Josef Strauss (20 August 1827 – 22 July 1870) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

. He was born in

Mariahilf Mariahilf (; Central Bavarian: ''Mariahüf'') is the 6th municipal district of Vienna, Austria (german: 6. Bezirk). It is near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850. Mariahilf is a heavily populated urban area with many res ...

(now

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

), the son of

Johann Strauss I Johann Baptist Strauss I (; also Johann Strauss Sr., the Elder, the Father; 14 March 1804 – 25 September 1849) was an Austrian composer of the Romantic Period. He was famous for his light music, namely waltzes, polkas, and galops, which he ...

and Maria Anna Streim, and brother of

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ove ...

and

Eduard Strauss Eduard "Edi" Strauss (15 March 1835 – 28 December 1916) was an Austrian composer who, together with his brothers Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss made up the Strauss musical dynasty. He was the son of Johann Strauss I and Maria Anna Streim ...

. His father wanted him to choose a career in the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

military. He studied music with Franz Dolleschal and learned to play the violin with Franz Anton Ries. He received training as an engineer, and worked for the city of Vienna as an engineer and designer. He designed a horse-drawn revolving brush street-sweeping vehicle and published two textbooks on mathematical subjects. Strauss had talents as an artist, painter, poet, dramatist, singer, composer and inventor.

Family orchestra

He joined the family orchestra, along with his brothers,

and

in the 1850s. His first published work was called "Die Ersten und Letzten" (The First and the Last). When Johann became seriously ill in 1853 Josef led the orchestra for a while. The waltz-loving Viennese were appreciative of his early compositions so he decided to continue in the family tradition of composing dance music. He was known as 'Pepi' by his family and close friends, and Johann once said of him: "Pepi is the more gifted of us two; I am merely the more popular..."

Family life

Josef Strauss married Caroline Pruckmayer at the church of St. Johann Nepomuk in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

on 8 June 1857 and had one daughter, Karolina Anna, who was born on 27 March 1858.

Music

Josef Strauss wrote 283 opus numbers. He wrote many

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

es, including: ''Sphären-Klänge'' (Music of the Spheres), ''Delirien'' (Deliriums), ''Transaktionen'' (Transactions), ''Mein Lebenslauf ist Lieb' und Lust'' (My Character is Love and Joy), and ''Dorfschwalben aus Österreich'' (Village Swallows from Austria),

polka Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas. History Etymology The te ...

s, most famously the ' with his brother Johann,

quadrille The quadrille is a dance that was fashionable in late 18th- and 19th-century Europe and its colonies. The quadrille consists of a chain of four to six '' contredanses''. Latterly the quadrille was frequently danced to a medley of opera melodie ...

s, and other dance music, and also some

marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a national "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diff ...

. The waltz ''The Mysterious Powers of Magnetism'' (''Dynamiden'') with the use of minor keys showed a quality that distinguished his waltzes from those of his more popular elder brother. The

polka-mazurka The polka-mazurka is a dance, musically similar to the mazurka, but danced much like the polka. Many polka-mazurkas were composed by Johann Strauss II and his family. Johann Strauss I did not compose any of this type of music; the first polka-mazurk ...

shows influence by Strauss, where he wrote many examples like ''Die Emancipierte'' and ''Die Libelle''.

Death

Josef Strauss was sickly most of his life. He was prone to fainting spells and intense headaches. During a tour in 1870, he fell unconscious from the conductor's podium in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

while conducting his 'Musical Potpourri', striking his head. His wife brought him back home to Vienna, to the ''Hirschenhaus'', where he died on 22 July of that year. A final diagnosis cited only decomposed blood. There were rumors that he had been beaten by drunken Russian soldiers after allegedly refusing to perform for them one night. A specific cause of death was not determined, since his widow forbade any autopsy. Originally buried in the St. Marx Cemetery, Strauss was later exhumed and reburied in the

Vienna Central Cemetery The Vienna Central Cemetery (german: Wiener Zentralfriedhof) is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its ...

, alongside his mother Anna. His waltzes and polkas might have surpassed those of his elder brother Johann II had he survived, since the latter had begun to specialize in

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its ...

s and other stage works.

