Johann Strauss Jr.

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Johann Strauss II (German: Johann Strauß (Sohn), "Johann Strauss (son)"; in English also Johann Strauss the Younger, Johann Strauss Jr., Johann Sebastian Strauss) (October 25, 1825 – June 3, 1899) was an Austrian composer known especially for his waltzes, such as The Blue Danube. Son of the composer Johann Strauss I, and brother to the composers Josef Strauss and Eduard Strauss, Johann II is the most famous of the family. He was known in his lifetime as "the waltz king," and the popularity of the waltz in Vienna through the 19th century is due in large part to him. He became the "waltz king" by his revolutionary elevation of the waltz from lowly peasant dance to sparkling entertainment for the royal Habsburg court. Not only did he revolutionize the waltz, but his work enjoyed greater fame than his predecessors such as his father and Josef Lanner. Some of his polkas and marches are also well known, as is his operetta Die Fledermaus. Strauss was born in Vienna, Austria. 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 his father's first violinist in the Strauss orchestra, Franz Amon. However, when his father found out, Johann II recalled that 'there was a violent and unpleasant scene' and that 'his father wanted to know nothing of his musical plans'. It seems that, rather than trying to avoid a Strauss rivalry, Strauss Sr. wanted his son to escape the rigors that accompany a musical

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