Strauss son. Biography of Johann Strauss-son

The Austrian composer I. Strauss is called the "king of the waltz". His work is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Vienna with its long-standing tradition of love for dance. Inexhaustible inspiration combined with the highest craftsmanship made Strauss a true classic dance music. Thanks to him, the Viennese waltz went beyond the 19th century. and became part of today's musical life.

Strauss was born into a wealthy family. musical traditions. His father, also Johann Strauss, organized his own orchestra in the year of his son's birth and won fame throughout Europe with his waltzes, polkas, marches.

The father wanted to make his son a businessman and categorically objected to his musical education. All the more striking is the enormous talent of little Johann and his passionate desire for music. Secretly from his father, he takes violin lessons from F. Amon (accompanist of the Strauss orchestra) and at the age of 6 writes his first waltz. This was followed by a serious study of composition under the guidance of I. Drexler.

In 1844, nineteen-year-old Strauss gathers an orchestra from musicians of the same age and arranges his first dance evening. The young debutant became a dangerous rival to his father (who at that time was the conductor of the court ballroom orchestra). The intensive creative life of Strauss Jr. begins, gradually winning over the sympathies of the Viennese.

The composer appeared before the orchestra with a violin. He conducted and played at the same time (as in the days of I. Haydn and W. A. ​​Mozart), and inspired the audience with his own performance.

Strauss used that form Viennese waltz, which developed with I. Lanner and his father: a "garland" of several, more often five, melodic constructions with an introduction and conclusion. But the beauty and freshness of the melodies, their smoothness and lyricism, the Mozartian harmonious, transparent sound of the orchestra with spiritually singing violins, the overflowing joy of life - all this turns Strauss's waltzes into romantic poems. Within the framework of applied, intended for dance music, masterpieces are created that deliver genuine aesthetic pleasure. The program names of Strauss waltzes reflected a wide variety of impressions and events. During the revolution of 1848, "Songs of Freedom", "Songs of the Barricades" were created, in 1849 - "Waltz-obituary" on the death of his father. The hostile feeling towards his father (he started another family long ago) did not interfere with admiration for his music (Strauss subsequently edited complete collection his writings).

The fame of the composer is gradually growing and goes beyond the borders of Austria. In 1847 he tours in Serbia and Romania, in 1851 - in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland, and then, for many years, regularly travels to Russia.

In 1856-65. Strauss participates in the summer seasons in Pavlovsk (near St. Petersburg), where he gives concerts in the station building and, along with his dance music, performs works by Russian composers: M. Glinka, P. Tchaikovsky, A. Serov. The waltz “Farewell to St. Petersburg”, the polka “In the Pavlovsk Forest”, the piano fantasy “In the Russian Village” (performed by A. Rubinshtein) and others are associated with impressions from Russia.

In 1863-70. Strauss is the conductor of court balls in Vienna. During these years, his best waltzes were created: “On the Beautiful Blue Danube”, “The Life of an Artist”, “Tales of the Vienna Woods”, “Enjoy Life”, etc. An unusual melodic gift (the composer said: “Melodies flow from me like water from crane"), as well as a rare ability to work allowed Strauss to write 168 waltzes, 117 polkas, 73 quadrilles, more than 30 mazurkas and gallops, 43 marches, and 15 operettas in his life.

70s - the beginning of a new stage in creative life Strauss, who turned, on the advice of J. Offenbach, to the genre of operetta. Together with F. Suppe and K. Millöcker, he became the creator of the Viennese classical operetta.

Strauss is not attracted by the satirical orientation of Offenbach's theatre; as a rule, he writes cheerful musical comedies, the main (and often the only) charm of which is music.

Waltzes from the operettas The Bat (1874), Cagliostro in Vienna (1875), The Queen's Lace Scarf (1880), Night in Venice (1883), Viennese Blood (1899) and others

Among Strauss's operettas, The Gypsy Baron (1885), originally conceived as an opera and incorporating some of its features (in particular, the lyric-romantic illumination of real, deep feelings: freedom, love, human dignity) stands out with the greater seriousness of the plot.

