Johann Strauss II
 |
Johann Strauss II |
Johann Strauss II (
German:
Johann Strauß (Sohn), "Johann Strauss (son)"; in
English also
Johann Strauss the Younger,
Johann Strauss Jr.,
Johann Sebastian Strauss) (
October 25,
1825 –
June 3,
1899) was an
Austrian
composer known especially for his
waltzes, such as
The Blue Danube.
Son of the composer
Johann Strauss I, and brother to the composers
Josef Strauss and
Eduard Strauss, Johann II is the most famous of the family. He was known in his lifetime as "the waltz king," and the popularity of the waltz in
Vienna through the
19th century is due in large part to him. He became the "waltz king" by his revolutionary elevation of the waltz from lowly peasant dance to sparkling entertainment for the royal
Habsburg court. Not only did he revolutionize the waltz, but his work enjoyed greater fame than his predecessors such as his father and
Josef Lanner. Some of his
polkas and
marches are also well known, as is his
operetta Die Fledermaus.
The Early Years
Strauss was born in Vienna, Austria. His father did not want him to become a musician but rather a banker; nevertheless he studied the
violin secretly as a child: ironically with his father's first violinist in the Strauss orchestra,
Franz Amon. However, when his father found out that he was fiddling away one day, Johann II recalled that 'there was a violent and unpleasant scene' and that 'his father wanted to know nothing of his musical plans'. It seems that rather than intending to avoid a Strauss rivalry, Strauss Sr. wanted his son to escape the rigors he understood to accompany a musical life. It was only when his father left the family and took on a mistress
Emilie Trambusch when Johann II was 17 that he was able to concentrate fully on a career as a composer.
Johann Jr. then studied
counterpoint and
harmony from theorist Professor Joachim Hoffmann who owned a private music school. His talents were also recognised by composer
Josef Drechsler (also spelt as Drexler) who taught him exercises in harmony. His other violin teacher, Anton Kollmann who was the ballet répétiteur of the
Vienna Court Opera also wrote excellent testimonials for him. Armed with these testimonials, he approached the Viennese authorities to apply for a license to perform and would initially form his small orchestra where he recruited his members from the tavern 'Zur Stadt Belgrad' where musicians seeking work could be hired easily.
Johann Strauss I's influence meant that many establishments were wary of offering the younger Strauss any contracts for fear of angering the former. The younger Strauss was then able to persuade the Dommayer's Casino,
Hietzing in Vienna to give him a chance at his debut. The local media were soon frantically reporting of a 'Strauss v. Strauss' rivalry between father and son. Strauss senior himself, in anger at the prospect of his son disobeying his wishes, also would not play at the Dommayer's Casino ever in his lifetime, which was surprising as the Hietzing establishment was the site of his many earlier triumphs.
Strauss son found the early career years difficult but he soon won over audiences after accepting commissions to perform away from home. The first major appointment for the young composer would be his award of the honorary position of "Kapellmeister of the 2nd Vienna Citizen's Regiment" which was left vacant following
Josef Lanner's death two years before. Vienna was racked by a bourgeois revolution on 24th February
1848 and the intense rivalry between father and son became more apparent and eventually, Johann the younger decided to side with the revolutionaries; a decision which was both musically and professionally at his disadvantage as the Austrian royalties twice denied him the much coveted KK Hofballmusikdirektor position, which was first designated specially for Johann Strauss I in reward for his musical contributions. Further, the younger Strauss was also hauled up by the Viennese authorities for publicly playing the infectious
La Marseillaise which stoked revolutionary feelings. When the elder Strauss died from scarlet fever in
1849 in Vienna, the younger Strauss merged both their orchestras and engaged in further tours.
Career Advancements
He would eventually surpass his father's fame, and become the most popular of all waltz composers, extensively touring
Austria,
Poland and
Germany with his orchestra. It would be a usual sight for his audiences to catch sight of Strauss for only one performance before he would quickly hurry to another venue where he was commissioned to play via the traditional fiaker. It would be the ultimate showmanship and this would be displayed on the placards at the venues to proudly proclaim "Heut Spielt der Strauss!" or 'Strauss plays today!'. He also made visits to
Russia where he performed at
Pavlovsk and wrote many compositions there and retitling it to suit his Viennese audiences back home,
Britain where he performed with his first wife Jetty Treffz at the Covent Garden,
France,
Italy and the
United States later in the 1870s where he took part in the Boston Festival and was the lead conductor in the 'Monster Concert' of over 1000 musicians.
Among the more popular dance pieces Strauss wrote in this period include the waltzes
Sängerfahrten op. 41,
Liebeslieder op. 114,
Nachtfalter op. 157,
Accelerationen op. 234 and the polkas
Annen op. 117, and
Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka op. 214.
