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What Strauss wrote. Johann Strauss son

On the violin secretly from his father, who wanted to see his son as a banker and made scandals when he found his son with a violin in his hands. Soon his father gave Johann Jr. to the Higher Commercial School, and in the evenings he forced him to work as an accountant.

Johann's conducting debut with the new Strauss Chapel took place at Dommeyer's restaurant in Hietzing on October 15, 1844, and earned him the reputation of the future waltz king.

The repertoire of the Strauss son orchestra consisted largely of his own compositions. At first, the father blacklisted those institutions where his son performed, did not allow him to court balls and other prestigious events that he considered his fiefdom.

In 1848, Strauss Jr. in the days French Revolution played the Marseillaise and wrote a number of revolutionary marches and waltzes himself. After the suppression of the revolution, he was brought to trial, but then acquitted.

After the death of his father in 1949, Strauss Jr. dedicated the waltz "Aeolian Harp" to his memory and published it at his own expense. complete collection writings of Strauss Sr.

Strauss-son took over his orchestra, but he received his father's title of "court bandmaster" only in 1863 - the imperial court recalled his sympathy for the revolution. Strauss held this honorary post until 1871.

The composer was invited to Russia to conduct concerts and balls in the building of the Pavlovsky railway station. The success was so great that for the next ten years, until 1865, Strauss spent every summer with concerts in Pavlovsk.

Strauss' enormous melodic talent, his innovation in rhythm and orchestration, his outstanding theatrical and dramatic talent are captured in almost 500 compositions. Among them are the waltzes "Acceleration" (1860), "Morning Papers" (1864), "The Life of an Artist" (1867), "Tales of the Vienna Woods" (1869), "Wine, Women and Songs" (1869), "Viennese Blood "(1872), "Spring Voices" (1882) and "Imperial Waltz" (1888). Especially popular are the polka "Anna", "Trich-trach" and the polka "Pizzicato" written with his brother Josef, as well as the "Persian March" and the polka "Perpetual Motion".

Widely known for his waltz "Blue Danube" - unofficial anthem Austria. The tune was originally written as choral work for the Vienna Choral Society. On February 15, 1867, its premiere took place, which caused unimaginable delight among the public. Shortly after the premiere, an orchestral version was written by Johann Strauss, which is considered to this day a synonym for the waltz.

In the 1870s, on the advice of the composer Jacques Offenbach, Strauss turned to the operetta genre. In 1871, the Theater an der Wien premiered his first operetta, Indigo and the Forty Thieves. The most performed operetta in the world has become " Bat", which premiered in 1874 to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Strauss's first public performance.

Johann Strauss also wrote such beloved operettas as A Night in Venice (1883) and The Gypsy Baron (1885).

Like his father, Strauss traveled all over Europe with his orchestra, in 1872 he conducted four concerts in New York and the 14th in Boston, and, with the support of 100 assistant conductors, performed "The Blue Danube" with a 20,000th orchestra and choir.

At the end of his life, the composer wrote his only comic opera"Knight Pasman" (1892). The preliminary version of his ballet "Cinderella" was completed in the late autumn of 1898, he did not live to see the premiere.

In total, Johann Strauss created 168 waltzes, 117 polkas, 73 quadrilles, 43 marches, 31 mazurkas, 15 operettas, comic opera and ballet.

On June 3, 1899, Johann Strauss died of pneumonia. He was buried in the Vienna Central Cemetery.

The composer was married three times. In 1862 Strauss married opera singer Yetti Halupetskaya, who performed under the pseudonym "Trefts". In 1878, after the death of Yettti, Strauss married a young German singer and Angelina Dietrich, but soon this marriage broke up.

In 1882 Strauss married Adele Deutsch (1856-1930), the widow of a banker's son. Strauss dedicated the waltz "Adele" to his wife. Despite three marriages, Strauss had no children of his own.

Johann Strauss Jr. had four brothers, two of them (Joseph and Eduard) also became famous composers.