In the music of the operetta, Hungarian-Gypsy motifs and genres are widely used, for example, czardas. At the end of his life, the composer writes his only comic opera The Knight Pasman (1892) and works on the ballet Cinderella (not finished). As before, although in smaller numbers, individual waltzes appear, full, as in their younger years, of genuine fun and sparkling cheerfulness: Spring voices» (1882). "Imperial Waltz" (1890). Tour trips also do not stop: to the USA (1872), as well as to Russia (1869, 1872, 1886).

Strauss's music was admired by R. Schumann and G. Berlioz, F. Liszt and R. Wagner. G. Bülow and I. Brahms ( former friend composer). For more than a century, she has conquered the hearts of people and does not lose her charm.

K. Zenkin

Johann Strauss made history music XIX century as Great master dance and household music. He brought into it the features of genuine artistry, deepening and developing the typical features of the Austrian folk dance practice. The best works of Strauss are characterized by juiciness and simplicity of images, inexhaustible melodic richness, sincerity and naturalness of the musical language. All this contributed to their immense popularity among the broad masses of listeners.

Strauss wrote four hundred and seventy-seven waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, marches and other works of a concert and household plan (including transcriptions of excerpts from operettas). Reliance on rhythms and other means of expression folk dances gives these works a deeply national imprint. Contemporaries called Strauss waltzes patriotic songs without words. AT musical images he reflected the most sincere and attractive character traits of the Austrian people, the beauty of the native landscape. At the same time, Strauss's work absorbed the features of other national cultures, primarily Hungarian and Slavic music. This applies in many respects to the works created by Strauss for musical theater, including fifteen operettas, one comic opera and one ballet.

Major composers and performers - Strauss's contemporaries highly appreciated his great talent and first-class skill as a composer and conductor. "Wonderful magician! His works (he himself conducted them) gave me a musical pleasure that I had not experienced for a long time,” wrote Hans Bülow about Strauss. And then he added: “This is a genius of conducting art in the conditions of its small genre. There is something to be learned from Strauss for the performance of the Ninth Symphony or Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata." Schumann's words are also noteworthy: “Two things on earth are very difficult,” he said, “firstly, to achieve fame, and secondly, to keep it. Only true masters succeed: from Beethoven to Strauss - each in his own way. Berlioz, Liszt, Wagner, Brahms spoke enthusiastically about Strauss. With a feeling of deep sympathy, they spoke of him as a performer of Russian symphonic music Serov, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky. And in 1884, when Vienna solemnly celebrated the 40th anniversary of Strauss, A. Rubinstein, on behalf of the St. Petersburg artists, warmly welcomed the hero of the day.

Such unanimous recognition of the artistic merits of Strauss from the most diverse representatives Art XIX century confirms the outstanding fame of this outstanding musician, the best works which still deliver high aesthetic pleasure.

Strauss is inextricably linked with the Viennese musical life, with the rise and development of the democratic traditions of Austrian music of the 19th century, which clearly manifested themselves in the field of everyday dance.

Since the beginning of the century, small instrumental ensembles, the so-called "chapels" that performed peasant landlers, Tyrolean or Styrian dances in taverns. The leaders of the chapels considered it a duty of honor to create new music of their own invention. When this music of the Viennese suburbs penetrated the great halls of the city, they became famous names its creators.

So the founders of the "waltz dynasty" came to glory Joseph Lanner(1801-1843) and Johann Strauss senior(1804-1849). The first of them was the son of a glove-maker, the second was the son of an innkeeper; both with youthful years played in instrumental chapels, and since 1825 they already had their own small string orchestra. Soon, however, Liner and Strauss part ways - friends become rivals. Everyone excels in creating a new repertoire for his orchestra.

Every year the number of competitors increases more and more. And yet everyone is overshadowed by Strauss, who makes tours of Germany, France, and England with his orchestra. They are running with great success. But, finally, he also has an opponent, even more talented and strong. This is his son - Johann Strauss Jr., born October 25, 1825.

In 1844, nineteen-year-old I. Strauss, having recruited fifteen musicians, arranged his first dance evening. From now on, the struggle for superiority in Vienna begins between father and son, Strauss Jr. gradually conquered all those areas in which his father's orchestra had previously ruled. The “duel” lasted intermittently for about five years and was cut short by the death of the forty-five-year-old Strauss Sr. (Despite the tense personal relationship, Strauss Jr. was proud of his father's talent. In 1889, he published his dances in seven volumes (two hundred and fifty waltzes, gallops and quadrilles), where in the preface, among other things, he wrote: “Although to me, as a son , it is not proper to advertise a father, but I must say that it was thanks to him that Viennese dance music spread throughout the world.")

