When Oscar Straus was born, Vienna was the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Emplire. The man in the street was the man in the café. The city was growing beyond its old city walls and people from the rest of the Empire and its neighbors poured in: Hungarians, Germans, Czechs, Italians and other. They brought their musical culture (Wagner, Moussorgsky, Verdi, etc.), but Vienna was not grand opera, it remained more light-hearted. Music meant first and foremost the Austrian Mozart and then the French Offenbach, 46 of whose operas were produced in Vienna. It was Offenbach who encouraged Johann Strauss II to switch from waltzes to operetta. The result was Die Fledermaus.

The Waltz
About 1700 a dance in 3/4 time which had evolved from peasant dances was given the name Ländler (literally country [dance]). Another dance, the Walzer (from walzen to turn) also became popular with the peasants. Both of these were dances for single couples in contrast to the stately formation dances such as the minuet (also in 3/4 time) popular with the upper classes. The Ländler and the Walzer were considered rather immoral because the dancers were so close to each other. Both dances reached Vienna about the same time. With the smoother floors and better shoes of the city, they could be danced faster, if less exuberantly, than in the country. The upper classes became acquainted with them from the balls of their servants, and soon the waltz was born. It was claimed to promote good health because of its vigor. Franz Schubert (1797-1828) began to write original waltzes although for orchestral performance rather than for dancing. Johann Strauss I (1804-1849) wrote for the ballroom. The 'Viennese Waltz' reached its culmination with Johann Strauss II, 'The Waltz King' (1825-1899) whose most famous is On the Beautiful Blue Danube (An der schönen blauen Donau).

While many composers have written waltzes and the dance became popular all over the world, the Viennese waltz is special. It is a trifle slower than most and there is a very slight hesitation between the first and second beat of each measure. The Viennese claim that only those born in their city can play it properly. Richard Wagner wrote: "A single waltz by Johann Strauss surpasses in grace, elegance and genuine musical content most of the painfully imported foreign factory products." (meaning the works of Offenbach). This was the waltz of the 'Golden Age' of operetta such as Die Fledermaus. Later, the writing of waltzes was revived by composers such as Lehár, Kálmán and Oscar Straus in what has become known as the 'Silver Age' in which the dances became more and more erotic as exemplified in The Merry Widow, Countess Maritza and A Waltz Dream.

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Revised March 2009
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