In Vienna, in the house where Johann Strauss wrote the unofficial waltz Blue Danube anthem of Austria, the composer's Memorial Museum-Apartment has been opened.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Johann Strauss son was born in Vienna in 1825. His father, also Johann, before becoming a violinist, tried several professions, and in the end it was in the musical field that he achieved great success. Having married, Strauss-father organized his own orchestra, which played dance music to amuse the rich inhabitants of Vienna, if necessary he composed himself, became famous and received the title of "king of the waltz". Strauss-father toured a lot with his ensemble - speaking in Berlin, Paris, Brussels, London. With his waltzes, he had a magical effect on the audience - even such maestros as Liszt and Berlioz expressed their admiration for him.

For almost 10 years, the family of Johann Strauss wandered from one Viennese apartment to another, and in almost each of them a child was born - a son or daughter. Children grew up in an atmosphere rich in music, and everyone was musical. His father's orchestra often rehearsed at home, and little Johann closely followed what was happening. He began to study the piano early, and sang in the church choir. Already at the age of six he was playing his own dances. However, neither father nor mother wanted a musical future for their children.

In the meantime, the cheerful father began to live in two families, and to the seven children from his first marriage he had seven more. His father was an idol for Johann, and yet the young man cherished the dream of someday rising even higher. Officially, he was listed at the Polytechnic School, but secretly continued to study music: earning money by teaching the piano, he gave them for violin lessons. Attempts by his parents to attach him to the banking business were not successful.

Finally, at the age of nineteen, Johann Strauss gathered a small ensemble and received the official right from the Vienna magistrate to earn a living by conducting. His debut took place on October 15, 1844 as a bandmaster and composer at the famous casino on the outskirts of Vienna. The public performance of the young Strauss with his own orchestra became a real sensation for the Viennese public. It goes without saying that everyone saw the ambitious son as a competitor to his father.

The next morning the newspapers wrote: "Good evening, Strauss-father. Good morning, Strauss-son. "The father at that time was only forty years old. The son's act infuriated him, and soon for the son, still reveling in his triumph, cruel everyday life began - the struggle for survival. The father still played on secular balls and at court, but only two small establishments remained for the share of the son in all of Vienna - a casino and a cafe. In addition, the father started a divorce proceedings with his first wife - this story was savored in every way by the press, and the offended son could not resist public attacks on his father. This story had a sad end - the father, using his connections, won trial, depriving his first family of the rights to the inheritance and leaving it without a livelihood. The father also won on the concert stage, and the son's orchestra eked out a rather miserable existence. In addition, the son was in bad standing with the Vienna police, having a reputation as a frivolous, immoral and wasteful person. However, in the fall of 1849, his father died unexpectedly, and everything changed for his son at once. The famous orchestra of Strauss-father, without further ado, chose Strauss-son as its conductor, and almost all entertainment establishments in the capital renewed their contracts with him. Showing remarkable diplomatic skills, knowing how to flatter strong of the world of this, Strauss-son soon rapidly went uphill. In 1852, he was already playing at the court of the young emperor.

In the summer of 1854, representatives of the Russian railway company, which owned a suburban line connecting St. Petersburg with Tsarskoye Selo and Pavlovsky. The maestro received an invitation to perform with his orchestra in the luxurious Pavlovsky railway station and in the park where the palaces of the Tsar and Grand Duke Konstantin were located. Considerable money was offered, and Strauss immediately agreed. May 18, 1856 began his first season under the Russian sky. The audience was immediately captivated by his waltzes and polkas. Members of the imperial family attended his concerts. In Vienna, Strauss was replaced, not without success, by his brother Joseph, also a talented conductor and composer.