By this time, that is, by the beginning of the 50s, the European popularity of his son had been consolidated.

Significant in this respect is Strauss's invitation for the summer seasons to Pavlovsk, located in a picturesque area near St. Petersburg. For twelve seasons, from 1855 to 1865, and again in 1869 and 1872, he toured Russia with his brother Joseph, a talented composer and conductor. (Joseph Strauss(1827-1870) often wrote together with Johann; thus, the authorship of the famous Polka Pizzicato belongs to both of them. There was also a third brother - Edward, who also worked as a dance composer and conductor. In 1900, he dissolved the chapel, which, constantly renewing its composition, existed under the leadership of the Strauss for over seventy years.)

The concerts, which were given from May to September, were attended by many thousands of listeners and were accompanied by invariable success. Johann Strauss paid great attention to the works of Russian composers, he performed some of them for the first time (excerpts from Serov's Judith in 1862, from Tchaikovsky's Voyevoda in 1865); beginning in 1856 he often conducted Glinka's works, and in 1864 he dedicated special program. And in his work, Strauss reflected the Russian theme: folk tunes were used in the waltz "Farewell to Petersburg" (op. 210), "Russian Fantasy March" (op. 353), piano fantasy "In the Russian Village" (op. 355, her often performed by A. Rubinstein) and others. Johann Strauss always recalled with pleasure the years of his stay in Russia (AT last time Strauss visited Russia in 1886 and gave ten concerts in Petersburg.).

The next milestone of the triumphant tour and at the same time a turning point in his biography was a trip to America in 1872; Strauss gave fourteen concerts in Boston in a specially built building designed for a hundred thousand listeners. The performance was attended by twenty thousand musicians - singers and orchestra members and one hundred conductors - assistants to Strauss. Such "monster" concerts, born of unprincipled bourgeois entrepreneurship, did not provide the composer with artistic satisfaction. In the future, he refused such tours, although they could bring considerable income.

In general, since that time, Strauss' concert trips have been sharply reduced. The number of dance and march pieces he created is also falling. (During the years 1844-1870, three hundred and forty-two dances and marches were written; in the years 1870-1899, one hundred and twenty plays of this kind, not counting adaptations, fantasies and medleys on the themes of his operettas.)

The second period of creativity begins, mainly associated with the operetta genre. Strauss wrote his first musical and theatrical work in 1870. With tireless energy, but with varying success, he last days continued to work in this genre. Strauss died on June 3, 1899 at the age of seventy-four.

Johann Strauss devoted fifty-five years to creativity. He had a rare industriousness, composing incessantly, in any conditions. “Melodies flow from me like water from a tap,” he said jokingly. In the quantitatively huge legacy of Strauss, however, not everything is equal. Some of his writings bear traces of hasty, careless work. Sometimes the composer was led by the backward artistic tastes of his audience. But in general, he managed to solve one of the most difficult problems of our time.

In the years when the base salon musical literature, widely distributed by clever bourgeois businessmen, had a detrimental effect on the aesthetic education of the people, Strauss created truly works of art accessible and understandable to the masses. With the criterion of mastery inherent in “serious” art, he approached “light” music and therefore managed to erase the line that separated the “high” genre (concert, theatrical) from the supposedly “low” (domestic, entertaining). So did others major composers past, for example, Mozart, for whom there were no fundamental differences between "high" and "low" in art. But now there were other times - the onslaught of bourgeois vulgarity and philistinism needed to be countered with an artistically updated, light, entertaining genre.

This is what Strauss did.

