Oscar Nathan Straus (6 March 1870 – 11 January 1954) was a Viennese composer of operettas,

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s, and songs. He also wrote about 500 cabaret songs,

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

, and orchestral and choral works. His original name was actually Strauss, but for professional purposes he deliberately omitted the final 's'. He wished not to be associated with the musical Strauss family of Vienna. However, he did follow the advice 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 (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...

in 1898 about abandoning the prospective lure of writing

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

es for the more lucrative business of writing for the theatre. The son of a Jewish family, he studied music in Berlin under

Max Bruch Max Bruch (6 January 1838 – 2 October 1920) was a German Romantic Music, Romantic composer, violinist, teacher, and conductor who wrote more than 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a staple of the violin ...

, and became an orchestral conductor, working at the

Überbrettl Überbrettl ( ''über, super-cabaret'') was the first venue in German Empire, Germany for literary cabaret, or Kabarett, founded 1901 in Berlin by Ernst von Wolzogen. The German Kabarett concept was imported from French Third Republic, French venue ...

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

. He went back to Vienna and began writing operettas, becoming a serious rival to Franz Lehár. When Lehár's popular '' The Merry Widow'' premiered in 1905, Straus was said to have remarked "Das kann ich auch!" (I can also do that!). In 1939, after the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

, he fled to Paris, where he received the honour of a Chevalier of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. In 1940 he fled via Portugal to the United States, where he settled in Hollywood. After the war he returned to Europe, and settled at Bad Ischl, where he died. His grave is in the Bad Ischl Friedhof. Straus' best-known works are '' Ein Walzertraum'' (''A Waltz Dream''), and '' The Chocolate Soldier'' (''Der tapfere Soldat''). The waltz arrangement from the former is probably his most enduring orchestral work. Among his most famous works is the theme from the 1950 film '' La Ronde''.

Works

Operettas

*''Die lustigen Nibelungen'' (''The Merry Nibelungs'') – 1904 *''Zur indischen Witwe'' – 1905 *''Hugdietrichs Brautfahrt'' (''Hugdietrich's Honeymoon'') – 1906 *'' Ein Walzertraum'' (''A Waltz Dream'') – 1907 *''Der tapfere Soldat'' (''The Gallant Soldier'', '' The Chocolate Soldier'') – 1908 *''Didi'' – 1908 *''Das Tal der Liebe'' – 1909 *''Mein junger Herr'' (''My Son John'') – 1910 *''Die kleine Freundin'' (''My Little Friend'') – 1911 *''Der tapfere Cassian'' (''The Brave Cassian'') – 1912 *''The Dancing Viennese'' – 1912 *''Love and Laughter'' – 1913 *''Rund um die Liebe'' – 1914 *''Liebeszauber'' – 1916 *''Eine Ballnacht'' – 1918 *'' Der letzte Walzer'' (''The Last Waltz'') – 1920 *''Die Perlen der Cleopatra'' – 1923 *''Die Teresina'' – 1925 *''Die Königin'' – 1926 *''Marietta'' – 927 in French, 1928 in German*''Eine Frau, die weiß, was sie will'' – 1932 *''Drei Walzer'' (''Three Waltzes'') – 1935 *''Die Musik kommt'' – 1948 *''Ihr erster Walzer'' (revised version, ''Die Musik kommt'') – 1950 *''Bozena'' – 1952

Ballets

*''Colombine'' – 1904 *''Die Prinzessin von Tragant'' – 1912

Orchestral music

*Piano Concerto in B Minor – 1893 *Serenade for String Orchestra in G Minor, Op. 35 – 1905

Film scores

*'' A Lady's Morals'' – 1930 *''Danube Love Song'' – 1931 (never released due to backlash against musicals) *'' The Smiling Lieutenant'' – 1931 *''The Southerner'' – 1932 *'' One Hour with You'' – 1932 * '' The Gentleman from Maxim's'' – 1933 *''Frühlingsstimmen'' – 1934 *'' Land Without Music'' – 1935 *''Make a Wish'' – 1935 * ''

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

'' – 1940 *'' La Ronde'' – 1950

References

External links

List of Straus's stage works, with information and links

operone.de * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Straus, Oscar 1870 births 1954 deaths 19th-century Austrian composers 20th-century Austrian composers 20th-century classical composers Austrian film score composers Austrian opera composers Male opera composers Austrian Jews Jewish composers Austrian Romantic composers Composers from Vienna Knights of the Legion of Honour Austrian refugees Austrian male classical composers 20th-century male composers 19th-century male musicians Burials at the Bad Ischl Friedhof Musicians from Austria-Hungary