“Music for the feet” has always been treated with condescension at best. Symphonies, oratorios, opera were considered noble genres, and waltzes, quadrilles, polkas were entertaining, and therefore second-rate. This state of affairs was forever changed by Johann Strauss, who is deservedly called the “King of the Waltz”. An outstanding composer, author of popular operettas, he managed to raise dance music to hitherto unattainable symphonic heights. As the founder of the Viennese waltz, he created such charming musical "pearls" that will never lose their appeal.
Read a brief biography of Johann Strauss and many interesting facts about the composer on our page.
Brief biography of Strauss
Johann Strauss was born in Vienna on October 25, 1825. His father and full namesake was a famous Austrian composer. Strauss Sr. did not want a musical career for his sons, forbade them to compose music and learn to play violin. Ironically, all three of his sons by Anna Shtreim became composers, despite his fierce opposition. So, little Johann, secretly from his father, who often toured abroad, took his violin and independently learned to play it. The mother supported her son's passion.
Even having entered the Higher Commercial School and moonlighting as an accountant, Johann did not stop studying music. According to Strauss's biography, in 1844, having the brilliant recommendations of his teachers, he decided to obtain a license for the right to conduct an orchestra. So that the influential father could not interfere with her son's career, Anna filed for divorce - by that time, Strauss Sr. had had a second family for several years. Against the backdrop of this drama, Johann assembled his own orchestra, and when 5 years later his father died suddenly, he invited his musicians to work with him.
Touring Europe with his works, Strauss becomes so popular that he connects both of his brothers, Josef and Eduard, to concert activities. In Austria, the young composer receives all the court powers of his father. Since 1856 he has been a regular guest in Russia. His summer appearances at the Pavlovsky railway station are becoming traditional. The first serious feeling of the composer is connected with our country. Olga Smirnitskaya became his chosen one, he asked for her hand, but did not receive the consent of the girl's parents. Broken heart of a king waltzes healed the singer Henrietta Chalupetskaya, who by the time of the wedding with Strauss had seven children from different men. Marriage brought the composer not only happiness and mutual understanding, but also the full support of his work, which was provided by his wife.
In 1870, Strauss transferred all court duties to Edward in order to free up time for writing operettas. It was a difficult period in his life - his mother died in the winter, and his younger brother Josef died in the summer. In 1878, the composer's wife died, and with barely decent haste, a month and a half later, he married the singer Angelica Dietrich. Less than five years later, this marriage ended in divorce. The last time Strauss went down the aisle was 62 years old. Adele Deutsch became his chosen one, for the sake of an alliance with which the great Austrian changed his citizenship and religion. The composer had no children.
In 1889, Strauss published his father's works in seven volumes. He considered him the main distributor of classical Viennese dance music, which became popular far beyond the borders of his homeland. He always, without a shadow of envy, honored the talent and merits of his father, supported the creativity of the brothers. The maestro died at the age of 73, the reason for this was pneumonia, which he fell ill with a cold on the way from the celebration of the 25th anniversary " bat". At this memorable performance, he stood at the conductor's stand for the last time. On June 3, 1899, the waltz king passed away.
Interesting facts about Strauss
- Maintaining a huge orchestra, finding engagements, planning work with two brothers - all this required incredible organizational talent, and Johann Strauss undoubtedly possessed it. He felt the spirit of the times and always tried to match them. Even when he began to give most of his strength to the operetta, the composer did not forget about dancing, reworking the best melodies from his performances for them. Bat, for example, provided material for 6 dance numbers.
- 2 ballets were created to the music of Strauss: "The Blue Danube" by B. Fenster, staged in Leningrad in 1956, and "Die Fledermaus" by R. Petit - for the Marseille Ballet in 1979.
- The Russian libretto of The Bat is fundamentally different from the original. In the original version, Falk was in the costume of the Bat at the ball, over whom Eisenstein later played a joke. In the version of N. Erdman and M. Volpin, Eisenstein's wife, Rosalind, dressed in the Bat.
- Strauss's biography says that for the sake of a single trip to the USA, the composer terminated the contract with the Tsarskoye Selo Railways, which agreed with him to hold the 11th summer season in Pavlovsk. In Boston, Strauss took part in a grand concert, where he conducted an orchestra of 1,000 musicians.
- For the version of the operetta "Viennese Blood", staged in 2015 at the St. Petersburg Theater of Musical Comedy, the text was written by the satirist Semyon Altov.
Popular Strauss melodies
- « By the beautiful blue Danube", 1867
This waltz was commissioned by the Vienna Society of Choristers and performed in conjunction with the male choir. The text for it was written by Iosif Weil. 23 years later, the second version of Franz von Gernet's poems appeared. Today, the waltz is the hallmark of Vienna and the informal anthem of Austria.