M. Druskin

Short list of works:

Works of a concert-domestic plan
waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, marches and others (477 pieces in total)
The most famous:
"Perpetuum mobile" ("Perpetual motion") op. 257 (1867)
"Morning Leaf", waltz op. 279 (1864)
Lawyers' Ball, polka op. 280 (1864)
"Persian March" op. 289 (1864)
"Blue Danube", waltz op. 314 (1867)
"The Life of an Artist", waltz op. 316 (1867)
"Tales of the Vienna Woods", waltz op. 325 (1868)
"Rejoice in life", waltz op. 340 (1870)
"1001 Nights", waltz (from the operetta "Indigo and the 40 Thieves") op. 346 (1871)
"Viennese Blood", waltz op. 354 (1872)
"Tick-tock", polka (from the operetta " Bat"") op. 365 (1874)
“You and You”, waltz (from the operetta “The Bat”) op. 367 (1874)
“Beautiful May”, waltz (from the operetta “Methuselah”) op. 375 (1877)
"Roses from the South", waltz (from the operetta "The Queen's Lace Handkerchief") op. 388 (1880)
"The Kissing Waltz" (from the operetta "Merry War") op. 400 (1881)

According to a short biography of Johann Strauss, the composer was born in 1825 in Vienna in a family famous composer. Johann Strauss Sr. did not encourage musical hobbies younger son(except for Johann Jr., there were three more sons in the family). He wanted to see him as a banker. But, secretly from the father, future composer studied at music school in the violin class, and at the end of his studies he received excellent recommendations from teachers.

Start of professional activity

In 1844, Johann completed his education and tried to get a license to conduct an orchestra. The young man's mother, fearing that his father, Johann Sr., would in every way interfere with the issuance of a license, divorced him. After the divorce, the father of the future composer refused to inherit from his children from his first marriage and bequeathed all his property to seven children from his mistress (after a divorce, his second wife).

The conflict with his father continued, expressed in the fact that Johann with his small orchestra could not perform on large venues. But, despite this, the talent of the young man was noticed, and he was appointed chief conductor of the military orchestra.

In 1848, after the revolution, relations with his father became even more complicated due to the fact that Johann, the elder, supported the monarchy, and the younger, the revolution.

In 1849, his father died, and his son forgave him everything: he wrote several works in his honor, published all of his works at his own expense. Father's musicians joined his orchestra and went on a joint tour of Europe. Johann Jr. was a resounding success.

Career Peak

From 1852, after the young composer reconciled with Emperor Franz Joseph, Strauss became the official court composer. In his work he was often assisted by his brothers, with whom he was on excellent terms.

From 1856 to 1861, Strauss traveled every summer with the orchestra to Russia, as he was invited to the post of permanent conductor at the Pavlovsky railway station in Pavlovsk.

60-70 years - the peak of the composer's work. He wrote his best works - "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" and "Tales of the Vienna Woods", musical content which can be considered truly patriotic. In the 1970s, he resigned from the position of court composer (passed over to his brother) and went on tour in France, Great Britain and the USA. At the same time, he began to write operettas. From 1874 to 1895 he will create his best works: "The Bat", "The Gypsy Baron" and others. In 1895, the composer celebrated his 70th birthday on a grand scale. Everyone wished to congratulate him the brightest representatives European aristocracy and bohemia.

Death

The composer died in 1899 (at 73) of pneumonia. Buried in Vienna.

Personal life

For a long time, Strauss was in love with Olga Smirnitskaya. But the girl's parents refused his matchmaking. In 1862, after Olga got married, Strauss married the opera singer Yetti Chalupetskaya, who was 7 years older than him and had 7 illegitimate children. But despite her scandalous reputation, she became a faithful wife, and the marriage, in general, was successful.

In 1878 Chalupetskaya died and Strauss married German singer Angelica Dietrich, but quickly divorced and married a young German widow, Adele Deutsch, for whom he changed his faith and citizenship.

Other biography options

• In total, Strauss wrote about 500 works. Moreover, he wrote not only waltzes and operettas, but also music for ballets and perfect operas.
• Strauss' grandfather was a Jewish convert to Catholicism. AT Nazi Germany tried to present Strauss as a truly German composer, hiding his Jewish roots.

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 inspired this genre new life, gave him a "poemic interpretation." A lot of interesting and surprising lies in the waltzes of Strauss. So let's take a look at mysterious world Viennese music, the door to which was opened for us by the king himself!