Marriages
He married the singer
Jetty Treffz in
1862 and applied for the KK Hofballmusikdirektor
Music Director of the Royal Court Balls position which he eventually achieved in
1863 after being denied several times before for his frequent brush with the local authorities. His involvement with the Court Balls meant that his work has been elevated to be even heard by the royalty. His second wife, Angelika Dittrich (an actress) whom he married in
1878 was not a fervent supporter of his music and their differences in age and opinion, especially her indiscretion led him to seek a divorce.
Strauss was not granted a divorce by the
Roman Catholic church and therefore changed religion and nationality and became a citizen of
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on
January 28 1887. Strauss II sought solace in his third wife Adele (whom he married on
August 15 1887) and she encouraged the creative talent to flow once more in his later years, resulting in much fine music such as those found in the
operettas 'Der Zigeunerbaron' and 'Waldmeister' and the waltzes 'Kaiser-Walzer','Kaiser Jubilaum','Märchen aus dem Orient' op. 444 and 'Klug Gretelein' op. 462.
Family Musical Business
After establishing his first orchestra prior to his father's death, he founded many others to be supplied to various entertainment establishments such as the 'Sperl' ballroom as well as the 'Apollo' where he dedicated appropriately titled pieces to commemorate the first performances there. Later, he accepted commissions to play in Russia for the Archduke Michael and
Tsar Alexander II especially in
Pavlovsk where a new railway line was built. When the commissions became too much to be handled by him alone, he sought to promote his younger brothers Josef and Eduard to deputise in his absence from either poor health or a busy schedule. In
1853, he was even confined to a
sanatorium to recuperate as he was suffering from shivering fits and
neuralgia. Anxious that the family business that she so lovingly nurtured would be ruined, mother Anna helped persuade a reluctant Josef to take over the helm of the Strauss Orchestra. The Viennese welcomed both brothers eventually and Johann even once admitted that 'Josef was the more talented of the two of us, I'm merely the more popular.' Josef went on to stamp his own mark into his own waltzes and this fresh rivalry did more good for the development of the waltz as Johann Strauss II proceeded to consolidate his position as the "waltz king" with his exquisite
The Blue Danube waltz which began life as a choral waltz with banal words written by a local poet.
The highlight of the Strauss triumvirate was displayed in the concert of 'Perpetual Music' in 1860s where his aptly titled 'Perpetuum Mobile' musical joke op. 257, was played continuously by all three Strauss brothers at the helm of three large orchestras. At around the same time, the three Strauss brothers also organised many musical activities during their concerts at the
Vienna Volksgarten where the audience would be able to participate. For example, a new piece would be played and the audience would be asked to guess who the composer was as the placards would only announce the piece as written by a 'Strauss' followed by question marks.
Musical Rivals and Admirers
Johann Strauss (including the Strauss family) was not without rivals. Although the most sought-after composer of dance music was Johann Strauss II in the 1860s to the 1890s, stiff competition was present in the form of
Karl Michael Ziehrer and
Emile Waldteufel whom the latter was commanding in his position in Paris. Much earlier,
Johann Strauss I faced a long rivalry with fellow composer
Josef Lanner and
Josef Gungl.
Ziehrer would eventually eclipse the Strauss family after Johann and Josef's deaths and posed more than a challenge to Eduard. The German operetta composer
Offenbach who made his name in
Paris also posed a challenge to Strauss in the operetta field. Later, the emergence of
operetta maestro Lehár would usher in the Silver Age in Vienna and most certainly sweep aside Strauss dominance in the operetta world.
|
Johann Strauss and Johannes Brahms photographed in Vienna |
He was admired by prominent composers of the day, including
Richard Wagner who once admitted that he admired the waltz
Wein, Weib und Gesang op. 333 and
Johannes Brahms, who was also a personal friend, and to whom he dedicated his waltz
Seid umschlungen Millionen or 'Be Embraced Millions' op. 443 inspired by a poem by
Friedrich Schiller. Other admirers include
Richard Strauss (unrelated) who, when writing his
Rosenkavalier waltzes, said 'How could I forget the laughing genius of Vienna?' which made a reference to Johann Strauss the younger.
