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Image:Josef Strauss (1).jpg|thumb|200px|Josef
Strauss
Josef Strauss (August 20, 1827 - July 22, 1870)
was an Austrian composer. He was fondly referred
to as 'Pepi' by his family and close friends.

The son of Johann Strauss I and brother of Johann
Strauss II and Eduard Strauss, he was born in
Vienna. He worked initially as an engineer and
designer before joining the family orchestra in
the 1850s. His academic achievements at an early
age do not point to him being a composer as he was
also destined by his father for a career in the
Austrian Habsburg military although he flourished
as an architect for the Vienna City Council in
1853 and even presented to the Vienna Municipal
Council with detailed plans for a street-cleaning
machine.

He was clearly reluctant to deputise for his
brother Johann Strauss II when his elder brother
was taken seriously ill in 1853 as his first ever
published work "Die Ersten und Letzten" (The First
and the Last) tangibly displayed signs that he was
not intending to maintain that position for long.
The waltz-loving Viennese, however, were
appreciative of his early waltzes and polkas and
he decided to continue plying his trade in the
family craft of composing waltzes and other dance
music. He married Caroline Pruckmayer at the
church of St Johann Nepomuk in Vienna on 8 June
1857 and had only one daughter, Karoline Anna, who
was born on 27 March 1858.  

Josef Strauss never enjoyed good health throughout
his life and during a tour to Poland in 1870, he
fell unconscious from the conductor's podium while
conducting his 'Musical Potpourri' and was
hastened back to his home in Vienna by his
distraught wife. It was back home in the
'Hirschenhaus' that Josef died on 22 July of 1870.
A final diagnosis only reported a decomposition of
blood which led to many rumors that he was beaten
by drunken Russian soldiers after he allegedly
refused to perform music for them one night
although his death would not be ascertained as his
widow even forbade an autopsy. His grave is on St.
Marx cemetery.

He wrote many waltzes, many of them still in the
classical repertoire including "Sphären-Klänge"
(Music of the Spheres), "Delirien" (Deliriums),
"Transaktionen" (Transactions), "Mein Lebenslauft
ist Lieb und Lust" (My Character is Love and Joy)
and "Dorfschwalben Aus Osterreich" (Village
Swallows from Austria), polkas (most famously the
"Pizzicato Polka" with his brother Johann Strauss
II|Johann II), quadrilles and other dance music.
His pieces tend to be of a more serious character
than those of his siblings. This was reflected in
the waltz "Dynamiden" where his use of minor keys
imparted an almost wistful quality and invariably
distinguished his waltzes from that of his more
popular elder brother. He most probably stamped
his personal mark on the polka-mazurka where he
wrote many imperishable examples like "Die
Emancipirte" and "Die Libelle". His amazing output
of dance pieces would have surpassed that of his
elder brother, had he survived, as Johann was by
then concentrating on writing music for operettas
and other stage works.


==Works of Josef Strauss==

*Die Ersten Und Letzten ('The First and the Last')
waltz op. 1 (1853)
*Die Ersten Nach Dem Letzten ('The First after the
Last') waltz op. 12 (1854)
*Die Guten, Alten Zeiten ('The Good Old Times')
waltz op. 26 (1856)
*Perlen Der Liebe ('Pearls of Love') concert-waltz
op. 39 (1857)
*Moulinet ('Little Mill Pond') polka-mazurka op.
57 (1858)
*Sympathie ('Sympathy') polka-mazurka op. 73
(1859)
*Lustschwärmer ('Joy Seeker') waltz op. 91 (1860)
*Wiener Bonmots ('Viennese Bon-mots') waltz op.
108 (1861)
*Winterlust ('Winter Joy') polka op. 121 (1862)
*Auf Ferienreisen! ('On a Holiday!') polka op. 133
(1863)
*Die Schwätzerin ('The Gossip') polka-mazurka op.
144 (1863)
*Wiener Couplets ('Viennese Couplets') waltz op.
150 (1863)
*Dorfschwalben Aus Österreich ('Village Swallows
from Austria') waltz op. 164 (1864)
*Frauenherz ('A Woman's Heart') polka-mazurka op.
166 (1864)
*Sport-Polka op. 170 (1864)
*Geheimne Anziehungskräfte (Dynamiden)
('Mysterious Powers of Magnetism') waltz op. 173
(1865)
*Stiefmütterchen ('Pansies') polka-mazurka op.
183 (1865)
*Transaktionen ('Transactions') waltz op. 184
(1865)
*Die Marketenderin ('The Camp Follower') polka op.
202 (1866)
*Die Libelle ('The Dragonfly') polka-mazurka op.
204 (1866)
*Delirien ('Deliriums') waltz op. 212 (1867)
*Sphärenklänge ('Music of the Spheres') op. 235
(1868)
*Eingesendet ('Letters to the Editor') polka op.
240 (1868)
*Plappermäulchen ('Chatterboxes') polka op. 245
(1868)
*Aquarellen ('Watercolours') waltz op. 258 (1869)
*Eislauf ('Ice-Skating') polka op. 261 (1869)
*Mein Lebenslauf Ist Lieb` Und Lust! ('My
Character is Love and Joy') waltz op. 263 (1869)
*Die Tanzende Muse ('The Dancing Muse')
polka-mazurka op. 266 (1869)
*Feuerfest! ('Fire-Proof!') polka op. 269 (1869)
*Ohne Sorgen! ('Without a Care!') polka op. 271
(1869)
*Nilfluthen ('Nile's Waters') waltz op. 275 (1870)
*Jokey ('Jockey') polka op. 278 (1870)
*Die Emancipierte ('The Emancipated Woman')
polka-mazurka op. 282 (1870)

==Works with Strauss brothers==

*Hinter den Coulissen quadrille (Behind the
Scenes) (with Johann Strauss II) (1859)
*Monstre quadrille (with Johann Strauss II) (1861)
*Pizzicato-Polka (with Johann Strauss II) (1869)
*Trifoilen ('Trifles') (with Johann II and Eduard
Strauss) (1865)
*Schützen ('Sharpshooter') (with Johann II and
Eduard Strauss) (1866)

 
Commons|