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The polka is originally a Czech dance and genre of dance music familiar throughout all of Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the nineteenth century in Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. The polka remains a popular folk music genre in many western countries, and is performed by many folk artists.
Johann Baptist Strauss II, also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger, the Son, was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas and a ballet. In his lifetime, he was known as "The Waltz King", and was largely responsible for the popularity of the waltz in Vienna during the 19th century. Some of Johann Strauss's most famous works include "The Blue Danube", "Kaiser-Walzer", "Tales from the Vienna Woods", "Frühlingsstimmen", and the "Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka". Among his operettas, Die Fledermaus and Der Zigeunerbaron are the best known.
Johann Baptist Strauss I was an Austrian Romantic composer. He was famous for his waltzes, and he popularized them alongside Joseph Lanner, thereby setting the foundations for his sons—Johann, Josef and Eduard—to carry on his musical dynasty. He is best known for his composition of the Radetzky March.
The Vienna New Year's Concert is an annual concert of classical music performed by the Vienna Philharmonic on the morning of New Year's Day in Vienna, Austria. The concert occurs at the Musikverein at 11:15. The orchestra performs the same concert programme on 30 December, 31 December, and 1 January but only the last concert is regularly broadcast on radio and television.
Josef Strauss was an Austrian composer.
Eduard "Edi" Strauss was an Austrian composer who, together with his brothers Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss made up the Strauss musical dynasty. He was the son of Johann Strauss I and Maria Anna Streim. The family dominated the Viennese light music world for decades, creating many waltzes and polkas for many Austrian nobility as well as dance-music enthusiasts around Europe. He was affectionately known in his family as 'Edi'.
Johann Maria Eduard Strauss III was an Austrian composer whose father was Eduard Strauss, whose uncles were Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss, and whose grandfather was Johann Strauss I. Born in Vienna, he was unofficially entrusted with the task of upholding his family's tradition after the dissolution of the Strauss Orchestra by his father in 1901. His talents were not fully realized during his lifetime as musical tastes had changed in the Silver Age with more popular composers such as Franz Lehár and Oscar Straus dominating the Viennese musical scene with their operettas, although his uncle, Johann Strauss II, supervised his development as a musician, a fact disputed by Eduard Strauss.
Wiener Frauen or 'Viennese Ladies' op. 423 is a waltz composed by Johann Strauss II in 1886.
Carl Michael Ziehrer was an Austrian composer. In his lifetime, he was one of the fiercest rivals of the Strauss family; most notably Johann Strauss II and Eduard Strauss.
Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, Op. 214, is a polka in A major by Johann Strauss II, written in 1858 after a successful tour of Russia where he performed in the summer concert season at Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg. It was first performed in a concert in Vienna on 24 November 1858.
Immer heiterer op. 235 is a waltz written by Johann Strauss II in 1860 for the Vienna Carnival Fasching. The waltz was marked as "im ländlerstil" which meant that it was to be performed in the same style as the ländler.
'S gibt nur a Kaiserstadt, 's gibt nur a Wien! is a polka written by Johann Strauss II in 1864. The title of this polka was inspired from the waltz duet in the Singspiel Aline by Adolf Bäuerle with music by Wenzel Müller first performed at the Theater in der Leopoldstadt on 9 October 1822. The song titled 'Was macht denn der Prater' was a hit during its day whereas its refrain 'Ja nur ein' Kaiserstadt, ja nur a Wien' became a popular household phrase.
Nachtfalter (Moths) op. 157 is a waltz by Johann Strauss II written in 1854. The waltz was first performed at a parish festival ball at Unger's Casino in the suburb of Hernals, Vienna on 28 August of the same year.
Vergnügungszug, op. 281 is a polka composed by Johann Strauss II in 1864. It was written for the Association of Industrial Societies' Ball held in the Redoutensaal on 19 January 1864 and was inspired by the opening of the Austrian Southern Railway – the Südbahn – which operated many 'pleasure trains' offering trips from Vienna to the countryside.
Cagliostro in Wien is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II to a libretto by F. Zell and Richard Genée. It premiered on 27 February 1875 at the Theater an der Wien, featuring Marie Geistinger and Alexander Girardi.
Das Spitzentuch der Königin is an operetta by Johann Strauss II. The libretto by Heinrich Bohrmann-Riegen and Richard Genée was based on the Spanish writer Cervantes.
Abschied von St. Petersburg, opus 210, is the name of a waltz composed by Johann Strauss II. The work was first performed at a benefit concert in Pavlovsk on September 5, 1858, as part of a tour of Russia that Strauss was conducting. In keeping with the vogue then current in Russia for the French language, the work was entitled as Mes adieux à St. Pétersbourg. Less than a week after his return to his home city of Vienna, Strauss conducted the first Viennese performance of the work at the Vienna Volksgarten.
Champagner-Polka, Op. 211, subtitled "A musical joke", is a polka by Johann Strauss II, written in 1858 for his successful tour of Russia where he performed in the summer concert season at Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg, where it was played for the first time on 12 August 1858.
Egyptischer Marsch, Op. 335, is a march composed by Johann Strauss II. It was commissioned for the inauguration of the Suez Canal, celebrated on 17 November 1869 in Port Said, where Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria officiated at the ceremonial opening, though it was first performed on 6 July 1869 in Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg, under the title "Tscherkenssen-Marsch". Strauss later dedicated the work to Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden.
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Based on original text by Peter Kemp, The Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain. Used with permission.
