STRAUSS, Johann (II)

b Vienna, 25 October 1825
d Vienna, 3 June 1899, aged seventy-three

His father, a great composer of waltzes, refused to allow him to enter the music profession; he worked first as a bank clerk, but studied violin and theory privately. At the age of nineteen he formed his own orchestra, and his fame quickly rivalled that of his father; he toured Europe and Russia, composing and playing his own dance music. A meeting with Offenbach in 1863 encouraged him to try his hand at operetta, and in that year too he was appointed director of the Imperial Court Balls in Vienna. His music was much loved by Brahms and Wagner, and his brothers Josef and Eduard and his nephew Johann all became great musicians.

1867 (42)

Blue Danube Waltz

1868 (43)

Tales from the Vienna Woods, for orchestra

1871 (46)

Indigo und die verzig Rauber, operetta

1874 (49)

Die Fledermaus, operetta

1883 (58)

Eine Nacht in Venedig, operetta

1885 (60)

Zigeunerbaron, operetta

1887 (62)

Simplizius, operetta

1895 (70)

Waldmeister, operetta