- waltz " Tales from the Vienna Woods", 1868
At the first performance of this waltz, the audience demanded an encore four times. It is one of several works by the composer that uses the zither, an Austrian folk instrument.
- waltz " The life of an artist", 1867
One of the most melodically generous Strauss waltzes, the themes of which were used even in the revised Russian version of The Bat. Performed three days after the premiere of the waltz "By the Beautiful Blue Danube", he not only did not get lost in the shadow of a brilliant rival, but rightfully took a place next to him.
- waltz " Spring voices", 1882
This vocal waltz was written for the soprano Bianchi Bianchi and the lyrics were written by Richard Genet. In the performance of the singer, the work was a great success, and she even included it in her parts in the operas of Delibes and Rossini. So, "Voices of Spring" began to sound from the stage of the Imperial Vienna Opera, hitherto inaccessible to dance music.
- Polka " Backgammon", 1858
The premiere of the polka turned into a sensation, so the notes of her piano transcription were printed in a hurry - after 4 days. The circulation was literally swept off the shelves, as were several subsequent reprints.
The work of Johann Strauss
His earliest waltz First thought» Johann Strauss wrote at the age of 6, and, surprisingly, his notes have survived to this day. The first official work of the composer is the waltz " epigrams”, which was first performed at Strauss' debut performance as conductor of his own orchestra on October 15, 1844. The newspapers inflated an incredible sensation, also because the evening was held in a casino where Strauss the father often performed. His compositions were also included in the concert program, the main intrigue of which was the 4 works of the young Johann. The father did not appear at the debut of his son, and after a while he completely disinherited all his children-musicians. However, the audience, which received much more than the hall could even accommodate, was delighted with the performance of the new orchestra and the young composer. All numbers were encore, and "Epigrams" were performed 20 times! Could the career of a musician with such a successful start be less brilliant?
The very next year, 1845, Strauss accepted an offer to become a conductor of the 2nd regiment of Viennese citizens. This further intensifies the confrontation with his father, the conductor of the 1st regiment. It was the son who was entrusted with the performance at the grand opening of the largest Viennese ballroom "Odeon". However, Strauss Sr. at the same time becomes the manager of music and dance at court, which strengthens his position at the most prestigious and fashionable dance evenings in Vienna. The invitations to small halls remain for the son, and he undertakes the first tour to Hungary. At a concert in Buda, he presented to the audience " Pest chardash”, which brought all listeners to absolute delight because of the composer's subtle understanding of Hungarian national music.
The Strauss Orchestra was often invited to play at evenings organized by Slavic communities. Therefore, several works on Eastern European motifs appeared in the composer's repertoire: Czech polka», « Serbian square dance", quadrille" Alexander», « Slavic potpourri". The success of these works was consolidated by the Balkan tour of 1847.
The year 1848 was marked by the European Revolution and Strauss, who returned from Romania by May, supported the side of the rebels, writing " revolutionary march", polka " Liguorian sighs". The revolution was suppressed, Emperor Franz Joseph I came to power, and Strauss wrote the waltz "Music of Unity" in response to these events, reconciling him with the current political situation, despite his previous revolutionary views. For the same reasons, the composer created a quadrille " Nicholas"in honor of the Russian emperor, who supported the claims of Austria during the revolution in Hungary," March of Emperor Franz Joseph», « triumphal march».
The death of his father left in history the rivalry of the two Strauss. The youngest began to flourish - he was invited wherever his father had previously reigned. The first work created in the new period of creativity was the waltz " Our people". By 1856, Strauss had already become the "first violinist" of Vienna. At that moment, he received a very tempting offer from Russia, from the leadership of the Tsarskoye Selo railway - to spend the summer musical season with performances at the Pavlovsky railway station. The composer could not refuse such an opportunity and such generous fees, and from May 18 to October 13, 1856 he gave daily concerts in the suburbs of the Russian capital. For his debut summer in Russia, Strauss wrote 8 new pieces. For the next 10 years, the Russian public had the pleasure of seeing the waltz king in Pavlovsk every year.
In 1863, Strauss received the position of manager of music and dance at court - the same one that his father had once held. His orchestra played at all court balls - it was the highest career point of any Austrian musician. Perhaps it was this success that gave the composer new creative energy, which at the end of the 60s gave birth to his most brilliant melodies: By the beautiful blue Danube», « The life of an artist», « Tales from the Vienna Woods».