In Russia, Strauss experienced many novels, but found marital happiness in Vienna, having married in August 1862 Etti Trefts, who already had three daughters and four sons before him. This did not prevent her from becoming not only his lover, but also a muse, nurse, secretary, business adviser. With her, Strauss ascended even higher and became even stronger in spirit. On summer season In 1863, Etty and her husband went to Russia ... Trying to keep up with Joseph, who by that time had become in Vienna famous composer, Johann Strauss creates his masterpieces - the waltzes "The Blue Danube" and "Tales of the Vienna Woods", in which musical soul Vienna, woven from the melodies of the most diverse nations that inhabit it. With his brother, Johann performs in Russia in the summer of 1869, but the days of that are numbered - extreme overwork leads to incurable disease and in July 1870, forty-three-year-old Josef dies. Like his father, he seemed to give Johann a wreath of his own glory.

In 1870, the Viennese newspapers reported that Strauss was working on an operetta. This was inspired by his ambitious wife. Indeed, Strauss was tired of the "peeping" of waltzes and he refused the post of "conductor of court balls." This position will be taken by his third brother - Eduard Strauss. Strauss's first operetta, titled "Indigo and the Forty Thieves", was accepted by the public with a bang. The third operetta of the composer was the famous "Die Fledermaus". Placed in the spring of 1874, the Viennese immediately fell in love with it. The composer overcame another Olympus. Now he's been recognized in everything music world, however, continued to work at a feverish pace and with great stress. Success and fame did not rid him of the fear that one day the muse would leave him, and he would not be able to write anything else. This minion of fate was forever dissatisfied with himself and full of doubts.

The rejection of court conducting did not prevent Strauss from continuing to tour countries and villages, successfully performing in St. Petersburg and Moscow, Paris and London, New York and Boston. His income is growing, he is included in the elite of Viennese society, he is building his "city palace", he lives in luxury. The death of his wife and an unsuccessful second marriage knocked Strauss out of his usual rut of success for a while, but a few years later, already in his third marriage, he was back on horseback.

After the operetta "Nights in Venice" he writes his "Gypsy Baron". The premiere of this operetta on October 24, 1885, on the eve of the sixtieth birthday of the composer, was a real holiday for the Viennese, and then its triumphal procession began in all major theaters Germany and Austria. But even this was not enough for Strauss - his soul demanded a different musical space, a different stage - an operatic one. He closely followed the musical trends of his time, studied with the classics, and made friends with such maestros as Johann Brahms and Franz Liszt. He was haunted by their laurels, and he decided to overcome another Olympus - the opera. Brahms dissuaded him from this venture not without difficulty, and, perhaps, he was right. But something else follows from here - Johann Strauss, as a real artist, could not help looking for new ways for himself, new points of application for his remarkable talent.

And yet for Strauss it was the collapse of some dream. After that, the composer's work sharply went downhill. His new operetta "Viennese Blood" was not liked by the public and withstood only a few performances. In October 1894, Vienna solemnly celebrated the 50th anniversary of the conductor activity of the "King of Waltzes". Strauss himself was well aware that this was just nostalgia for the old good times, of which there is almost nothing left in the air. The harsh twentieth century was knocking on the door.

Last years Strauss spent his life in seclusion, hiding in his mansion, where from time to time he chased billiard balls with friends. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the operetta Die Fledermaus, he was persuaded to conduct the overture. Last performance Strauss was fatal for him - he caught a cold and fell ill. Pneumonia started. On June 30, 1899, Strauss died. As once to his father, Vienna gave him a grand funeral.

Johann Strauss (son) short biography outlined in this article.

Johann Strauss short biography

Johann Strauss son- Austrian composer, conductor and violinist, "king of the waltz".

The Strauss family had seven sons, all of whom later became musicians. As a child, his father forbade Johann to play, not wanting to see the boy's future in the musical direction.

Officially studying at the Polytechnic School, future composer Strauss learns music secretly from his parents. Only after the departure of his father to another family, Johann, without hiding, takes lessons.

In 1844, Strauss received the right to conduct in the Vienna magistrate. Johann organized a small orchestra playing his works. Strauss's music at the very first performance amazed the audience, who saw the composer as a competitor to his father, and a struggle began between them.

