Johann Strauss II

Johann Strauss II was born 25 October 1825 in Vienna, son of Johann Strauss I and Maria Anna Streim. His father was already a dance-music composer, but the son outpaced him - by the end of the 19th century he'd written over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other dance pieces, plus operettas and a ballet. His lifetime title was "The Waltz King," earned by making the waltz the dominant social dance across Europe. The catalogue includes "The Blue Danube," "Kaiser-Walzer," "Tales from the Vienna Woods," "Frühlingsstimmen," and the "Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka"; his operettas Die Fledermaus and Der Zigeunerbaron became repertory standards. His younger brothers Josef and Eduard also composed light music, but neither matched his reach. He died 3 June 1899, leaving a body of work that made Vienna synonymous with the three-quarter-time lilt.