History of Waltzes by Johann Strauss, content and set interesting facts read 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 own compositions, the main of which was the waltz. As a sweet revenge for the ban on music, at the end of the concert one of the famous waltzes father. 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. As a consequence, 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 on one of charity concerts 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 pictorial medium to fully display the pictures of nature awakened from a long hibernation. Everything is recovering from winter sleep, a magnificent time is coming. Of course this work many people liked it: from amateurs to true connoisseurs of the professional musical language.

"On the beautiful blue Danube"

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 captivates own world from the very first strokes. 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, you 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 in the melodic and thematic line folklore motifs. Yes, clearly visible character traits landler. 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 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

• For the entire creative career the composer composed almost 170 musical works 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' 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" favorite work Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy. The writer liked to listen to Strauss waltzes, but especially often put on a record with this particular composition.
• The work "Farewell to St. Petersburg" is dedicated to Olga Smirnitskaya, with whom during her stay in northern capital The composer had a long romance in 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 "Spring Voices" can be heard from the legendary 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 .

THE UNRIVALED WALTZ KING JOHANN STRAUSS

Dance tunes, which were called music for the feet, were treated indulgently in any era. Operas, oratorios and symphonies have always been considered noble genres, but all kinds of quadrilles, waltzes and polkas were classified as second-rate creations due to their entertaining nature. And only one Austrian composer managed to change this musical hierarchy, raising melodies for dancing to previously unattainable symphonic heights. His name is Johann Strauss. He wrote almost half a thousand works. The compositions of the talented Strauss Jr. were heard in all corners of the world and continue to occupy a leading place in the repertoire of many theaters.

rival son

The founders of the "waltz dynasty" are considered to be Joseph Lanner and Johann Strauss Sr. Their art seemed inaccessible to many. But that was until their main rival appeared on the horizon. Ironically, he became son of Strauss Johann Strauss Jr. who was born in Vienna in 1825.

For the eldest son Johann, the father predicted a future in the commercial sphere, while the second - Josef - was determined to military service. Everything went according to plan, until the father discovered the seditious (in his opinion) passion of the offspring for music. It took a lot of effort for his wife to persuade him to allow his sons to play the piano.

Johann fascinated his friends with his ability to improvise on musical instrument. And later, the father found out that the eldest son secretly learns to play the violin. And besides, Franz Amon himself gave him lessons, who was one of best musicians Strauss Sr. Orchestra. Johann taught the neighboring children to play the piano and thus earned himself Amon's lessons.

The best teachers

Soon the Strauss family was overtaken by a serious test - the father went to one of his young admirers, and Johann Jr. had to shoulder the maintenance of his relatives. That's how he is became the head of the family at the age of 18. Fortunately, the mother supported her son in everything and, most importantly, took care of him. music education despite financial difficulties. Mother carefully kept the notes of Strauss's first waltz, which he wrote at the age of 6. Thanks to the efforts of Anna, Johann studied with a Viennese ballet tutor. opera house and the leading teacher of the conservatory in the class of composition. But Johann considered the bandmaster of one of the Viennese churches, Abbot Joseph Drexler, who was an expert in counterpoint and harmony, to be his main teacher. It was he who forced the young composer to compose spiritual works. Strauss Jr. at that time dreamed of "earthly" music, but the teacher did not disobey, and soon his cantata was publicly performed in one of the temples of Vienna.

The wise Drexler found an incentive for Johann to work church music. He allowed him to play the organ and violin in the church where he was regent.

Good morning Strauss son

Once the abbot heard a waltz on the organ performed by Strauss when he entered an empty temple. Johann firmly stood his ground - he wanted to lead a dance chapel and compose dance music. It was a matter of "small" - young man It remained to find qualified musicians. He could not allow his team to be worse than his father's. And here in one of Sundays October 1844, posters and the city press announced upcoming concert young Johann Strauss. The audience was intrigued, because Strauss Sr. was barely 40 years old, he was still full of creative energy, and then his son was already stepping on his heels. After the concert, the newspapers were full of rave reviews. Critics wrote: "Good night Lanner, good evening Father Strauss, good morning, Strauss son!».

Revolutionary sympathies

The young composer not only took, but snatched the baton from the hands of his predecessors. And although his first works differed little in form from the melodies of his father and Lanner, but they already felt the power of talent.