It would seem that such a grandiose and concentrated in time climax should be followed by an inevitable decline, but not with Strauss. Waltzes, indeed, became less. But only because the maestro devoted himself completely to a new genre - operetta. Far-sighted Henrietta had long persuaded her husband to try his hand at the theater. The initial three attempts to write an operetta did not reach completion. Strauss' first full-fledged work " Indigo and the Forty Thieves” turned out to be very imperfect, mainly due to an indistinct libretto. However, this did not prevent her from passing only in 1871 more than 40 times on the stage of the Viennese theater An der Wien. In 1873, the second operetta " Carnival in Rome". And a year later - a true masterpiece of this genre " Bat”, presented on April 5, 1874 at the Theater An der Wien. The author stood behind the conductor's stand, each number ended with thunderous applause - the Viennese audience adored their maestro!
In the next 10 years, he will write 6 more operettas, successful to varying degrees, but not repeating the fate of The Bat. The composer always had a very deep understanding of Hungarian culture and hatched the idea of an operetta based on the Hungarian national story. M. Yokai's short story "Saffy" became such a plot. I. Schnitzer wrote the libretto, and in 1885, “An der Wien” appeared on the stage “ Gypsy baron”, which became the second unconditional hit of Strauss over the following centuries. The composer's only comic opera, Pasman the Knight, staged at the Vienna Court Theater in 1892, was also created on the Hungarian theme. In the last years of his life, four more operettas and a ballet " Cinderella which he did not finish. Even during his lifetime, Strauss gave his consent to A. Muller to create an operetta from various of his melodies. V. Leon and L. Stein prepared a brilliant libretto, and the work, which premiered 5 months after the composer's death, was called "Viennese Blood".
His life was like a fascinating novel. It began with a musical duel with her father, passed in the glory of the “king of the waltz”, and ended with an attempt to rewrite the family tree. This is how the Austrian composer entered the history of music.
Strauss was born in Vienna on October 25, 1825. According to tradition, the championships were named after their father - Johann. Johann Strauss Sr. was a composer, conductor and violinist. Friends called him Moor, and not so much because of his characteristic appearance, but because of his jealous attitude towards competitors. Strauss Sr. was afraid of rivalry even from his own children. Little Johann was flogged more than once because, contrary to his parental prohibition, he continued to sing in the church choir and learned to play the violin and piano.
In obedience to his father, Johann entered the Higher Commercial School, from which he was soon expelled for singing in a mathematics lesson. Johann Strauss Jr. could not imagine his life without music. Already at the age of six he wrote the first waltz, and at eighteen he created his own orchestra. His debut on October 15, 1844 was a real sensation. Some waltzes were repeated nineteen times as an encore. The newspapers wrote: “Good evening, Father Strauss. Good morning, Strauss son." So the nineteen-year-old Johann became a rival of his father, which brought him into an indescribable rage.
The revolution of 1848 literally parted them on opposite sides of the barricades. The son became a soldier in the national guard and wrote "March of the Revolution", which became the "Viennese Marseillaise". My father created waltzes in honor of the stranglers of the Vienna uprising and began to lose the love of the public. A year later, Strauss Sr. died of scarlet fever. His orchestra members chose Strauss-son as their conductor. Almost all entertainment establishments in Vienna have signed contracts with a talented, charming and cheerful composer.
Strauss composed with surprising ease. He created a waltz in 1-2 hours. He could write on the train and at a party, at dawn and in the middle of the night. Not finding blank sheets of music paper, Johann, in a fit of inspiration, wrote down melodies on his own cuffs, restaurant napkins, pillowcases and sheets. He became a universal favorite, creating an incredible number of dance tunes that today would certainly be called hits. But the intense work brought the twenty-eight-year-old musician to serious overwork. The management of the orchestra was taken over by the undertakings - Josef and Eduard. Their family began to be jokingly called “Firm Strauss. Music wholesalers and retailers.
In 1854, a Russian railway company approached Strauss. Wanting to increase demand for tickets, officials are asking the composer to perform with his orchestra six times a week in the palatial building of Pavlovsky Station. In May 1856 Strauss opened the first of his eleven seasons under Russian skies. The audience was immediately captivated by his waltzes and polkas. And Strauss himself was fascinated by Olga Smirnidskaya, one of the first Russian women composers. There were secret dates, and tender notes, and requests from the hand and heart. However, Olga's parents did not want to marry their daughter to a musician.
A saddened Strauss finds solace in his marriage to Henriette Stretz. Strauss she perceived as a big child. She designed his mansions, furnished apartments, accompanied him on trips. She had an unmistakable musical and financial sense. With her help, Strauss conquered London, Paris, New York and gained fame as the "king of the waltz", writing "Tales from the Vienna Woods", "The Life of an Artist" And "Spring Voices".
In the seventies, on the advice of his wife, Strauss left the post of conductor of court balls and began to write operettas, which brought in significantly more income. But the death of his wife after 12 years of marriage and an unsuccessful second marriage brought Strauss out of his usual rut of success. Only the third marriage to the young widow Adele returned joy to his house. And in 1885 he created an operetta "Gypsy Baron".
