Johann Strauss II

Waltz King

He inherited the title, in a sense, from his father and made it greater than ever.

💡 Did you know? As the „Waltz King“, Strauss made the Viennese waltz the very image of 19th-century joie de vivre.

Vienna

He also died there in 1899: Vienna was both stage and subject of his life.

💡 Did you know? His father, Johann Strauss the Elder, was dead set against him becoming a musician; the son practised secretly and soon far surpassed him.

The Blue Danube

Composed in 1867; no New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic ends without it.

💡 Did you know? „The Blue Danube“ is regarded as Austria's unofficial anthem: it closes the world-famous New Year's Concert in Vienna every year.

Die Fledermaus

Premiered in 1874: the masterpiece of Viennese operetta, still a New Year's Eve classic at opera houses.

💡 Did you know? „Die Fledermaus“, with its champagne-soaked comedy of mistaken identity, is the most famous operetta in the world.

not a musician

The father, Vienna's own Waltz King, wanted to spare his sons the artist's life; the mother secretly encouraged Johann.

💡 Did you know? At the son's 1844 debut the papers quipped: 'Good evening, Father Strauss! Good morning, Son Strauss!'

Josef and Eduard

Both conducted the Strauss orchestras; Josef composed more than 200 works himself.

💡 Did you know? Together with his brothers Josef and Eduard, Strauss ran a veritable music empire that supplied all Vienna with dance music.

around 100,000

At the World Peace Jubilee, with over 1,000 musicians and 20 assistant conductors. Strauss himself found it grotesque.

💡 Did you know? He received a record fee for the American tour.

The Gypsy Baron

Based on a novella by the Hungarian Mór Jókai: a hit from Vienna to Budapest.

💡 Did you know? „The Gypsy Baron“ of 1885 became, after „Die Fledermaus“, his second world-famous operetta.

Emperor Waltz

Written in 1889; other hits include 'Tales from the Vienna Woods' and 'Wine, Women and Song'.

💡 Did you know? The „Emperor Waltz“ was meant as a diplomatic gesture: a tribute to the Austrian and the German emperors at once.

Alas, not by Johannes Brahms

Brahms and Strauss shared a warm friendship: the symphonist envied the Waltz King his melodies.

💡 Did you know? Wagner, too, professed admiration for the Blue Danube.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Stanley Kubrick turned the waltz into space music in 1968.

💡 Did you know? In „2001“ Stanley Kubrick set the movement of the space stations to the Blue Danube waltz: an iconic contrast of technology and elegance.

1899

Of pneumonia; he is buried in Vienna's Central Cemetery near Brahms and Schubert.

💡 Did you know? At his funeral in 1899, all of Vienna bade farewell to the „Waltz King“.

Johann Strauss II

Johann Strauss the Younger was an Austrian composer who, as the „Waltz King“, made the Viennese waltz and operetta world-famous.

💡 Did you know? His waltz „The Blue Danube“ closes the famous Vienna New Year's Concert every year.

The Blue Danube

The waltz is famous for its swaying main theme. The recording used here is already a short excerpt.

💡 Did you know? In Vienna the waltz is seen as an unofficial anthem and traditionally rings in the New Year.