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Strauss II then studied counterpoint and harmony with theorist Professor Joachim Hoffmann, who owned a private music school. His talents were also recognized by composer Josef Drechsler (also spelled Drexler) who taught him exercises in harmony. His other violin teacher, Anton Kollmann, who was the ballet répétiteur of the Vienna Court Opera, also wrote excellent testimonials for him. Armed with these, on the very same day his mother had filed a divorce from her husband, he approached the Viennese authorities to apply for a license to perform. He initially formed his small orchestra where he recruited his members at the 'Zur Stadt Belgrad' tavern, where musicians seeking work could be hired easily. Johann Strauss I's influence over the entertainment establishments meant that many of them were wary of offering the younger Strauss a contract for fear of angering the former. Strauss Jr. was then able to persuade the Dommayer's Casino at Hietzing, Vienna to give him his debut. The local press were soon frantically reporting a 'Strauss v. Strauss' rivalry between father and son as a result. Strauss Sr., in anger at his son's disobedience and that of the proprietor, refused to ever play at the Dommayer's Casino, which had been the site of many of his earlier triumphs. Strauss II found the early years difficult, but he soon won over music-loving audiences after accepting commissions to perform away from home. The first major appointment for the young composer was his award of the honorary position of "Kapellmeister of the 2nd Vienna Citizen's Regiment", which had been left vacant following Josef Lanner's death two years before. Vienna was racked by a bourgeois revolution on 24th February 1848 and the intense rivalry between father and son became a lot more apparent. Eventually, Johann II decided to side with the revolutionaries as evidenced in the title of his works dating around this period such as the waltzes 'Freiheitslieder' (Songs of Freedom) op. 52 and 'Burschenlieder' op. 55 as well as the marches 'Revolutions March', op. 54 and the stirring Studenten Marsch op. 56. It proved to be a decision which was professionally disadvantageous as the Austrian royalty twice denied him the much coveted 'KK Hofballmusikdirektor' position which was first designated especially for Johann I in recognition of his musical contributions. Further, the younger Strauss was also taken to task by the Viennese authorities for publicly playing the infectious La Marseillaise, which stoked revolutionary feelings but he was later acquitted. Shortly after his acquittal, he composed the 'Geißelhiebe Polka' op.60 which contains elements of 'La Marseillaise' in its 'Trio' section as a musical riposte to his arrest. Strauss Sr. remained loyal to the Danube monarchy and composed his Radetzky March op. 228 dedicated to the Habsburg field marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz which would become among his most well-known compositions. When the elder Strauss died from scarlet fever in 1849 in Vienna, the younger Strauss merged both their orchestras and engaged in further tours. Subsequently, he also composed a number of patriotic marches dedicated to the Habsburg monarch Franz Josef I, such as the 'Kaiser Franz-Josef Marsch' op. 67 and the 'Kaiser Franz Josef Rettungs Jubel-Marsch' op. 126, probably to ingratiate himself in the eyes of the new monarch who ascended the Austrian throne after the 1848 Revolution. Strauss' operettas, however, have not had as much enduring success as have his dance pieces and much of the success was reserved for Die Fledermaus, Eine Nacht in Venedig and Der Zigeunerbaron. Notwithstanding the lack of popularity of his operettas, there are much dance pieces drawn from themes of his lukewarmly-received operettas such as 'Cagliostro-Walzer' op. 370 (Cagliostro in Wien); 'O Schöner Mai' Walzer op. 375 (Prinz Methusalem); 'Rosen aus dem Süden' Walzer op. 388 (Das Spitzentuch der Königin) and 'Kuss-Walzer' op. 400 (Der Lustige Krieg). He also wrote an opera, Ritter Pásmán which could be faulted on the libretto but nevertheless, many attribute his strong links to the waltz and the polka as his failure as this may well indicate that he may not be able to write serious music. In fact, for his third and most successful operetta of all time, Die Fledermaus 1874, music critics of Vienna prophesied that his work would only be a 'motif of waltz and polka melodies'. Nonetheless, his fiercest critic and ironically a strong supporter, Eduard Hanslick wrote at the time of Strauss's death in 1899 that his demise would signify the end of the last happy times in Vienna. Johann Strauss II died from pneumonia in Vienna in 1899 at the age of 73 and was buried there in the Zentralfriedhof. At the time of his death, he was still working on his ballet Aschenbrödel. -Biography from Wikipedia.com | ||||||||||||||||
