Johann Strauss, Jr. is the first truly well-known composer in those classical genres particular to his hometown, the Viennese waltz and Viennese operetta. The Blue Danube Waltz is not only the most popular of his works in the former category, but is among the most widely played and arranged pieces of its time, known to the most casual listener today from many radio, film and television uses of it.
Johann Strauss, Jr. was born in Vienna Read more on October 25, 1825. He showed remarkable skills early in his childhood, despite his father's opposition to any career in music for any of his three sons. Johann, Sr. wanted him to become a banker, but the younger Strauss had his own ideas, taking violin lessons in secret from a player in his father's band. When Strauss was 17 his father left the family, thus allowing him to begin serious study without encumbrance. His mother, a good amateur violinist who had always encouraged him, remained supportive. Strauss now studied theory with Joseph Drechsler and took violin lessons from Anton Kohlmann. In 1844 young Johann led his first concert and a year later formed his own band, thereby competing with his father's orchestra. He was also writing his own quadrilles, mazurkas, polkas, and waltzes for performance by his ensemble, even conducting works by his father, and receiving praise from the press. He was given the honorary position of Bandmaster of the 2nd Vienna Citizens' Regiment (his father was bandmaster of the 1st regiment) in 1845, and in 1847 began composing for the Vienna Men's Choral Association.
His real success began in 1849 after Johann Strauss, Sr. died. Johann, Jr. merged his father's orchestra with his own and took up his father's contracts. His career moved along smoothly for the next several years, but in 1853 he became seriously ill and turned over conducting duties to his younger brother, Josef, for six months. After his recovery he resumed fully both his conducting and his composing activities, eventually gaining the respect of such composers as Brahms, Wagner, and Verdi for his seemingly unlimited imagination for using melodies.
Strauss married singer Henriette "Jetty" Treffz in August 1862, and they settled in Hietzing. Thereafter, she became his business manager and apparently a great inspiration, drawing him toward operetta, just as Viennese theater operators were becoming tired of the works of Offenbach. His first, Indigo und die vierzig Räuber, came in 1871, and his most famous, Die Fledermaus, was staged three years later with great success. Eine Nacht in Venedig (1883) and Der Zigeunerbaron (1885) were his only other international operetta hits.
In 1872, he traveled to the United States and led highly successful concerts in Boston and New York. For all the success that came in the 1870s for Strauss, there was also much grief: his mother and brother Josef died in 1870, and his wife died suddenly of a heart attack in 1878. Her death devastated him, and the suddenly helpless composer unwisely married the much-younger actress Angelika Dittrich, six weeks later. The marriage lasted only four years, though it may have saved the composer from personal disaster in the months following his wife's death.
Strauss, a Roman Catholic, left the church and had to give up his Austrian citizenship to marry Adele Deutsch in 1887, owing to the Church's unwillingness to recognize his divorce. His new wife, with whom he had lived for a long period before their marriage, seemed to inspire him much like his first wife. In his last years, Strauss remained quite productive and active. He was working on a ballet, Cinderella, when he developed a respiratory ailment which grew into pneumonia. He died on June 3, 1899. Read less

Featured Johann Strauss Jr. CDs & DVDs:

Strauss Johann: Most Famous Waltzes

Release Date: 06/30/1992 Label: Naxos
Catalog: 8550152 Number of Discs: 1

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Wedding Celebrations / Bogár, Budapest Strauss Ensemble

Release Date: 07/26/1994 Label: Naxos
Catalog: 8550900 Number of Discs: 1

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Strauss: Famous Waltzes, Polkas, Marches, Overtures Vol 2

Release Date: 02/05/1993 Label: Naxos
Catalog: 8550337 Number of Discs: 1

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Strauss: Famous Waltzes, Polkas, Marches, Overtures Vol 3

Release Date: 02/05/1993 Label: Naxos
Catalog: 8550338 Number of Discs: 1

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J. Strauss Jr.: Famous Overtures / Walter, Slovak State

Release Date: 08/25/1998 Label: Naxos
Catalog: 8553936 Number of Discs: 1

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Work: Perpetual Motion (A Musical Joke)

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Wiener Philharmoniker: 175th Anniversary Edition

Label: Deutsche Grammophon Catalog: 4797090 Release Date: 03/31/2017 Number of Discs: 45
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Emmanuel Chabrier ...
Performer: Anton Dermota, Irmgard Seefried, Rosette Anday, Paul Schöffler ...
Conductor: Leonard Bernstein, Rafael Kubelik, Wilhelm Furtwängler, James Levine ...
Orchestra/Ensemble: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Kuchl String Quartet ...

