Affectionately referred to as the ‘Waltz King’, Johann Strauss II was an Austrian composer, born in 1825 to a father already highly acclaimed for his Viennese waltzes. Despite his father’s notoriety, the work of the younger Johann would go on to eclipse that of his dad, who originally wanted him to go into a non-musical profession. His father, however, would not live to see his eldest son’s success as his popularity only grew after his father’s death. His fame grew following tours of Russia and England in the mid nineteenth century, having combined his orchestra with his late father’s. However, a few years later he would turn his focus more to composition and is best known now for “An der schönen blauen Donau” (1867), or “The Blue Danube” as you may know it.

As well as his critically acclaimed work, for much of his life he defied aging by continuing to play for and direct ‘salon orchestras’, a type of small ensemble that provided music for various occasions, from lunches and dinners, well into the night, making Strauss the equivalent of a modern nightclub DJ. With his boundless energy and violin in hand, he would not only direct the band, but also the dancers as they swirled around to the sound of his music. He was not revered highly for this work at the time, being ‘dismissed as “lightweight” and not to be taken seriously’, but at nearly 70 years old, the feat was not to be spurned.

Another impressive element of Strauss’ work is how prolific he was, composing countless waltzes that continue to be popular to this day, especially in Vienna, where they form the foundational repertoire for the New Year celebrations. It may be this factor that really cements him as one of the greatest composers of the nineteenth century, despite some tough competition from his contemporaries. He may, however, owe some of his success to Joseph Lanner, who lived for the first half of the 1800s and was credited with transforming the waltz from a ‘simple peasant dance to something that even the highest society could enjoy’. If Strauss is the King of Waltzes, then Lanner is the Father.