Stage Works
Strauss' operettas, however, have not had as much enduring success as have his dance pieces: and much of the success was reserved for
Die Fledermaus and
Der Zigeunerbaron. Notwithstanding the lack of popularity of his operettas, there are much dance pieces drawn from themes of his lukewarmly-received operettas such as 'Cagliostro-Walzer' op. 370 and 'Rosen aus dem Süden' Walzer op. 388. He also wrote an opera,
Ritter Pásmán which could be faulted on the libretto but nevertheless,many attribute his strong links to the waltz and the polka as his failure as this may well indicate that he may not be able to write serious music. In fact, for his third and most successful operetta of all time,
Die Fledermaus 1874, music critics of
Vienna prophesied that his work would only be a 'motif of waltz and polka melodies'. Nonetheless, his fiercest critic and ironically a strong supporter,
Eduard Hanslick wrote at the time of Strauss's death in 1899 that his demise would signify the end of the last happy times in
Vienna. Johann Strauss II died from
pneumonia in
Vienna in 1899 at the age of 74 and was buried there in the
Zentralfriedhof. At the time of his death, he was still working on his ballet
Aschenbrödel.
Legacy
Strauss' music is now regularly performed at the annual
Neujahrskonzert of the
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, as a result of the efforts by
Clemens Krauss who performed a special all-Strauss programme in
1929 with the Viennese orchestra. Many distinguished Strauss interpreters include
Willi Boskovsky who carried on the "Vorgeiger" tradition of conducting with violin in hand as is the Strauss family custom as well as the famous
Herbert von Karajan and the opera conductor
Riccardo Muti.
It is to be noted that most of the Strauss works that we are all familiar with today may have existed in a near negligible different form as conceived by Johann Strauss II and his brothers as Eduard Strauss destroyed a great amount of original Strauss orchestral archives in a furnace manufacturer in
Vienna's
Mariahilf district in
1907. The Johann Strauss societies around the world have, however, painstakingly pieced together a large body of these destroyed works to be appreciated by future generations. Eduard Strauss, then the only surviving brother, took this drastic precaution to prevent Strauss works from being openly claimed as another composer's own. This may have also been fuelled by the intense rivalry between the other popular waltz and march composer, Karl Michael
Ziehrer.
Operetta
*
Indigo und die Vierzig Räuber Indigo and the Forty Thieves (1871)
*
Der Karneval in Rom The Carnival in Rome (1873)
*
Die Fledermaus The Bat (1874)
*
Cagliostro in Wien Cagliostro in Vienna (1875)
*
Prinz Methusalem (1877)
*
Blindekuh Blind Man's Buff (1878)
*
Das Spitzentuch der Königin The Queen's Lace Handkerchief (1880)
*
Der lustige Krieg The Merry War (1881)
*
Eine Nacht in Venedig A Night in Venice (1883)
*
Der Zigeunerbaron The Gypsy Baron (1885)
*
Simplicius (1887)
*
Fürstin Ninetta Princess Ninetta (1893)
*
Jabuka (1894)
*
Waldmeister Woodruff (1895)
*
Die Göttin der Vernunft The Goddess of Reason (1897)
*
Wiener Blut (1899)
Opera
*
Ritter Pásmán Knight Pásmán (1892)
Ballet
*
Aschenbrödel Cinderella (1899)
Waltz
*
Sinngedichte op. 1
Epigrams (1844)
*
Gunstwerber op. 4
Favour solicitor (1844)
*
Faschingslieder op. 11
Carnevalsongs (1846)
*
Jugendträume op. 12
Youth dreams (1846)
*
Sträußchen op. 15
Bouquets (1846)
*
Sängerfahrten op. 41
Singers' Journeys (1847)
*
Lava-Ströme op. 74
Streams of Lava (1850)
*
Rhadamantus-Klänge op. 94
Echoes of Rhadamantus (1851)
*
Mephistos Höllenrufe op. 101
Cries of Mephistopheles from Hell (1851)
*
Liebeslieder op. 114
Lovesongs (1852)
*
Phönix-Schwingen op. 125
Wings of the Phoenix (1853)
*
Schneeglöckchen op. 143
Snowbells (1854)
*
Nachtfalter op. 157
Moths (1855)
*
Man lebt nur Einmal! op. 167
Man only Lives Once! (1855)
*
Accelerationen op. 234
Accelerations (1860)
*
Immer Heiterer op. 235
