Johann Strauss II (1825–1899) was an Austrian composer and conductor known the world over as the “Waltz King.” He raised the Viennese waltz from a simple dance to the level of a refined concert genre, full of melodic charm and festive elegance.
His most famous work is the waltz “On the Beautiful Blue Danube,” which became the unofficial musical symbol of Vienna and Austria. Strauss wrote hundreds of waltzes, polkas, and marches, as well as brilliant operettas, among them the unsurpassed “Die Fledermaus” and “The Gypsy Baron.” His music remains the core of the celebrated New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic, broadcast around the world. Johann Strauss remains a symbol of the carefree beauty and dancing joy of the Viennese musical tradition.
