Strauss, Josef

Josef Strauss was an Austrian composer, born on August 20, 1827, in Mariahilf (now part of Vienna), Austria. He was the son of Johann Strauss I and Maria Anna Streim, and the brother of Johann Strauss II and Eduard Strauss1. Initially, Josef pursued a career in engineering and worked for the city of Vienna as an engineer and designer. He even designed a horse-drawn revolving brush street-sweeping vehicle and published two textbooks on mathematical subjects.

Despite his father’s wishes for him to have a career in the Austrian Habsburg military, Josef’s talents in music were undeniable. He studied music with Franz Dolleschal and learned to play the violin with Franz Anton Ries. He had a wide array of talents, including being an artist, painter, poet, dramatist, singer, composer, and inventor.

Josef joined the family orchestra in the 1850s, alongside his brothers. His first published work was “Die Ersten und Letzten” (The First and the Last). When Johann became seriously ill in 1853, Josef led the orchestra for a while. His compositions were well-received, and he decided to continue in the family tradition of composing dance music. Johann once remarked, “Pepi is the more gifted of us two; I am merely the more popular…”.

Josef married Caroline Pruckmayer at the church of St. Johann Nepomuk in Vienna on June 8, 1857, and they had one daughter, Karolina Anna, born on March 27, 1858. As a composer, Josef wrote 283 opus numbers, including many waltzes like “Sphären-Klänge” (Music of the Spheres), “Delirien” (Deliriums), “Transaktionen” (Transactions), “Mein Lebenslauf ist Lieb’ und Lust” (My Character is Love and Joy), and “Dorfschwalben aus Österreich” (Village Swallows from Austria), as well as polkas, most famously the “Pizzicato Polka” co-written with his brother Johann.

Unfortunately, Josef’s later life was plagued by illness. He suffered from fainting spells and intense headaches. During a tour in 1870, he fell unconscious from the conductor’s podium in Warsaw while conducting his ‘Musical Potpourri’, striking his head. He was brought back home to Vienna by his wife, where he died on July 22, 1870. The exact cause of death was not determined as his widow forbade any autopsy. Originally buried in the St. Marx Cemetery, Josef was later exhumed and reburied in the Vienna Central Cemetery, alongside his mother Anna.