Johann Strauss: biography brief and creativity

Johann Strauss, whose biography arouses genuine interest among fans of classical music - the famous Austrian composer, violinist, conductor, the greatest master of Viennese operetta and Viennese waltz. On his account about five hundred works in the genre of dance music (mazurkas, polka, waltzes and others), which the author managed to elevate to a high artistic level. In his works, Johann Strauss relied on the traditions of his own father, F. Schubert, I. Lanner, K. M. Weber. Due to symphonization, the composer gave individual imagery to the waltz, whose popularity was determined by melodic beauty and flexibility, romantic spirituality, reliance on urban Austrian folklore and the practice of domestic music making.

The family of Johann Strauss Jr.

Strauss Sr., Johann's father, at one time tried many occupations to find himself in music. The talented violinist organized his own orchestra, amused by the dance music of the rich Austrians, he was engaged in writing, toured a lot with his musical collective and was awarded the title "king of waltz". He was applauded by Brussels, London, Paris and Berlin; His waltzes had a magical effect on the public.

Musicality of the Strauss family

For almost a decade the composer's family moved from one apartment to another, and the walls of each of them witnessed the birth of a new child. The eldest son of Johann Strauss, also Johann, was born in Vienna on October 25, 1825. In total, the family had seven sons - all of them later became musicians. And this is logical, because in the home atmosphere of the Strauss there was always music. The rehearsals of the orchestra often took place in a domestic setting, which gave the children the opportunity to watch the birth of real musical masterpieces. Information about some of them confirms that Josef became a conductor in the Strauss Orchestra from 1853 and the author of popular orchestral pieces, Eduard the violinist, conductor and author of dance compositions, and in 1870 Johann's successor as a conductor of court Viennese balls.

Children's years of Johann Strauss

The eldest son sang in a church choir, and in his father saw an idol, whom sooner or later he wanted to surpass. At the age of six, the boy was already playing his own compositions, which did not meet the interests of his parents, because none of them wanted a musical future for their children. Johann Jr. studied at the Polytechnic School and, secretly from his father, mastered the musical instrument. His first money, the future composer Strauss, whose biography has many ups and downs, began to earn by learning to play the piano, immediately paying them for lessons on the violin. Parental attempts to attract a young man to banking were unsuccessful.

Straights: senior and junior

Strauss Sr., meanwhile, started a new family, in which seven more children were born. The fact of his father's departure allowed Johann to open in his hobby, so he began to take lessons, no longer hiding. In 1844 Johann was awarded the right to conduct in the Viennese magistrate and at the age of 19 he created his own concert ensemble performing his works. At the first show, which became sensational for the Viennese audience, the younger Strauss, whose biography was just beginning on a musical Olympus, proved that his music can compete with the music of his father, who at that time was 40 years old. The act of the son brought Strauss the eldest into a rage, and he, having a large number of connections in the highest circles, tried to complicate the life of his child as much as possible, which led to the emergence of a fierce struggle between native people. Father still played in the secular events at the court, his son was left to realize his talent in the cafe and casino (two small establishments in Vienna). At the same time, Strauss Sr. began a divorce proceedings with his first wife, which led to the inconsistency of the eldest son and his public attacks on his father. The result of the trial was the win of Strauss Sr. in the divorce proceedings: he left his family without inheritance and any means of subsistence. On the concert stage, Johann the elder also triumphed, while his son's orchestra dragged on a miserable existence. Especially John the Jr. was closely interested in the police, who had information about him as a man wasteful, frivolous and immoral.

Strauss's biography: a brief summary

Unexpectedly for everyone in 1849, his father died than opened Strauss, Jr. the road to the musical world of Vienna, besides the famous orchestra of a famous composer, without words, elected him his conductor, and almost all the entertainment establishments of the city renewed their contracts with him. The career of the composer sharply began to rise: at the court of the young emperor in 1852 Strauss already played. The biography is briefly described in many music textbooks.

In 1854, the representatives of the Russian railway company invited the composer to the composer with a business proposal, which implied payment of a considerable sum of money, which invited him to perform at the magnificent Pavlovsk railway station and the park in which the royal palaces were located. Johann Strauss, whose brief biography is described in many textbooks on the history of music, immediately agreed and won the local audience with his polka and waltzes. Even members of the imperial family visited him.