Always Cheerful (1860)
*
Karnevalsbotschafter op. 270
Carnival Ambassador (1862)
*
Leitartikel op. 273
Leading Article (1863)
*
Morgenblätter op. 279
Morning Journals (1863)
*
Studentenlust op. 285
Students' Joy (1864)
*
Feuilleton op. 293 (1865)
*
Bürgersinn op. 295
Citizen Spirit (1865)
*
Flugschriften op. 300
Pamphlets (1865)
*
Wiener Bonbons op. 307
Viennese Sweets (1866)
*
Feenmärchen op. 312
Fairytales (1866)
*
An der schönen blauen Donau op. 314
On the Beautiful Blue Danube (1867)
*
Künstlerleben op. 316
Artists' Life (1867)
*
Telegramme op. 318
Telegrams (1867)
*
Die Publicisten op. 321
The Publicists (1868)
*
G'schichten aus dem Wienerwald Tales from the Vienna Woods op. 325 (1868),
*
Illustrationen op. 331
Illustrations (1869)
*
Wein, Weib und Gesang op. 333
Wine, Women and Song (1869)
*
Freuet Euch des Lebens op. 340
Enjoy Life (1870)
*
Neu Wien op. 342
New Vienna (1870)
*
Tausend und eine Nacht op. 346
Thousand and One Nights (1871)
*
Wiener Blut op. 354
Viennese Blood (1873)
*
Bei uns Z'haus op. 361
At Home (1873)
*
Wo die Zitronen blühen op. 364
Where the Lemons Blossom (1874)
*
Du und du op. 367
You and you (1874)
*
Cagliostro-Walzer op. 370 (1875)
*
O schöner Mai! op. 375
Oh Lovely May! (1877)
*
Rosen aus dem Süden op. 388
Roses from the South (1880)
*
Nordseebilder op. 390
North Sea Pictures (1880)
*
Kuss-Walzer op. 400
Kiss Waltz (1881)
*
Frühlingsstimmen op. 410
Voices of Spring (1883)
*
Lagunen-Walzer op. 411
Lagoon Waltz (1883)
*
Schatz-Walzer op. 418
Treasure Waltz (1885)
*
Wiener Frauen op. 423
Viennese Ladies (1886)
*
Donauweibchen op. 427
Danube Maiden (1887)
*
Kaiser-Jubiläum-Jubelwalzer op. 434
Emperor Jubilation (1888)
*
Kaiser-Walzer op. 437
Emperor Waltz (1888)
*
Rathausball-Tänze op. 438
City Hall Ball(1890)
*
Gross-Wien op. 440
Great Vienna (1891)
*
Seid umschlungen Millionen op. 443
Be Embraced Millions (1892)
*
Klug Gretelein op. 462
Clever Gretel (1895)
*
Explosions-Polka op. 43
*
Annen op. 117 (1852)
Anna *
Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka op. 214 (1858)
Chit-chat*
Maskenzug op. 240
Masked Ball*
Demolirer op. 269
Demolition Men (1862)
*
Vergnügungszug op. 281
Journey Train (1864)
*
S gibt nur a Kaiserstadt,'s gibt nur a Wien! op. 291
Only an Imperial City, one Vienna*
Kreuzfidel op. 301
Cross-Fiddling*
Lob der Frauen Polka-mazurka op. 315
Praise of Women*
Leichtes Blut Galop op. 319
Light Blood (1867)
*
Figaro-Polka op. 320
*
Ein Herz, ein Sinn! Polka-mazurka op. 323
One Heart, One Mind!*
Unter Donner und Blitz op. 324
Thunder & Lightning (1868)
*
Freikugeln op. 326
Free-shooter (1868)
* Fata Morgana Polka-mazurka op. 330
*
Éljen a Magyar! polka schnell op. 332
Long live the Magyar!*
Im Krapfenwald'l op. 336
In Krapfen's Woods French Polka*
Im Sturmschritt op. 348
At the Double!*
Die Bajadere op. 351
The Bayadere *
Vom Donaustrande op. 358
By the Danube's Shores*
Bitte schön! op. 372
If You Please! (1875)
*
Auf der Jagd! op.373
On the Hunt! (1875)
*
Banditen-Galopp op. 378
Bandits' Galop (1877)
March
* Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Rettungs-Jubel op. 126
Joy at Deliverance of Emperor Franz Josef* Napoleon op. 156
* Persischer op. 289
Persian March (1864)
* Egyptischer op. 335
Egyptian March (1869)
* Jubelfest op. 396
Jubilant Festival* Russischer Marsch op. 426
Russian March (1886)
* Spanischer Marsch op. 433
Spanish March (1888)
* Deutschmeister Jubiläumsmarsch op. 470
* Auf's Korn! op. 478
Take Aim!An
Academy Award-winning
1953 Tom and Jerry cartoon,
Johann Mouse, was made in honour of Johann Strauss II, and features the
Kaiser-Walzer op.437
Emperor Waltz (1888).
The lives of the Strauss dynasty members and their world-renowned craft of composing Viennese waltzes are also briefly documented in several
television adaptations, such as 'The Strauss Dynasty' (
1991) [
1] and 'Strauss, the King of 3/4 Time' (
1995) [
2].
Many other films used his works and melodies, and several films have been based upon the life of the musician.
*
List of Austrians in music*
List of Austrians