The composer spent the last ten years of his life in his mansion, occasionally chasing billiard balls with friends. Johann Strauss son died in 1899 of bilateral pneumonia. He was buried in the central cemetery of Vienna next to Brahms and Schubert.
40 years passed and in 1938, when Austria became part of the Third Reich, the Nazis began to make up the composer's genealogy. It turned out that Austrian blood flows in the veins of the symbol of the Austrian nation. But to ban the music of the author of "Tales of the Vienna Woods" was impossible. Then the inspectors simply removed all compromising documents from the archives, although this was no longer important for a genius.
On October 25, 1825, a boy was born in the family of the violinist and leader of the Strauss orchestra, who received the name of his father - Johann. Before becoming a violinist, Johann's father tried many professions, but it turned out that it was the musical field that allowed him to earn enough even to support his family. When Strauss Sr. got married, he began to compose music on his own, because the demand for entertainment among the wealthy of Vienna was high, and holidays followed one another. After some time, Strauss Sr. became not only famous, but received the well-deserved title of "king of the waltz" among the people. With his orchestra, he toured Europe extensively, performing in Paris, Berlin, Brussels and even London. According to contemporaries, the waltzes of Strauss the father literally bewitched the audience, and even such outstanding composers as Berlioz and Liszt considered it an honor to express admiration for him.
Johann, his eldest son, Strauss Sr. decided to make a businessman. The second son, Joseph, was destined for military service. The boys did not mind, and at first nothing foreshadowed problems, but after some time it became clear that the sons were much closer not to the activities predetermined by their father, but to music. Strauss's father was literally furious at this, and only the boys' mother, Anna Strauss, managed to somehow calm him down and get agreement to allow his sons to play the piano. The father reassured himself that without this skill, secular education cannot be considered complete.
Meanwhile, the eldest son, Johann, mastered the game so much that he literally amazed his acquaintances and friends with his bold improvisations. And then it turned out that he had been secretly playing the violin for a long time, besides, the boy’s teacher turned out to be Franz Amon, the best virtuoso violinist of the Strauss-father orchestra, and the boy paid for the lessons, himself tutoring with the tailor’s neighbor children. There was nothing surprising in this - all the Strauss children grew up in a musical atmosphere, because their father often rehearsed with his orchestra at home.
But by and large, Strauss the father did not care about family troubles - he was seriously carried away by Emilia Trumpbush, a young milliner and his fan. When Johann was eighteen years old, his father left the family, and Strauss Jr. faced a big problem - the maintenance of numerous brothers and sisters. Despite being busy - the young man gave private lessons - he enthusiastically improved his violin playing with Kelman, who rehearsed the ballet of the Vienna Opera House, and with the best teacher of the Hofmad Conservatory. Mother strongly supported Johann. It seemed to her that her son could surpass his father in the musical field. Later it turned out that Anna Strauss, like a relic, kept the first waltz written by Johann - then the boy was only six years old.
Another strict teacher of Johann was the church bandmaster, Abbot Drechsler, a great connoisseur of harmony and counterpoint. He insisted that the novice composer write sacred works, and it must be said that Johann was so successful in this matter that one of his cantatas was performed publicly in one of the Viennese churches. In order to stimulate in Johann the desire to compose specifically church music, Drechsler allowed him to rehearse his works on the organ and violin in the church where he was regent. But one day in an empty church, the abbot heard that his student was playing a waltz on the organ ...
Secular music, of course, was closer to Johann, and he had long ago firmly decided for himself to lead a dance chapel and perform music of his own composition. The point was only to find qualified and worthy musicians - after all, Johann's orchestra had to compete with his father's. And in October 1844, on posters and in newspapers, there were reports of a concert by the orchestra conducted by Johann Strauss Jr. This literally amazed Vienna - another Strauss boldly announced his own music! The intrigue was that Strauss's father was barely forty years old, his work is in demand, and his fame is well known. Can a nineteen-year-old boy surpass his father's success?
Johann Strauss Jr., finally, issued official documents in the magistrate of Vienna for the right to earn money by conducting, and on October 15, 1844, the music of the young composer sounded in a casino located near Vienna. This performance was a real sensation for the public in Vienna. On the one hand, the younger Strauss acted as a competitor to his father, but on the other hand, his music was strikingly different from the performances of Strauss Sr. The morning newspapers came out with headlines that Father Johann took as a mockery: “Good evening, Strauss-father! Good morning, Strauss son! It is no wonder that Strauss Sr. became furious and, instead of supporting his son, began to actively beat off his “musical bread”. In modern terms, my father captured literally the entire concert "market" of Vienna. His son was left with only two loopholes, and very unpresentable ones - a cafe and a casino. To complete the picture, the elder Strauss started a divorce process with his wife, and the indignant Johann could not resist attacks in the press on his father, which turned out sideways for him - dad used all his connections, won the process in court and left the first family (seven children) without inheritance and livelihood. He also won the battle on the stage - his son, along with his orchestra, dragged out a miserable life, and even got on the notice of the police as a frivolous, wasteful and immoral person.