Personal life of the composer

Johann Strauss, whose biography has been associated with music all his life, has endured many romance novels in Russia, but found his own happiness in Vienna. In 1862, he married Etty Trefts, a woman older than him at 7, who had from the "king of waltz" at that time four sons and three daughters. This woman was not only his wife. Etti (former opera diva Henrietta Hallupetzki) became for the composer a secretary, a nurse, business adviser and a muse at the same time; At her Strauss rose even higher and believed in his strength. In 1863, her husband and her husband visited Russia, while in Vienna the brother of Josef reaped the fruits of his popularity, becoming also a well-known composer. In 1870, he dies, and Johann Strauss takes over the crown of his glory, like his father.

Biography briefly: the time of glory

It was the heyday of the composer's work. At this time, Johann Strauss, whose biography and work are closely intertwined, creates his famous works "Tales of the Vienna Woods" and "Blue Danube", expressing the musical soul of Vienna and woven from the melodies of the most diverse peoples inhabiting it. Operetta composer began to write in the 70 years of the XIX century under the influence of J. Offenbach. However, unlike the French operetta with brightly saturated drama, in the works of Strauss dominates the elements of dance. The first operetta of "Indigo and the Forty Thieves" was received by the Austrian public with a cheer. The tops of Strauss's creativity in this genre are "The Gypsy Baron", "The Bat". Strauss's music was highly appreciated by P.I. Tchaikovsky, I. Brahms, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov. The world success for the author was consolidated in the United Kingdom, France and the United States; The composer ran a twenty thousand orchestra with the support of a hundred conductors-assistants. Despite the general recognition, Johann Strauss (biography and work is briefly described in many textbooks on music) has always been full of doubts and dissatisfied with himself, although the pace of his work can be called a feverish, very tense.

World Recognition

Refusing to conduct the court, Johann Strauss, whose brief biography describes the key moments of his work, continued touring in different countries, successfully performing in Moscow, St. Petersburg, London, Paris, New York, Boston. The size of his income contributed to the construction of his own "city palace" and luxurious life. For some time, from the habitual rhythm of life of Johann Strauss, the death of his beloved wife and the failed second marriage with the actress Angelika Dietrich, who was younger than the composer for 25 years, were beaten out. Marriage for the third time - on Adele Deutsch, 26-year-old young widow, whose marriage was happy, returned the composer to his usual way of life. His third wife, Johann Strauss, whose biography is of genuine interest to the modern generation, dedicated the waltz "Adele".

In 1885, on the eve of the composer's 60th birthday, a loud premiere of the operetta "The Gypsy Baron" was held, which became a real holiday for the people of Vienna, and then for the rest of the world's inhabitants. Strauss, meanwhile, closely followed the musical trends in the music world, studied with the classics, maintained friendship with such maestros as Franz Liszt and Johann Brahms.

Johann Strauss, whose biography arouses the interest of the younger generation, decided to try his hand at opera; In 1892 the premiere of his opera "The Knight Pasman" was performed, and the preliminary version of the ballet "Cinderella" was completed in late 1898. Until its premiere, the composer no longer lived.

The last years of the composer's life

The success of Strauss was not always at the top of the take-off: there were also falls. So, the operetta "Viennese Blood" did not have such success as the previous works, and withstood only a small number of performances. The last years of his life, Strauss, whose biography is interesting to many of his admirers, spent in seclusion, he hid in his own mansion and from time to time played with friends in the pool. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the operetta "The Bat" the composer was persuaded to conduct the overture. This turned out to be his last performance, Johann Strauss caught a cold and fell ill with pneumonia. Perhaps the composer had a presentiment of his own death, in moments of consciousness his wife heard him squeal softly: "Gladly, friends, the end must come." This song was written by the teacher Johann Josef Drexler. Strauss died at the hands of Adele on June 3, 1899. Vienna arranged for him, like Strauss, the elder, a grand funeral. The grave of the composer is located among the graves of other geniuses of music: Brahms, Schubert and Beethoven.