Strauss Sr., using his connections, limited his son's performances. And he continued to play social events. Perhaps he was afraid that his son would be where best musician. Along with this, there is a divorce process between the parents, in which the father leaves the family practically impoverished. But unexpectedly in 1849, Johann's father dies. After that, the father's orchestra joins the son's orchestra without reservation. The music of Johann Strauss was so fond of the public that he was invited to all concerts and balls.

Having received an invitation to perform in Russia in 1854, the composer immediately agreed, leaving his brother Josef in Vienna instead. Polkas, waltzes by Johann Strauss quickly gained recognition.

In 1862 he marries Yetty Treffz, who was a great support in the life of Johann Strauss.

In the years 1860-70, some of the most famous works composer: "Tales of the Vienna Woods", "Blue Danube". Acting in the UK, USA, France, Strauss's works further secure world success for the author. Written in 1874, Strauss's operetta Die Fledermaus receives its share of popularity only after 20 years.

, Austria-Hungary

Johann Strauss son(October 25, 1825, Vienna - June 3, 1899, Vienna) - Austrian composer, conductor and violinist, recognized as the "king of the waltz", author of numerous dance works and several popular operettas.

Born into a famous family Austrian composer Johann Strauss Sr. His great-grandfather Johann Michael Strauss (1720-1800) from Buda (part of Budapest) was a Jewish convert to Catholicism. Two of the four Strauss Jr. brothers (Josef and Eduard) also became well-known composers.

The boy learned to play the violin secretly from his father, who wanted to see his son as a banker and made furious scandals when he caught his son with a violin in his hands. However, with the help of his mother, Johann Jr. continued to secretly improve in music. The father soon sent Johann Jr. to the Higher Commercial School, and in the evenings he forced him to work as an accountant. In 1844, Johann Jr. completed his musical education from famous educators who gave him brilliant recommendations (for obtaining a license for the profession). When he finally made up his mind and applied to the magistrate for a license for the right to conduct an orchestra, his mother, fearing that Johann Sr. would prevent the issuance of a license, filed for divorce due to her husband's long-term betrayal. Strauss Sr. responded by disinheriting Anna's children by signing off his entire fortune to the children of his mistress Emilia Trampush. Soon after the divorce was registered, he officially married Emilia, by which time they already had seven children.

Getting rid of fans is as difficult as wiping the dust off a piano - it immediately accumulates again!

Strauss Johann (son)

Soon, Strauss manages to recruit a small orchestra of his own, and he successfully performs at Dommeyer's casino in Vienna. The orchestra's repertoire largely consisted of his own works. At first, envy from an influential father greatly interfered, who blacklisted those institutions where his son performed, did not allow him to court balls and other prestigious events that he considered his fiefdom. But, despite all the efforts of his father and thanks to the admirers of the talent of Johann Jr., he was appointed bandmaster of the military band of the second regiment of the civil militia (his father was the head of the band of the first regiment).

The revolution of 1848 further deepened the conflict between father and son. Strauss Sr. supported the monarchy and wrote the loyal Radetzky March. Strauss Jr. during the days of the revolution played the Marseillaise and wrote a number of revolutionary marches and waltzes himself. After the suppression of the revolution, he was brought to trial, but was eventually acquitted.

1849: Strauss senior died of scarlet fever. Johann played Mozart's "Requiem" on his father's grave, dedicated the waltz "Aeolian Harp" to the memory of his father, and published at his own expense the complete works of his father. The father's orchestra decided to join the son's musicians, and the combined orchestra went on tour in Austria, Poland, and Germany. Everywhere he was a huge success.

To improve relations with the new Emperor Franz Joseph I, Strauss dedicates two marches to him. Soon he was given all his father's powers at court balls and concerts (1852). There are so many invitations that he often sends one of his brothers instead of himself. Unlike his father, he did not envy anyone and joked that "the brothers are more talented than me, I'm just more popular."

1856: Strauss' first tour in Russia. He became a permanent conductor of summer concerts at the Pavlovsky railway station with a huge salary (22 thousand rubles per season). During the five years of performances in Pavlovsk, Strauss is experiencing a serious passion for a Russian girl, Olga Smirnitskaya, but Olga's parents prevented their marriage. The Soviet film Farewell to Petersburg and Aigner's book Johann Strauss - Olga Smirnitskaya were dedicated to this novel. 100 Love Letters.