In 1848, the revolutionary uprisings of the people began, and Johann Jr. did not guess the conjuncture, creating bright musical works calling for struggle and even writing the “March of the Insurgents”. People called this music "Viennese Marseillaise". But the uprising in Vienna was brutally suppressed, and the authorities remembered well the passions of Johann Jr. during the revolution - for a long time his waltzes did not sound at the balls of the emperor, and many were simply afraid to invite him to their place. At the same time, Strauss Sr. correctly identified the strong side, but lost the popularity of his music among the people. In 1849, in the autumn, he fell ill with a then terrible disease - scarlet fever - and on September 25 he died. The funeral of Strauss's father became a grand event in Vienna, but his orchestra was left without a leader. At the insistence of Franz Amon, a friend of the Strauss family, Johann Jr. was invited to the position of leader. In order to persuade him, all the musicians came to Johann and solemnly presented the conductor's baton to his father. In 1852, the Strauss orchestra went uphill again, and they began to invite him to the court of the young emperor.
Everyday intense concert and composing activity very soon affected the health of the young musician. At the age of twenty-eight, he began to feel so bad that the local medical luminaries gave him a diagnosis understandable to everyone - extreme overwork. During the period of his brother's illness, his brother Josef took over the management of the orchestra, but he also fell ill very quickly. The time has come for the younger brother - Eduard Strauss. Such a change in the leaders of the orchestra made the whole Strauss family the idols of Vienna. Satirical leaflets and feuilletons referred to the family as nothing more than a "firm" and claimed that the Strauss traded music at retail and wholesale. True, all the Viennese recognized the primacy of Johann - as a conductor and composer, he was head and shoulders above his brothers.
The first compositions of Johann Strauss Jr. very much resembled the waltzes of his father during the heyday of creativity. But soon Johann got the feeling that the limits of the Viennese waltz had become obsolete and were literally holding back the flight of musical fantasy. And when the young composer set to work on a new Viennese waltz, he created a melody of a completely different, original type. In fact, Strauss doubled the volume by changing the very form of the dance. He reconstructed the classic eight and sixteen bars of the waltz into sixteen and thirty-two. Music in the works of Strauss began to sound completely different, becoming more full-blooded and logically complete. Thanks to Strauss, dance music grew into an independent genre and became the property of not only ballrooms, but also the concert stage.
In the summer of 1854, Johann Strauss received a business proposal that he could not refuse - he was invited to perform his music in the hall of the luxurious Pavlovsky railway station and on the territory of the palaces of the emperor and the grand duke. This was done to improve the image of the railways, especially the new line that connected St. Petersburg with Pavlovsk and Tsarskoye Selo. The offered fee - twenty-two thousand per season - was so high that Strauss agreed. On May 18, 1856, the Strauss Orchestra set about conquering Russia. The audience instantly appreciated Strauss's polkas and waltzes, and his concerts were attended by the emperor and members of his family.
For five years, Strauss performed in Russia and during this time even experienced a passionate love for a Russian young lady - Olga Smirnitskaya. He met her in the summer of 1858 and was fascinated by the inner beauty of this slender and serious girl. However, Olga's parents spoke out against such a groom, and Strauss could only dedicate his magnificent music to his beloved. In 1862, Johann learned from a letter from his beloved that she was marrying a Russian officer. At the end of the summer of the same year, Strauss himself married Henriette Chalupetskaya, an opera singer, very similar in appearance to Olga Smirnitskaya. Strauss's wife was seven years older and already had a very extensive experience - seven children born out of wedlock to different men. True, this did not prevent Henrietta from becoming not only Strauss's lover, but also becoming his secretary, muse, business adviser, impresario, and, when necessary, a nurse. The marriage became happy.
The period of the late sixties and early seventies of the XIX century was extremely fruitful for Strauss's work. He created such famous waltzes as "Tales of the Vienna Woods", "The Blue Danube", expressing the very soul of Vienna in music. A gentle and ambitious wife inspired Strauss to write operettas, which was reported in Viennese newspapers in 1870. In the same year, Strauss resigned as a conductor, giving it to his younger brother Eduard. In the summer of 1870 Joseph Strauss died. Shortly before this, the two Strauss brothers, Josef and Johann, performed successfully in Russia.
