Johann Strauss became the master of Viennese entertainment music: although he initially played music in secret and had to assert himself against his dominant father.
Johann Strauss – what a resonant name! Anyone who has ever seen the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert might recall the magnificent waltz "The Blue Danube," which is performed there. This Danube Waltz was written by Johann Strauss II, the composer featured in this article. The Radetzky March, which traditionally concludes the New Year's Concert, is by his namesake father – the dominant founder of the composer dynasty that conquered the world with dance and entertainment music. The whole family was talented – but "Schani" surpassed them all. Before he could leave a lasting mark on music history, however, he had to break free from his father's shadow.
Johann Baptist Strauss, born on October 25, 1825, in Vienna, was the eldest of six children, including three brothers. His father was a music impresario, conductor, and music director for the Imperial Court Ball, and a star since his "Chain Bridge Waltz" in 1827. He founded an orchestra and toured the world. Everyone waltzed, galloped, and quadrilled to his baton. Only his son Johann was to become a dutiful civil servant, as he decreed. However, his mother, Anna Streim, who resented her husband's extramarital affairs, secretly allowed Johann to take violin and music lessons.
Great career as a composer after the death of his father
When his father left the family to live with a younger man, Johann began playing his first concerts. He needed to earn money for the family. His very first performance at the Casino Dommayer on October 15, 1844, in the Viennese suburb of Hietzing was a resounding success. Tours then took him and his own orchestra throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire. When his father died in 1849, he merged the two Strauss orchestras. Now there was only one Strauss, or rather, three. His brothers Eduard and Josef also composed and played. But soon, only he, the composer and conductor, would be remembered when people said: The Waltz King is coming.
In high society, the waltz was frowned upon until the early 19th century because it involved dancing far too close to one another, and this evolution of the Ländler originated in a rural milieu. "Nevertheless, the waltz managed to rise to become the most popular dance," explains Elisabeth Albrecht, head of music education at the House of Music. "The rising middle class imitated the aristocratic balls and made the waltz their most important dance – with resounding success. The nobility themselves soon developed a taste for waltzing." Vienna became the first city where it was even permitted at court. Only in the presence of the emperor did waltzing remain forbidden for a long time.
Non-travel-loving pop star with orchestra
Strauss was not only a brilliant composer, possessing sophistication, wit, and great sensitivity, but also a pioneer in the development of orchestration and concert design. His works embodied the elegance and ease of the Viennese lifestyle. His oeuvre comprises over 500 works, including waltzes, polkas, marches, quadrilles, galops – and operettas.
Contemporary references are frequently found in the Strauss waltzes. This touched the audience. The "Eisenbahnlustwalzer" (Railway Pleasure Waltz), in which the rhythmic sound of the locomotive's steam boiler can be heard, was composed by his father. In the "Bahn frei" (Clear the Track) Polka by his brother Eduard, the train whistle sounds at the beginning of the piece. Johann himself was not fond of traveling. Whenever he had to go somewhere, and the train crossed a bridge or went through a tunnel, he would throw himself flat on the floor of the carriage.
But the time was ripe, and the music too good: The Strauss brothers took the world by storm with their music. "The success probably also lies in perfect management. We're talking about a flourishing business that operated globally," says Albrecht. Johann Strauss II was a "pop star" of the 19th century. At the World Peace Festival in Boston in 1872, he played with 20 assistant conductors before 100,000 people.
Poodle curls for women
His worldwide tours, to Russia, across Europe, and to the USA, repeatedly made headlines in the gossip press. In 1850, on their way to Warsaw, the musicians were allegedly mistaken for spies and locked in a pigsty. They were supposedly only released after the personal intervention of Empress Maria Feodorovna, to whom Johann Strauss II then dedicated the "Warsaw Polka," composed for the tour. A true story or clever marketing? The fact is, Johann Strauss was a handsome womanizer. He dyed his hair. Quite often, his lovers, as was common at the time, asked him for a lock of his hair. Allegedly, he cut it from his poodle, which was also black-haired.
Johann Strauss was very popular with the rulers of the Viennese court – until he revealed himself as a sympathizer of the 1848 Revolution by composing the Freedom Song Waltz and the Revolution March. It wasn't until 1863 that Emperor Franz Joseph appointed him Imperial Court Ball Music Director. He then conducted all the court balls until 1871. During this time, Strauss composed only dance music. Afterwards, he began writing operettas. "Die Fledermaus" and "Der Zigeunerbaron" became particularly famous.
Johann Strauss was married three times but remained childless. His first wife, Henriette, was a few years older than him, while his other two wives were about 30 years younger. His last wife, Adele, like Henriette, managed her husband and contributed significantly to the success of the Strauss dynasty.
