
commissioned Strauss to play at Pavlovsk, the royal suburb of St.
Peterburg. There was the opening of a new railway and a landmark
concert hall for Russian aristocracy. Strauss also accepted commissions
to play for the Grand Prince Michael in St. Petersburg, Russia. In
1853, when the commissions became too much to be handled, his mother
persuaded younger brother Joseph to take over the helm of the Strauss
Orchestra. Strauss eventually toured and concertized to an exhaustion
and was confined to a sanatorium to recuperate as he was suffering from
neuralgia. He was married three times and had complications with the
Catholic Church which refused to grant him a divorce. Strauss had to
change his religion and nationality in order to get married to the
woman he loved; he became a citizen of German Duchy of
Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha. After that he became free to marry his third wife
Adele, who encouraged his creative talent in his later years.
Johann Strauss was the most sought after composer of dance music in the
second half of the 19th Century. His influence is felt in the music of
the operetta maestro Franz Lehár and other composers. Among his admirers
were Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss and other prominent composers.
Strauss wrote Die Fledermaus (The Bat), Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy
Baron), Wiener Blut (The Viennese Blood), and other popular operettas.
His exquisite waltzes: The Blue Danube, Tales from the Vienna Wood, Man
only Lives Once, On the Beautiful Blue Danube, and many other waltzes
made Johann Strauss the indisputable "waltz king" of the 19th century.
He died of pneumonia on June 3, 1899, in Vienna, and was laid to rest
in the cemetery of Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Austria.
famous names who studied music secretly against his father's will,
later became the leader of his father's band and the indisputable
"waltz king"; his waltz 'On the Beautiful Blue Danube', is the main
theme in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
He was born Johann Sebastian Strauss on October 25, 1825, in Vienna,
Austria. His father was the composer Johann Strauss Sr. Young Johann Strauss
studied music secretly with his father's first violinist in the Strauss
orchestra. He was reprimanded by his father who wanted him to be a
banker. He continued studies of counterpoint, harmony, and violin, and
concentrated fully on a career as a composer at the age of 17, when his
father left the family.
Young Strauss made his debut at the Dommayer's Casino in Hietzing, the
upscale district of Vienna. He became the rival of his father and
gained popularity performing with his own orchestra. He took the side
of revolutionaries when Vienna was racked up by the bourgeois
revolution of 1848. He publicly played La Marseillaise and was hauled
up by the Viennese authorities. That caused him denial of position of
the Hofballmusikdirektor (Royal Ball Music Director). His career
continued after the death of his father in 1849, which allowed the
merger of two Strauss orchestras under the baton of Johann Strauss.
Strauss took his united orchestra on extensive tours in Austria,
Germany, Poland, Italy, France, and Britain. Russian Tsar Alexander II
commissioned Strauss to play at Pavlovsk, the royal suburb of St.
Peterburg. There was the opening of a new railway and a landmark
concert hall for Russian aristocracy. Strauss also accepted commissions
to play for the Grand Prince Michael in St. Petersburg, Russia. In
1853, when the commissions became too much to be handled, his mother
persuaded younger brother Joseph to take over the helm of the Strauss
Orchestra. Strauss eventually toured and concertized to an exhaustion
and was confined to a sanatorium to recuperate as he was suffering from
neuralgia. He was married three times and had complications with the
Catholic Church which refused to grant him a divorce. Strauss had to
change his religion and nationality in order to get married to the
woman he loved; he became a citizen of German Duchy of
Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha. After that he became free to marry his third wife
Adele, who encouraged his creative talent in his later years.
Johann Strauss was the most sought after composer of dance music in the
second half of the 19th Century. His influence is felt in the music of
the operetta maestro Franz Lehár and other composers. Among his admirers
were Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss and other prominent composers.
Strauss wrote Die Fledermaus (The Bat), Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy
Baron), Wiener Blut (The Viennese Blood), and other popular operettas.
His exquisite waltzes: The Blue Danube, Tales from the Vienna Wood, Man
only Lives Once, On the Beautiful Blue Danube, and many other waltzes
made Johann Strauss the indisputable "waltz king" of the 19th century.
He died of pneumonia on June 3, 1899, in Vienna, and was laid to rest
in the cemetery of Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Austria.