In 1862, Strauss, after Olga's announcement of his marriage to a Russian officer, married the opera singer Yetti Chalupetskaya, who performed under the pseudonym "Trefts" ( Henrietta Treffz). Biographers note that Yettie was outwardly similar to Olga Smirnitskaya. Yettie was 7 years older than Strauss and also had seven illegitimate children from different fathers. Nevertheless, the marriage turned out to be happy, Henrietta became a faithful and caring wife and impresario of her husband.

Late 1860s - early 1870s: Straussian genius flourished. During this period, he creates his best waltzes: "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" (1866) and "Tales of the Vienna Woods" (1868), the best operettas.

1870: Strauss refuses court duties (passes them on to his brother Eduard) and devotes himself to operetta. Unexpectedly, at the age of 43, brother Josef dies.

In the 1870s, the Strauss Orchestra toured Great Britain, France, and the USA. in Boston music festival Strauss sets a world record by leading an orchestra of over 1,000 musicians. In 1871, on the advice of Offenbach, Strauss wrote his first operetta "Indigo and the Forty Thieves", well received by the public. In total, he wrote 15 operettas.

1874: the new operetta Die Fledermaus was not very popular at first, but still did not leave the stage of the Viennese theaters for many years. The triumphant success comes 20 years later, after the appearance of a new edition (Gustav Mahler, Hamburg).

1878: After Yettie's death, Strauss married a young German singer, Angelika Dietrich. Soon this marriage breaks up. In 1882, Strauss marries for the third and last time, on Adele Deutsch (1856-1930), widow of the son of the banker Anton Strauss. She was Jewish and did not want to convert to Christianity. They would not have been married in the Catholic Church, therefore, in order to formalize a divorce and a new marriage, Strauss becomes an evangelical Protestant and takes German citizenship, becoming a subject of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Finally, the marriage with Adele was formalized in 1887. Strauss dedicated the waltz Adele to his wife. Their living together turned out well. Despite three marriages, Strauss had no children of his own.

1880: Strauss goes to Paris to spend last way Offenbach.

1885: a new masterpiece: the operetta "The Gypsy Baron", based on the plot of the story "Saffy" by Mora Yokai. The music of the operetta is filled with a distinct Hungarian flavor. This is the most "opera" of Strauss's operettas.

1895: Strauss's 70th birthday is celebrated throughout Europe.

In recent years, Strauss did not give concerts and practically did not leave the house. But on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the operetta Die Fledermaus, he was persuaded to conduct the overture. He got too excited and caught a bad cold on the way home. Strauss died in Vienna at the age of 73 from pneumonia, before he could finish the ballet Cinderella. Completed work on the ballet in next year Joseph Bayer. Strauss was buried in the Vienna Central Cemetery.

Johann bequeathed his entire fortune musical society. Adele got only the rent. She survived her husband by 31 years, devoting herself entirely to the creation of the Strauss Museum and the publication of his works. She even tracked down and kept her husband's love letters to Olga.

After the death of Strauss, several operettas were staged, assembled from various of his works. The first of these was "Viennese Blood", the leitmotif of which is the Strauss waltz of the same name. Strauss, shortly before his death, gave permission for the creation of this work, but it did not have a stage success.

Creation

During his life, Johann Strauss created 496 works: 168 waltzes, 117 polkas, 73 quadrilles, 43 marches, 31 mazurkas, 16 operettas, comic opera and ballet. He did with dance music what Gershwin later did with jazz: raised it to symphonic heights. Strauss' works were admired by a wide variety of composers, from Offenbach to Wagner, from Lehár to Tchaikovsky.