Strauss' first operetta, Indigo and the Forty Thieves, was enthusiastically received by the Viennese public. Considerable success fell on the second - "Carnival in Rome". But the true triumph was given to the composer by his Die Fledermaus, performed on stage in 1874. This work elevated Strauss to the musical Olympus, giving him recognition around the world. Strauss continued to feverishly write music - he was overwhelmed by the fear that such a supportive muse could suddenly leave him, depriving him of the opportunity to create new beautiful works. He gives tours in different countries and performs with great success in Moscow, St. Petersburg, London, Paris, Boston and New York. Life in poverty is finally left behind, and Strauss builds his own house in Vienna, bathing in luxury, but constantly remaining dissatisfied with himself in a creative life.
In the late seventies, Strauss lost his wife and faithful friend - Henrietta died. Throughout his life, Strauss felt an overwhelming revulsion and fear in the face of death. He begged his relatives to take care of the funeral, while he himself left for Italy. Returning from abroad, Johann met Angelina Dietrich, a German singer, and after a short time got married. Angelina was young, spectacular, tempted in intrigues and love pleasures, but completely mediocre as an actress. The matter ended with the fact that she got together with Strauss's friend, Steiner, and left with him.
Only hard work helped Strauss survive this betrayal of his beloved woman. Strauss' next work, The Queen's Lace Handkerchief, was staged at the An der Wien Theater on October 1, 1880. The operetta gave such fees, which the theater did not know for many years. Another success in the composer's work was in 1881 the operetta The Merry Widow. At the same time, Strauss became interested in the widow of the banker Anton Strauss, his namesake and friend, Adele. Adele was Jewish by nationality and did not recognize a Catholic wedding, just as she did not see any reason to convert to the Christian faith. Strauss himself had to take German citizenship and become an evangelical Protestant in order to marry his beloved. The marriage was formalized only in 1887. This time the choice of the composer was successful. However, his three marriages did not bring him a single heir.
Just before his sixtieth birthday, Strauss saw his operetta The Gypsy Baron on stage. It happened on October 24, 1885 and became an unforgettable event for all music lovers. It is possible that an opera by Strauss would have appeared, but a close friend, Brahms, dissuaded the composer from this step. "The Gypsy Baron" became the pinnacle of Strauss's work, but the composer's new operetta "Viennese Blood" was accepted by the public without enthusiasm, withstanding only a few performances. However, this did not detract from Strauss's popularity - in the October days of 1894, almost all of Vienna danced, celebrating fifty years of the glorious conductor's activity of their idol, the waltz king Johann Strauss, and a year later celebrated the composer's seventieth birthday.
In the last years of his life, Strauss refused concerts and hardly left his house. Only once, on the day of the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the release of The Bat, did he agree to conduct the overture. On the way home from the theater, Strauss caught a cold and contracted pneumonia. The age of the composer also played a cruel joke - Strauss was unable to cope with the disease. The seventy-three-year-old musical genius died on June 3, 1899 in his Viennese home, before he could complete the music for the ballet Cinderella.
Johann Strauss was buried by all Vienna. People mourned the great man who created amazing music, and did not yet know that his name would survive the centuries.
Strauss Waltzes
"King of the Viennese Waltz" sounds proud! That is how the great composer was majestically named, whose name is Johann Strauss-son. He breathed new life into this genre, gave it a "poetic interpretation". A lot of interesting and surprising lies in the waltzes of Strauss. So let's look into the mysterious world of Viennese music, the door to which was opened for us by the king himself!
Read the history of Johann Strauss Waltzes, content and many interesting facts on our page.
History of Strauss Waltzes
Few people know, but the composer Johann Strauss, the father, was categorically against his son continuing his business and becoming a musician. If it were not for the stubbornness and wild desire of the young man, then we would never be able to listen to waltzes Strauss filled with lyrics and poetry.
Already at the age of nineteen, the aspiring composer taught his own father a lesson. Together with the orchestra, he performed his own compositions, the main of which was the waltz. As a sweet revenge for the ban on music, one of my father's most famous waltzes was performed at the end of the concert. Of course, society could not leave this kind of trick without comment, and all the newspapers wrote in the morning that it was time for the old generation of composers to step aside in front of young talents. The father was furious.
Meanwhile, the popularity of the young composer only increased. Not one of the evenings in the highest circle passed without the performance of Strauss waltzes. Thanks to the charm, the public adored Johann, his appearance at the conductor's stand was accompanied by exquisite statements on behalf of the High Vienna Society. The maestro behaved at ease, forcing the orchestra to play at a glance. Each gesture was applauded by the audience. When the last final chord sounded, the conductor slowly lowered his hand and, as if by magic, disappeared from the hall. He was a great master not only of music, but also of theatrical staging.