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New Year's Concert - The Complete Works

Label: Sony Catalog: 503203 Release Date: 11/13/2015 Number of Discs: 23
Composer: Johann Strauss Jr., Johann Strauss Sr., Josef Strauss, Johannes Brahms ...
Conductor: Zubin Mehta, Carlos Kleiber, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa ...
Orchestra/Ensemble: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

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Karl Bohm - Late Recordings - Vienna, London, Dresden

Label: Deutsche Grammophon Catalog: 002327602 Release Date: 06/23/2015 Number of Discs: 23
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Anton Bruckner, Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ...
Performer: Brigitte Fassbaender, Jessye Norman, Placido Domingo, Walter Berry ...
Conductor: Karl Böhm
Orchestra/Ensemble: Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle ...

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Neujahrskonzert / New Year's Concert 2015 [blu-ray]

Label: Sony Catalog: 503551 Release Date: 02/03/2015 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Franz von Suppé, Johann Strauss Jr., Josef Strauss, Eduard Strauss ...
Conductor: Zubin Mehta
Orchestra/Ensemble: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

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Neujahrskonzert / New Year's Concert 2015 [DVD]

Label: Sony Catalog: 503550 Release Date: 02/03/2015 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Franz von Suppé, Johann Strauss Jr., Josef Strauss, Eduard Strauss ...
Conductor: Zubin Mehta
Orchestra/Ensemble: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

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Legendary Moments from the New Year's Concerts Vol 2

Label: Sony Catalog: 307491 Release Date: 01/06/2015 Number of Discs: 4
Composer: Johann Strauss Jr., Josef Lanner, Josef Strauss, Eduard Strauss ...
Conductor: Carlos Kleiber, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons ...
Orchestra/Ensemble: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

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New Year's Concert 2015 / Zubin Mehta, Vienna Philharmonic

Label: Sony Catalog: 88875037912 Release Date: 01/06/2015 Number of Discs: 2
Composer: Franz von Suppé, Johann Strauss Jr., Josef Strauss, Eduard Strauss ...
Conductor: Zubin Mehta
Orchestra/Ensemble: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

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Ferenc Fricsay: Complete DG Recordings, Vol 1 - Orchestral Works

Label: Deutsche Grammophon Catalog: 002132602 Release Date: 09/02/2014 Number of Discs: 45
Composer: Béla Bartók, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, César Franck ...
Performer: Géza Anda, Tibor Varga, Helmut Krebs, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau ...
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin RIAS Symphony Orchestra ...
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Strauss: Waltzes; Polkas; Overtures

Label: Rewind Catalog: 505 Release Date: 06/24/2014 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Johann Strauss Jr.
Conductor: Jos van Immerseel
Orchestra/Ensemble: Anima Eterna Orchestra (Bruges)

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Symphonic Dances

Label: Genuin Classics Catalog: 14307 Release Date: 05/27/2014 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Antonín Dvorák, Johann Strauss Jr., Jacques Offenbach, Perez Prado ...
Performer: Rene Geipel
Conductor: Thomas Clamor

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Karajan: Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, R. Strauss, Opera Arias - 1946-1949

Label: Warner Classics Catalog: 633618 Release Date: 04/08/2014 Number of Discs: 10
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms ...
Performer: Leopold Wlach, Julius Patzak, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth Höngen ...
Conductor: Herbert von Karajan
Orchestra/Ensemble: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Friends of Music Chorus

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Legendary Moments from the New Year's Concerts

Label: Sony Catalog: 795206 Release Date: 01/04/2013 Number of Discs: 4
Composer: Johann Strauss Jr., Josef Strauss, Johann Strauss Sr., Josef Lanner ...
Performer: Kathleen Battle, Lorin Maazel, Werner Hink
Conductor: Carlos Kleiber, Herbert von Karajan, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta
Orchestra/Ensemble: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

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Schubert: Symphony no 8; Johann Strauss, Josef Strauss / Karajan, Vienna PO

Label: Deutsche Grammophon Catalog: 439104 Release Date: 12/05/2012 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss Jr., Josef Strauss, Johann Strauss Sr.
Conductor: Herbert von Karajan
Orchestra/Ensemble: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

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14.