Operettas and other theatrical productions

Indigo and the Forty Thieves (Indigo und die Vierzig Räuber, 1871)
Carnival in Rome (Der Karneval in Rom, 1873)
Bat (Die Fledermaus, 1874)
Cagliostro in Vienna (1875)
Prince Methuselah (Prinz Methusalem, 1877)
Blinders (Blindekuh, 1878)
The Queen's Lace Handkerchief (Das Spitzentuch der Königin, 1880)
The Merry War (Der lustige Krieg, 1881)
Night in Venice (Eine Nacht in Venedig, 1883)
The Gypsy Baron (Der Zigeunerbaron, 1885)
Simplicius (Simplicius. 1887)
Knight Pasman (Ritter Pásmán, opera, 1892)
Princess Ninetta (Fürstin Ninetta, 1893)
Apple Holiday (Jabuka, 1894)
Fragrant woodruff (Waldmeister) (1895)
The Goddess of Reason (Die Göttin der Vernunft, 1897)
Cinderella (Aschenbrödel, 1899, ballet, posthumously)
Vienna Blood (Wiener Blut, 1899, posthumous)

famous waltzes

Songs of Love (Liebeslieder, op. 114, 1852)
Farewell to Petersburg (Abschied von St Petersburg, op. 210, 1858)
On the Beautiful Blue Danube (An der schönen blauen Donau, op. 314, 1867)
An Artist's Life (Künstlerleben, op. 316, 1867)
Tales from the Vienna Woods (G'schichten aus dem Wienerwald, op. 325, 1868)
Wine, Women and Songs (Wein, Weib und Gesang, op. 333, 1869)
A Thousand and One Nights (Tausend und eine Nacht, op. 346, 1871)
Vienna Blood (Wiener Blut, op. 354, 1873)
Cagliostro (Cagliostro-Walzer, op. 370, 1875)
Beautiful May (O schöner Mai!, op. 375, 1877)
Roses from the South (Rosen aus dem Süden, op. 388, 1880)
Kiss (Kuss-Walzer, op. 400, 1881)
Spring Voices (Frühlingsstimmen, op. 410, 1883)
Lagoons (Lagunen-Walzer, op. 411, 1883)
Viennese Women (Wiener Frauen, op. 423, 1886)
Imperial Waltz (Kaiser-Walzer, op. 437, 1888)

Strauss music in film

Film "Viennese Waltzes" Waltzes from Vienna 1934) directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film tells about the writing of the waltz "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss Jr.
The life and melodies of Johann Strauss is dedicated to the popular american film"Great Waltz" (1938). The plot of the film has little to do with real life composer.
Karajan waltz recording "On the beautiful blue Danube" was used by film director Stanley Kubrick in the soundtrack for the film "2001: A Space Odyssey" (Kubrick recut the footage to "get" into the music).
The waltz "Viennese blood" (Wiener Blut) was used in the cartoon "About Johann the Mouse", as well as in the soundtrack for Guy Ritchie's film "Sherlock Holmes. A Game of Shadows" (in a somewhat revised form by composer Hans Zimmer).
The film "Farewell to St. Petersburg" (USSR) tells about Strauss' stay in Russia.

The next morning the newspapers wrote: "Good evening, Strauss father. Good morning, Strauss son." My father was only forty at the time. The act of his son enraged him, and soon for his son, still reveling in his triumph, cruel everyday life began - the struggle for survival. The father still played at secular balls and at court, but only two small establishments remained for the son in all of Vienna - a casino and a cafe. In addition, the father started a divorce proceedings with his first wife - this story was savored in every way by the press, and the offended son could not resist public attacks on his father. This story had a sad end - the father, using his connections, won the lawsuit, depriving his first family of the rights to the inheritance and leaving her without a livelihood. The father also won on the concert stage, and the son's orchestra eked out a rather miserable existence. In addition, the son was in bad standing with the Vienna police, having a reputation as a frivolous, immoral and wasteful person. However, in the fall of 1849, his father died unexpectedly, and everything changed for his son at once. The famous orchestra of Strauss-father, without further ado, chose Strauss-son as its conductor, and almost all entertainment establishments in the capital renewed their contracts with him. Showing remarkable diplomatic skills, knowing how to flatter the powerful of this world, Strauss-son soon quickly went up the hill. In 1852, he was already playing at the court of the young emperor.

