Strauss, Johann (Baptist)

(born Oct. 25, 1825, Vienna, Austria—died June 3, 1899, Vienna) Austrian composer. His father, Johann Strauss the Elder, was a self-taught musician who established a musical dynasty in Vienna. A violinist, he played in a dance orchestra from 1819; when it split in two (1824), he took over the second group, for which he began to write waltzes, galops, polkas, and quadrilles, eventually publishing more than 250 works. As bandmaster of a local regiment, he also wrote marches, including the Radetzsky March. Johann the Younger left his family in 1842 and soon surpassed his father's popularity and productivity, becoming known as the “Waltz King.” By inducing his brothers, Josef and Eduard, to take over his conducting duties, he gained more time to compose the symphonic waltzes for which he is best known, including The Blue Danube (1867) and Tales from the Vienna Woods (1868). His operettas include the popular Die Fledermaus (1874) and The Gypsy Baron (1885). Eduard's son Johann, a conductor and composer in Berlin, was the last of the dynasty.