Eduard "Edi" Strauss (15 March 1835 – 28 December 1916) was an Austrian composer who, together with his brothers

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 ov ...

and

Josef Strauss Josef Strauss (20 August 1827 – 22 July 1870) was an Austrian composer. He was born in Mariahilf (now Vienna), the son of Johann Strauss I and Maria Anna Streim, and brother of Johann Strauss II and Eduard Strauss. His father wanted him to cho ...

made up the Strauss musical dynasty. He was 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 music, Romantic Period. He was famous for his light music, namely waltzes, polkas, and galo ...

and Maria Anna Streim. The family dominated the

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Music of Vienna, musical styles in the city * Viennese Waltz, genre of ballroom dance * V ...

light music world for decades, creating 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 and

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 term ...

s for many Austrian nobility as well as dance-music enthusiasts around Europe. He was affectionately known in his family as 'Edi'.

Life and music

Eduard Strauss' style was individual and did not attempt to emulate the works of his other brothers or his contemporaries. But he was primarily remembered and recognized as a dance music conductor rather than as a major composer in the , and his popularity was overshadowed by that of his elder brothers. Realising this, he stamped his own mark with the quick polka, known in German as the "polka-schnell". Among the more popular polkas that he penned for the Strauss Orchestra, which he continued to conduct until its disbandment on 13 February 1901, were "", Op. 45, "Ausser Rand und Band", Op. 168, and "Ohne Bremse", Op. 238. He also found time to pen a few lovely waltzes, of which only a handful survived obscurity. The most famous is probably "Doctrinen", Op.79. Strauss's musical career was pervaded with rivalry, not only from his brothers, but also from the military bandmaster and dance music composer

Karl Michael Ziehrer Carl Michael Ziehrer (more rarely spelled Karl Michael Ziehrer) (2 May 1843 – 14 November 1922) In the 8th edition the article title changed without comment to Ziehrer, Carl Michael. was an Austrian composer. In his lifetime, he was one of the ...

, who even formed a rival orchestra called "Formerly Eduard Strauss Orchestra", and began giving concerts 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 ...

under this new title. Eduard Strauss successfully filed a court action against Ziehrer for the improper and misleading use of his name, but Ziehrer would eventually surpass the Strauss family in popularity in Vienna, particularly after the deaths of his more talented brothers,

and

. Their rivalry was to extend until the Strauss Orchestra was disbanded. Strauss married Maria Klenkhart on 8 January 1863 and had two sons,

Johann Strauss III Johann Maria Eduard Strauss III (16 February 18669 January 1939; german: Johann Strauß III) was an Austrian composer whose father was Eduard Strauss, whose uncles were Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss, and whose grandfather was Johann Strauss ...

and Josef Eduard Strauss. The elder son, Johann Strauss III, was to lead the Strauss revival well into the 20th century. Josef Eduard's son,

Eduard Strauss II Eduard Leopold Maria Strauss (March 24, 1910 – April 6, 1969), commonly known as Eduard Strauss II to distinguish him from his grandfather, was an Austrian conductor whose grandfather was Eduard Strauss I and whose uncle was Johann Strauss III ...

, was active as a conductor. However, personal setbacks in the 1890s, such as the death of brother Johann Strauss II in 1899, and his realization that his immediate family had squandered his personal fortune, led Eduard Strauss to decide on retirement. Eduard Strauss engaged in the final tour of his musical career to North America in 1899 and in 1901, disbanded the Strauss Orchestra, and returned to Vienna, where he died in 1916. He retired from public life and never actively took part in any public musical activity, although he did document his family memoirs titled ''Erinnerungen'' in 1906. He is buried in

Zentralfriedhof 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 ...

(Vienna) cemetery. Since 1825, the Strauss Orchestra Archives collected the compositions of not only Eduard, but of Johann II and the rest of the Strauss family. In October 1907, Eduard presided over the burning of many Strauss family musical manuscripts. Eighty years later, conductors Alfred Walker and Klaus Heymann managed to put together a semi-complete collection of Johann's works (according to Johann Strauss II: The Complete Orchestral Edition).

Works of Eduard Strauss

Works with Strauss brothers

*Trifolien waltz, ('Trefoil') (with Johann II and Josef Strauss) (1865) *Schützen quadrille, ('Sharpshooter') (with Johann II and Josef Strauss) (1866)

References

External links

Complete Recordings of 200+ Eduard Strauss' Rarities in 20+ CDs performed in a most authentic fashion

Wiener Institut fur Strauss-Forschung German-language biography of Eduard Strauss

Wiener Institut fur Strauss-Forschung English-language biography of Eduard Strauss

Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain biography of Eduard Strauss

Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain list of compositions by Eduard Strauss
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strauss, Eduard

Eduard Eduard Model Accessories is a Czech manufacturer of plastic models and finescale model accessories. Formed in 1989 in the city of Most, Eduard began in a rented cellar as a manufacturer of photoetched brass model components. Following the succ ...

1835 births 1916 deaths Composers from Austria-Hungary 19th-century classical composers 19th-century male musicians 20th-century classical composers 20th-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 Leopoldstadt Composers from Vienna

Life and music

Works of Eduard Strauss

Works with Strauss brothers

See also

References

Further reading

External links