In the summer of 1854, representatives of the Russian railway company, which owned a suburban line connecting St. Petersburg with Tsarskoye Selo and Pavlovsk, came to I. Strauss with a business proposal. The maestro received an invitation to perform with his orchestra in the luxurious Pavlovsky railway station and in the park where the palaces of the Tsar and Grand Duke Konstantin were located. Considerable money was offered, and Strauss immediately agreed. May 18, 1856 began his first season under the Russian sky. The audience was immediately captivated by his waltzes and polkas. Members of the imperial family attended his concerts. In Vienna, Strauss was replaced, not without success, by his brother Joseph, also a talented conductor and composer.

In Russia, Strauss experienced many novels, but found marital happiness in Vienna, having married in August 1862 Etti Trefts, who already had three daughters and four sons before him. This did not prevent her from becoming not only his lover, but also a muse, nurse, secretary, business adviser. With her, Strauss ascended even higher and became even stronger in spirit. For the summer season of 1863, Etty and her husband went to Russia... Trying to keep up with Josef, who by that time had become a famous composer in Vienna, Johann Strauss creates his masterpieces - the Blue Danube waltzes and the Vienna Woods Tales, in which expressed the musical soul of Vienna, woven from the melodies of the most diverse nations inhabiting it. With his brother, Johann performs in Russia in the summer of 1869, but the days are numbered - extreme overwork leads to an incurable illness, and in July 1870, forty-three-year-old Josef dies. Like his father, he seemed to give Johann a wreath of his own glory.

In 1870, the Viennese newspapers reported that Strauss was working on an operetta. This was inspired by his ambitious wife. Indeed, Strauss was tired of the "peeping" of waltzes and he refused the post of "conductor of court balls." This position will be taken by his third brother - Eduard Strauss. Strauss's first operetta, titled "Indigo and the Forty Thieves", was accepted by the public with a bang. The third operetta of the composer was the famous "Die Fledermaus". Placed in the spring of 1874, the Viennese immediately fell in love with it. The composer overcame another Olympus. Now he was recognized throughout the musical world, but continued to work at a hectic pace and with great effort. Success and fame did not rid him of the fear that one day the muse would leave him, and he would not be able to write anything else. This minion of fate was forever dissatisfied with himself and full of doubts.

After the operetta "Nights in Venice" he writes his "Gypsy Baron". The premiere of this operetta on October 24, 1885, on the eve of the composer's sixtieth birthday, was a real holiday for the Viennese, and then its triumphal procession began in all major theaters in Germany and Austria. But even this was not enough for Strauss - his soul demanded a different musical space, a different stage - an operatic one. He closely followed the musical trends of his time, studied with the classics, and made friends with such maestros as Johann Brahms and Franz Liszt. He was haunted by their laurels, and he decided to overcome another Olympus - the opera. Brahms dissuaded him from this venture not without difficulty, and, perhaps, he was right. But something else follows from here - Johann Strauss, as a real artist, could not help looking for new ways for himself, new points of application for his remarkable talent.

And yet for Strauss it was the collapse of some dream. After that, the composer's work sharply went downhill. His new operetta "Viennese Blood" was not liked by the public and withstood only a few performances. In October 1894, Vienna solemnly celebrated the 50th anniversary of the conductor activity of the "King of Waltzes". Strauss himself was well aware that this was just nostalgia for the good old days, of which almost nothing was left in the air. The harsh twentieth century was knocking on the door.

Strauss spent the last years of his life in seclusion, hiding in his mansion, where from time to time he chased billiard balls with friends. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the operetta Die Fledermaus, he was persuaded to conduct the overture. Strauss' last performance turned out to be fatal for him - he caught a cold and fell ill. Pneumonia started. On June 30, 1899, Strauss died. As once to his father, Vienna gave him a grand funeral.

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