The mastery of composing waltz compositions was already achieved in 1860. This period in life can be considered the most fruitful. One by one, the composer composes hits of his time, such as:
- Songs of love;
- Farewell to Petersburg;
- On the beautiful blue Danube.
Thanks to waltz, they began to talk and write about the composer, his works scattered in millions of copies, both in the form of musical copies and on records. The entire biography of the composer resembles an elegant whirling in a three-part rhythm. His waltzes are his life, his sorrows and joys, victories and failures. History has preserved each of them. Strauss waltzes are diamonds that sparkle regardless of the skill of the conductor. The author himself adored his own compositions, but among them were those that Strauss especially liked. Let's take a closer look at these works and their history.
The work was written in 1882. In the same year, the composer met his future wife and creative muse, Adele Deutsch. Subsequently, for her, he will compose another composition bearing her name. It is worth noting that the composer originally intended to write this work with the inclusion of a coloratura soprano part.
The work was performed only a year later at one of the charity concerts of that time. The event was held in the building of the theater "An der Wien". The product was accepted with a bang. It was sold in millions of copies throughout Europe, and began to be considered one of the most popular works of the author.
The smoothness of the rhythm is outlined by the double bass line already from the first note. The theme is filled with lots of decorations. They are a visual means for fully displaying the pictures of nature awakened from a long hibernation. Everything is recovering from winter sleep, a magnificent time is coming. Of course, this work was to the taste of many: from amateurs to true connoisseurs of the professional musical language.
"On the beautiful blue Danube"
The order for this dance came from the main and most famous manager of the choral society in the capital of Austria, he needed a choral waltz. Then the place of residence of the creator was not far from the banks of this majestic river, so it did not take long to think about the name. The premiere in the capital of Austria was modest. Strauss, accustomed to fame and universal approval, only joked that he did not feel sorry for the waltz itself, but that the code did not succeed, this really saddens him.
Strauss then decided to orchestrate this work so that the coda would not be lost. It was first performed at the World Exhibition in Paris. The audience rejoiced, and the waltz took pride of place on the list. Subsequently, music will become a symbol of Vienna.
Music enchants and captures in its own world from the very first bars. Like a magical and changeable course of the river - the melody of the composition. The mood is gentle, but timid, like small and exciting water ripples.
listen to "On the Beautiful Blue Danube"
"Tales from the Vienna Woods"
One of the most fabulous and magical works in the work of Johann Strauss-son. It should be noted that the composition received the title of the longest waltz ever written by the composer.
Listening to the work, one can notice that the fabulous and mysterious atmosphere is conveyed with the help of special musical techniques. These include the incredibly pleasant sound of the zither instrument, and the inclusion of folklore motifs in the melodic and thematic line. So, the characteristic features of the landler are clearly visible. The work won the hearts of many romantic people who believe in a real miracle.
listen to "Tales from the Vienna Woods"
One of the most famous numbers of the operetta. Infinitely fresh and graceful in character. He seems to be a vivid illustration of the idea of a theatrical production. It is noteworthy that one of the most famous newspapers of that time published a more than laudatory article regarding the success of this composition. In it, the author pointed out the richness of the composer's musical themes, ironically adding that such a musical imagination would be enough for several young French composers.
The harmony of the waltz is quite mobile, and it creates a special mood. At the same time, the instrumentation creates the effect of melodiousness and melody. Incredible beauty is hidden behind the melodic line. It is impossible not to remember this work.
listen to a waltz from an operetta "Bat"
Interesting Facts
- During his entire creative career, the composer composed almost 170 pieces of music in this genre.
- Within two days, the Blue Danube vinyl record sold 140,000 copies. Music lovers stood in the store for hours to get an audio recording.
- Everyone knows that Wagner was a complex person and had a bad attitude towards the work of other composers. Picky to the point of madness, Richard adored Strauss's work, which was called "Wine, Women, Songs." Sometimes, if an opera classic was in the hall, he asked especially for him to repeat this composition.
- "Spring Voices" is a favorite work of Leo Tolstoy. The writer liked to listen to Strauss waltzes, but especially often put on a record with this particular composition.
- The work “Farewell to Petersburg” is dedicated to Olga Smirnitskaya, with whom the composer had a long affair while living in the northern capital of Russia. Strauss wanted to marry the girl, but her mother was against such a marriage. They corresponded for a long time until Strauss found out that Olga was marrying the composer Anton Rubinstein.
- A fragment of "Voices of Spring" can be heard from the legendary band Queen. On the album A Day at the Races.
- Banking education played its own role in organizing the composer's concerts. In order not to miss advantageous offers, the genius of composition gathered several orchestral groups and learned the most popular works with them. Then the orchestras performed the pieces at the same time, in different places, and as a result, the profit only increased. The composer himself managed to conduct only one work, after which he left for the evening in another house.