Works of Josef Strauss

The works of Josef Strauss include:Josef Strauss works
*Die Ersten und Letzten ('The First and the Last') waltz op. 1 (1853) *Die Ersten nach den Letzten ('The First after the Last') waltz op. 12 (1854) *Die Guten, Alten Zeiten ('The Good Old Times') waltz op. 26 (1856) *Mai-Rosen ('May-Rose') waltz op. 34 (1857) *Liechtenstein-Marsch op. 36 (1857) *Perlen der Liebe ('Pearls of Love') concert-waltz op. 39 (1857) *Wallonen-Marsch ('Walloon March') op. 41 (1857) *Moulinet-Polka ('Little Mill Pond') polka francaise op. 57 (1858) *Laxenburger-Polka, Op. 60 (1858) *Sympathie ('Sympathy') polka-mazurka op. 73 (1859) *Lustschwärmer ('Joy Seeker') waltz op. 91 (1860) *Schabernack ('Shenanigans'), fast polka op. 98 *Wiener Bonmots ('Viennese Bon-mots') waltz op. 108 (1861) *Winterlust ('Winter Joy') polka op. 121 (1862) *Brennende Liebe polka-mazurka op. 129 (1862) *Auf Ferienreisen! ('On a Holiday!') polka op. 133 (1863) *Die Schwätzerin ('The Gossip') polka-mazurka op. 144 (1863) *Wiener Couplets ('Viennese Couplets') waltz op. 150 (1863) * Dorfschwalben aus Österreich ('Village Swallows from Austria') waltz op. 164 (1864) *

Frauenherz Frauenherz ('A Woman's Heart') op. 166 is a polka-mazurka composed by Josef Strauss in 1864 (1865?). It was premiered at the Volksgarten, Vienna on September 6, 1864 (1865?). Waltz '' Dorfschwalben aus Österreich'' was also premiered at the same t ...

('A Woman's Heart') polka-mazurka op. 166 (1864) *Sport-Polka op. 170 (1864) *

Dynamiden Dynamiden op. 173 is a Viennese Waltz composed by Josef Strauss in 1865. Its subtitle is ''Geheime Anziehungskräfte'' ('Mysterious Powers of Magnetism'). Richard Strauss used this waltz to his comic opera '' Der Rosenkavalier''. \relative b' ...

(Geheimne Anziehungskräfte) ('Mysterious Powers of Magnetism') waltz op. 173 (1865) *Stiefmütterchen ('Pansies') polka-mazurka op. 183 (1865) *Transaktionen ('Transactions') waltz op. 184 (1865) *Carrière, fast polka, op. 200 *Die Marketenderin ('The Camp Follower') polka op. 202 (1866) *

Die Libelle '' Die Libelle ''(''The Dragonfly'') Op. 204 is a polka-mazurka composed by Josef Strauss in 1866. Background Josef Strauss and his wife Caroline visited Traunstein and lake Traunsee in 1866. At that time, Josef saw dragonflies flying on the ...

('The Dragonfly') polka-mazurka op. 204 (1866) * ('Deliriums') waltz op. 212 (1867) *Herbstrosen ('Autumn Rose') waltz op. 232 (1867) * ('Music of the Spheres') waltz op. 235 (1868) *Eingesendet ('Letters to the Editor') polka op. 240 (1868) *Plappermäulchen ('Chatterboxes') polka op. 245 (1868) * ('Watercolours') waltz op. 258 (1869) *Eislauf ('Ice-Skating') polka op. 261 (1869) *Neckerei ('Teasing') polka mazur op. 262 * ('My Character is Love and Joy') waltz op. 263 (1869) *Die Tanzende Muse ('The Dancing Muse') polka-mazurka op. 266 (1869) *

Feuerfest! Feuerfest! ('Fireproof!'), Op. 269, is a polka-française composed by Josef Strauss in 1869. History The "Feuerfest!" (German for 'fireproof') polka was composed by Josef Strauss as a commission by the Wertheim company. 's company produced safes ...

('Fireproof!') polka française op. 269 (1869). *Aus der Ferne Polka Mazur op. 270 (1869) *Ohne Sorgen! ('Without a Care!') polka op. 271 (1869) *Nilfluthen ('Nile's Waters') waltz op. 275 (1870) *Frauenwürde waltz op. 277 (1870) *Jokey-Polka ('Jockey') op. 278 (1870) *

Hesperusbahnen Hesperusbahnen (''Hesperus’ Path'') op. 279 is a Viennese Waltz composed by Josef Strauss. This work was premiered in Musikverein on April 4 1870. Dedication destination was the vienna Artists Association „Hesperus ( Venus)“. Song Title ha ...

('Hesperus’ Path') waltz op. 279 (1870) *Die Emancipierte ('The Emancipated Woman') polka-mazurka op. 282 (1870)

References

External links

*
Josef Strauss on the Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Strauss, Josef Josef 1827 births 1870 deaths 19th-century Austrian composers 19th-century classical composers 19th-century male musicians Austrian male classical composers Austrian Roman Catholics Austrian people of German descent Austrian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Austrian Romantic composers Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery Jewish classical composers People from Mariahilf Composers from Vienna