Johann Strauss IIOctober 25, 1825 – June 3, 1899
He was born in Vienna, Austria to the famous composer Johann Strauss I, but his father did not want him to become a musician but rather a banker. Nevertheless, he studied the violin secretly as a child, ironically with the first violinist of his father's orchestra. It was only when his father left the family that he was able to concentrate fully on a career as a composer with the support of his mother. 
He found the early years difficult, but he soon won over music-loving audiences after accepting commissions to perform away from home. Vienna was racked by a revolution on February 24, 1848, and the intense rivalry between father and son became much more apparent. Johann Jr. decided to side with the revolutionaries and was one time arrested by the Viennese authorities for publicly playing the infectious La Marseillaise, which stoked revolutionary feelings. He was later acquitted.
When the his father died from scarlet fever in Vienna in 1849, the younger Strauss merged both their orchestras and engaged in tours in Austria, Poland, Russia and Germany, continuing the family tradition of conducting with his violin in hand. Later in the 1870s, he took his orchestra to the United States and was the lead conductor in a “Monster Concert” of over 1000 musicians performing his 'Blue Danube' waltz, amongst other pieces, to great acclaim. 
Johann’s two brothers, were also popular composers and orchestra conductors at the time. Such a unique combination was a great novelty. The three brothers organized many musical activities during their concerts in, where the audience would be able to participate. For example, a new piece would be played and the audience would be asked to guess who the composer was.
Johann was admired by other prominent composers. Johannes Brahms was a personal friend and a story is told that Strauss's daughter once approached Brahms with a customary request that he autograph her fan. It was usual for the composer to inscribe a few measures of his best-known music, and then sign his name. Brahms, however, inscribed a few measures from the Blue Danube, and then wrote beneath it: "Unfortunately, NOT by Johannes Brahms." He was diagnosed with pneumonia in the spring of 1899, and died on June 3, 1899, at the age of 73. Back To.....Home Page.....free Sheet Music Online Back to.....Classical Music History Back to.....Top of Page.....Johann Strauss
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