When the revolutionary year of 1848 came, Johann warmly responded to political events and supported the people. He created the "March of the Revolution", which sounded like a call to fight. This music quickly became the most popular piece rebels, having received the second name - "Viennese Marseillaise". However, the Vienna uprising was crushed, and new government did not forget Strauss Jr. for his revolutionary sympathies. Johann was not invited to the court for a long time, and his waltzes did not sound at the emperor's balls.

Family contract

In 1849, Johann Strauss Sr. died of scarlet fever. AT recent times he had a hard time with the popularity of his son, the loss former glory he suffered very hard. He died alone, but the composer's funeral was held with all honors.

The father's orchestra lost its leader, and the same family friend, violinist Franz Amon, insisted that his son take the place of Strauss Sr. All the orchestra members came to Johann and solemnly handed him his father's conductor's baton. Since then Strauss Jr. daily intense concert and composing activities began.

Such intense work quickly undermined the health of the young musician. From overwork, he became seriously ill. Colleagues knew what exhausting work it was to lead a chapel. Johann handed over the management of the team to his brother Joseph, and when he fell ill, another brother, Eduard, came to the rescue. The Strauss family became the idol of all Vienna. The satirists of the time called them music wholesalers and retailers.

New Viennese Waltz

waltzes early period Strauss's works resembled the works his father at the height of his career. But very quickly, the son felt constrained by the form of the traditional Viennese waltz and directed his energy to creating a new type of melody, showing all his talent. He decided to take a bold step and doubled the volume of the waltz from 8 and 16 measures to 16 and 32, turning it from ordinary dance music into independent genre, which sounded now at concerts.

Strauss' tours cemented his international fame and contributed to the spread of the Viennese waltz. In St. Petersburg, he was offered an engagement for the entire summer of 1856, which he could not refuse. Strauss spent in Russian Empire with short breaks for a whole decade.

During one of the walks around the city in 1858, Johann was introduced to the 21-year-old Olga Smirnitskaya, who captured the composer's heart. But the girl's mother opposed their relationship. Strauss devoted several works to his beloved, wrote touching messages, but separation was inevitable. In 1862, Olga married a military man, and Johann decided to connect his life with opera singer Henrietta Chalupetskaya, who was older than him and had seven children from previous marriages.

Blue Danube by Johann Strauss

The mid-1860s is considered the heyday of creativity Strauss Jr.. He wrote the waltzes "On the Beautiful Blue Danube", "Tales of the Vienna Woods", "The Life of an Artist", "New Vienna". Any of these works could do his name is immortal. Thanks to these waltzes, dance music climbed to the highest level of poeticization. New dance Johann Strauss resembles a symphonic miniature, which is combined with the ultimate romanticization of the dance genre. The composer's waltzes are characterized by a sublime mood, grandiloquence is alien to them, they are cordial and simple.

When "On the Beautiful Blue Danube", much to the surprise of the author, became the most popular of his waltzes, Strauss decided to thank the conductor Johann Gerbeck. To him he owed the success of this work. The composer dedicated the waltz "Wine, Love and Song" to Herbeck, while "Viennese Blood" and "New Vienna" only secured Johann Strauss Jr. knowledge of the "king of the waltz".

Pearls in the composer's crown

Strauss' creative flowering continued with operettas, "Prince Methuselah", "Carnival in Rome", "Night in Venice", "Gypsy Baron" and other works, which became pearls in the composer's crown. By the way, Strauss turned to operetta after meeting the founder of the genre, Jacques Offenbach. However, Johann did not follow the path of his French colleague. Strauss' first steps in this field underlined his innovative approach to everything he undertakes. Johann created new type dance operetta. This genre was entirely subject to the elements of dance, of course, the Viennese waltz. The classic of this genre was The Bat (first staged in the spring of 1874), which still does not leave the theater stages and is popular among a wide variety of audiences.

From dance to opera

Strauss was widowed in 1878. The shocked composer, who had been terribly afraid of death all his life, left the house, instructing his brother to take care of his wife's funeral. Johann left for Italy. Soon he met a young singer from Germany, Angelica Dietrich, and married her, but this marriage was extremely unsuccessful. Strauss' favorite work helped him survive the breakup with the woman who had betrayed him.