- The waltz "The Life of an Artist" is a kind of autobiography of the composer, it reveals the ecstasy of life.
- In Boston, the waltz "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" was performed by an orchestra of two thousand people.
- In Europe, the waltz "Voices of Spring" is a symbol of the celebration New Year .
Johann Strauss son gave the world a huge creative legacy. Each of his waltzes is a small but bright story, what finale it will have depends on the listener. Lightness, their carelessness and incredible grace make you listen to the work again and again, endlessly. So do not deny yourself this pleasure.
Video: listen to the Strauss waltz
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On the violin secretly from his father, who wanted to see his son as a banker and made scandals when he found his son with a violin in his hands. Soon his father gave Johann Jr. to the Higher Commercial School, and in the evenings he forced him to work as an accountant.
Johann's conducting debut with the new Strauss Chapel took place at Dommeyer's restaurant in Hietzing on October 15, 1844, and earned him the reputation of the future waltz king.
The repertoire of the Strauss son orchestra consisted largely of his own compositions. At first, the father blacklisted those institutions where his son performed, did not allow him to court balls and other prestigious events that he considered his fiefdom.
In 1848, Strauss Jr. played the Marseillaise during the days of the French Revolution and wrote a number of revolutionary marches and waltzes himself. After the suppression of the revolution, he was brought to trial, but then acquitted.
After the death of his father in 1949, Strauss Jr. dedicated the waltz "Aeolian Harp" to his memory and published at his own expense the complete works of Strauss Sr.
Strauss-son took over his orchestra, but he received his father's title of "court bandmaster" only in 1863 - the imperial court recalled his sympathy for the revolution. Strauss held this honorary post until 1871.
The composer was invited to Russia to conduct concerts and balls in the building of the Pavlovsky railway station. The success was so great that for the next ten years, until 1865, Strauss spent every summer with concerts in Pavlovsk.
Strauss' enormous melodic talent, his innovation in rhythm and orchestration, his outstanding theatrical and dramatic talent are captured in almost 500 compositions. Among them are the waltzes "Acceleration" (1860), "Morning Papers" (1864), "The Life of an Artist" (1867), "Tales of the Vienna Woods" (1869), "Wine, Women and Songs" (1869), "Viennese Blood "(1872), "Spring Voices" (1882) and "Imperial Waltz" (1888). Especially popular are the polka "Anna", "Trich-trach" and the polka "Pizzicato" written with his brother Josef, as well as the "Persian March" and the polka "Perpetual Motion".
Widely known for his waltz "Blue Danube" - the unofficial anthem of Austria. The melody was originally written as a choral work for the Vienna Choral Society. On February 15, 1867, its premiere took place, which caused unimaginable delight among the public. Shortly after the premiere, an orchestral version was written by Johann Strauss, which is considered to this day a synonym for the waltz.
In the 1870s, on the advice of the composer Jacques Offenbach, Strauss turned to the operetta genre. In 1871, the Theater an der Wien premiered his first operetta, Indigo and the Forty Thieves. The most performed operetta in the world was Die Fledermaus, the premiere of which in 1874 was timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Strauss's first open performance.
Johann Strauss also wrote such beloved operettas as A Night in Venice (1883) and The Gypsy Baron (1885).
Like his father, Strauss traveled all over Europe with his orchestra, in 1872 he conducted four concerts in New York and the 14th in Boston, and, with the support of 100 assistant conductors, performed "The Blue Danube" with a 20,000th orchestra and choir.
At the end of his life, the composer wrote his only comic opera, Pasman the Knight (1892). The preliminary version of his ballet "Cinderella" was completed in the late autumn of 1898, he did not live to see the premiere.
In total, Johann Strauss created 168 waltzes, 117 polkas, 73 quadrilles, 43 marches, 31 mazurkas, 15 operettas, comic opera and ballet.
On June 3, 1899, Johann Strauss died of pneumonia. He was buried in the Vienna Central Cemetery.
The composer was married three times. In 1862, Strauss married the opera singer Yetti Chalupetskaya, who performed under the pseudonym "Trefts". In 1878, after the death of Yettti, Strauss married a young German singer, Angelina Dietrich, but this marriage soon broke up.
In 1882 Strauss married Adele Deutsch (1856-1930), the widow of a banker's son. Strauss dedicated the waltz "Adele" to his wife. Despite three marriages, Strauss had no children of his own.
Johann Strauss Jr. had four brothers, two of them (Joseph and Eduard) also became famous composers.
In Vienna, in the house where Johann Strauss wrote the unofficial waltz Blue Danube anthem of Austria, the composer's Memorial Museum-Apartment has been opened.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
