Eduard Strauss
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Eduard Strauss (German: Eduard Strauß) (15 March 1835 – 28 December 1916) was an Austrian composer who, together with brothers Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss formed the Strauss musical dynasty. The family dominated the Viennese light music world for decades, creating many waltzes and polkas for many Austrian nobility as well as well as dance-music enthusiasts around Europe. He was affectionately known in his family as 'Edi'.
Strauss' style was individual and did not attempt to emulate the works of his other brothers or his contemporaries. But he was primarily remembered and recognized as a dance music conductor rather than as a major composer in the Strauss family, and his popularity was overshadowed by that of his elder brothers. Realising this, he stamped his own mark with the quick polka, known in German as the "polka-schnell". Among the more popular polkas that he ever penned for the Strauss Orchestra, which he continued to conduct until its disbandment on 13 February 1901, were "Bahn Frei" op. 45, "Ausser Rand und Band" op.168, and "Ohne Bremse" op. 238. He also found time to pen a few lovely waltzes, of which only a handful survived obscurity. The most famous is probably the "Doctrinen" op.79.
Strauss' musical career was pervaded with rivalry not only from his brothers but also from the military bandmaster and dance music composer, Karl Michael Ziehrer who even formed a rival orchestra called "Formerly Eduard Strauss Orchestra" and began giving concerts in Vienna under this new title. Eduard Strauss successfully filed a court action against Ziehrer for the improper and misleading use of his name but Ziehrer would eventually surpass the Strauss family in popularity in Vienna, particularly after the deaths of his more talented brothers, Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss. The rivalry was to extend until the Strauss Orchestra was disbanded.
Strauss married Maria Klenkhart on 8 January 1863 and had two sons, Johann Strauss III and Josef Eduard Strauss. The eldest son, Johann Strauss III was to lead the Strauss revival well into the 20th century.
However, personal setbacks in the 1890s such as the death of brother Johann Strauss II in 1899 and his realization that his immediate family had squandered his personal fortune led Eduard Strauss to decide on retirement. Eduard Strauss engaged in the final tour of his musical career to North America in 1899 and in 1901, he disbanded the Strauss Orchestra and returned to Vienna where he died in 1916. He retired from public life and never actively took part in any public musical activity although he did document his family memoirs titled Erinnerungen in 1906.
[edit] Works of Eduard Strauss
The works of Eduard Strauss include:
- Ideal Polka-française op. 1 (1863)
- Bahn Frei! ('Clear the Track!') Polka-schnell op.45
- In Künstlerkreisen ('In Artistic Circles') Polka-française op. 47
- Mit Dampf! ('Steam Up!') Polka-schnell op.70
- Auf und Davon! ('Up and Away!') Polka-schnell op.73
- Fesche Geister ('Fresh Spirit') waltz op. 75
- Doctrinen ('Doctrines') waltz op. 79
- Interpretationen ('Interpretations') waltz op.97
- Ohne Aufenthalt ('Without Stopping!') Polka-schnell op.112
- Carmen-Quadrille (with themes from Georges Bizet's Carmen) op.134
- Das Leben ist doch Schön ('The Life is So Beautiful') waltz op.150
- Leuchtkäferln waltz op.161
- Ausser Rand und Band ('Out of Control') Polka-Schnell op.168
- Krone und Schleier ('Crown and Veil') waltz op.200
- Mit Chic! ('With Style') Polka-schnell op.221
- Mit Vergnügen! ('With Pleasure!') Polka-schnell op.228
- Ohne Bremse ('Without Brakes') Polka-schnell op.238
- Blüthenkranz Johann Strauss'scher Walzer in Chronologischer Reihenfolge von 1844 bis auf die Neuzeit ('Bouquet of Johann Strauss' Waltzes in Chronological Order from 1844 to Present Time') (1894)
[edit] Works with Strauss brothers
- Trifoilen waltz, ('Trifles') (with Johann II and Josef Strauss) (1865)
- Schützen quadrille, ('Sharpshooter') (with Johann II and Josef Strauss) (1866)