His new operetta, The Queen's Lace Handkerchief, was a success. past On October 1, 1880, the premiere made the Theater an der Wien a box office success that it had not seen in many years.

During the creation of the operetta Night in Venice, Johann became interested in the widow of his longtime friend of the same name. Adele reciprocated his feelings. This time, the waltz king was not mistaken in his choice, Adele became a caring and devoted wife, who was appreciated by all his friends.

In time another dream came true Johann Strauss- he proved to the world that, along with dance music, he can also write serious music. In 1892, he presented to the public the opera Pasman the Knight. And after another 6 years, he completed the preliminary version of the ballet Cinderella, until the premiere of which the composer, unfortunately, did not live to see. In 1899 he died of pneumonia. He was buried near the graves of Brahms and.

DATA

The operetta "Gypsy Baron" impressed the fans Johann Strauss. German composer Johannes Brahms said that after The Magic Flute, not a single musician reached the heights to which Strauss soared in the comic opera.

For a single trip to the United States of America Johann Strauss broke the contract with the Russian Tsarskoye Selo railways. It was assumed that the composer will spend the eleventh summer season in Pavlovsk. However, Strauss headed to Boston for a grand concert. There he was given the opportunity to conduct an orchestra of a thousand musicians!

Updated: April 7, 2019 by: Elena

Johann Strauss (son) (Johann Straus Jr., 1825-99) - Austrian composer, violinist, conductor. Eldest son of Johann Strauss (father). In 1844 he organized his own concert ensemble, which then grew into an orchestra and soon brought fame to Strauss as a conductor and composer. After his father's death, Strauss united his father's orchestra and his own and made concert tours of European cities; in 1856–65 and 1869 he visited Russia, led the summer concert seasons in Pavlovsk, where he performed works by Western European and Russian composers and his own music. In 1872 and 1886 he performed in Moscow and St. Petersburg, in 1872 he toured the United States. In 1863–70 he was the conductor of the Viennese court balls.

Strauss - the largest master Viennese waltz and Viennese operetta. He wrote about 500 works of dance music (waltzes, polkas, mazurkas, etc.), which he raised to a high artistic level. He relied on the traditions of F. Schubert, K. M. Weber, I. Lanner, as well as his father (including developing the form of a 5-part waltz cycle with an introduction and coda), symphonized the waltz and gave it an individual imagery. Romantic spirituality, melodic flexibility and beauty, reliance on Austrian urban folklore, the practice of everyday music-making led to the popularity of Strauss' waltzes "Farewell to Petersburg" (1858), "The Life of an Artist", "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" (both - 1867), "Tales of the Vienna forests” (1868), “Viennese Blood” (1873), “Voices of Spring” (1883), “Imperial Waltz” (1890) both in Austria and in other countries. Strauss began writing operettas under the influence of J. Offenbach in the 1870s. However, unlike the dramatic French operetta, the element of dance dominates in Strauss's operetta (the waltz is mainly involved, as well as chardash, gallop, mazurka, quadrille, polka, etc.). The peaks of Strauss's work in this genre are The Bat (1874), The Gypsy Baron (1885). Strauss had a strong influence on the work of Oscar Strauss, F. Lehár, I. Kalman, and Richard Strauss (opera The Rosenkavalier). Strauss's music was appreciated by I. Brahms, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, P. I. Tchaikovsky and others.

His brothers: Josef Strauss (1827–70) - author of popular orchestral pieces; conductor in the Strauss orchestra since 1853, with whom he toured European cities (in 1862 in Pavlovsk), and Eduard Strauss (1835-1916) - the author of dance compositions; violinist and conductor in the Strauss orchestra, with whom he gave concerts in St. Petersburg and Pavlovsk in 1865 and 1894; in 1870 he succeeded Johann Strauss as conductor of the Viennese court balls.

Compositions: Comic opera Knight Pasman (1892, Vienna); the ballet Cinderella (finished by J. Bayer, 1901, Berlin); operettas (16) - Roman Carnival (1873), Bat (1874), Merry War (1881; all - Vienna), Night in Venice (1883, Berlin), Gypsy Baron (1885, Vienna) and others; for the orchestra - waltzes (about 160), polkas (117), quadrilles (over 70), gallops (32), mazurkas (31), marches (43), etc.