Great Viennese Classics

Label: Rel Catalog: 565 Release Date: 10/09/2012 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Richard Heuberger, Johann Strauss Sr., Johann Strauss Jr., Josef Strauss ...
Conductor: Iain Sutherland

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Strauss: The Blue Danube and Famous Viennese Waltzes

Label: Dg Deutsche Grammophon Catalog: 001701802 Release Date: 07/24/2012 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Johann Strauss Jr., Josef Strauss
Conductor: Karl Böhm, Carlos Kleiber
Orchestra/Ensemble: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

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New Year's Concert 2002 / Seiji Ozawa, Vienna Philharmonic

Label: Arthaus Musik Catalog: 107189 Release Date: 11/15/2011 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Johann Strauss Jr., Josef Strauss, Johann Strauss Sr., J. "Pepi" Hellmesberger
Conductor: Seiji Ozawa
Orchestra/Ensemble: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
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Icon: William Steinberg

Label: Emi Classics Catalog: 26486 Release Date: 10/11/2011 Number of Discs: 20
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert ...
Performer: Nathan Milstein, Rudolf Firkusny
Conductor: William Steinberg
Orchestra/Ensemble: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

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18.

Viennese Night at the BBC Proms

Label: Ica Classics Catalog: 5026 Release Date: 06/28/2011 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Johann Strauss Jr., Franz Lehár, Johann Strauss Sr., Franz von Suppé
Performer: Sheila Armstrong
Conductor: James Loughran, Walter Susskind, Janos Fürst
Orchestra/Ensemble: Hallé Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Northern Symphony
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19.

J. Strauss Jr.: Complete Orchestral Edition [52-CD Set]

Label: Naxos Catalog: 8505226 Release Date: 04/26/2011 Number of Discs: 52
Composer: Johann Strauss Jr., Robert Schumann, Olga Smirnitzkaja
Performer: Jozef Sikora, Regina Jauslin, Viktor Simcisko, Katarína Vavreková ...
Conductor: Alfred Walter, Richard Edlinger, Oliver Dohnányi, Johannes Wildner ...
Orchestra/Ensemble: Kosice Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Polish National Philharmonic Orchestra Katowice, Bratislava Slovak State Symphony Orchestra ...
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20.

Strauss Collection - Early Recordings On 78s (1901-1951)

Label: Opus Kura Catalog: 1006/13 Release Date: 04/12/2011 Number of Discs: 8
Composer: Johann Strauss Jr., Spoken Word, Josef Strauss, Johann Strauss Sr.
Performer: Irene Eisinger, Dajos Bela, Barnabas Von Geczy, Marcella Sembrich ...
Conductor: Clemens Krauss, Howard Barlow, Erich Leinsdorf, Harry Horlick ...
Orchestra/Ensemble: Kölner Klavier-Trio
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21.

New Year In Vienna 1988 & 1991 / Claudio Abbado, Vienna Philharmonic

Label: Deutsche Grammophon Catalog: 437687 Release Date: 12/17/2010 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Johann Strauss Jr., Josef Strauss, Johann Strauss Sr.
Conductor: Claudio Abbado
Orchestra/Ensemble: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
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22.

Waltzes & Polkas of Vienna - Strauss Family Favourites / Georgiadis

Label: Musical Concepts Catalog: 1070 Release Date: 03/23/2010 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Eduard Strauss, Johann Strauss Jr., Johann Strauss Sr.
Conductor: John Georgiadis
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra
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23.

Edition Ferenc Fricsay Vol 12 - J. Strauss: Waltzes & Polkas

Label: Audite Catalog: 95629 Release Date: 03/09/2010 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Johann Strauss Jr.
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra

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24.

New Year's Concert 2010 / Pretre, Vienna Philharmonic

Label: Decca Catalog: 001398402 Release Date: 01/12/2010 Number of Discs: 2
Composer: Johann Strauss Jr., Hans Christian Lumbye, Eduard Strauss, Jacques Offenbach ...
Conductor: Georges Prêtre
Orchestra/Ensemble: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
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25.

The Beautiful Blue Danube / Bohm, Vienna Philharmonic

Label: Deutsche Grammophon Catalog: 413681 Release Date: 01/12/2010 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Johann Strauss Sr., Johann Strauss Jr.
Conductor: Karl Böhm
Orchestra/Ensemble: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

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