Why the waltz? What gives with this senescent New Year's tradition of still waltzing 200 years since the birth of the dance's greatest maker, Johann Strauss II? One simple answer is that this ...

Johann Strauss II (1825–1899) is known as the 'Waltz King'. He was the greatest of all Viennese dance music composers. Life and Music The young Strauss had started composing and directing his own ...

Why do so many young Austrians learn how to waltz and long to be debutantes at the Vienna Opera Ball? DW steps into the world of the Viennese waltz. The waltz was based on the Ländler, a folk ...

Two hundred years after the birth of Austria's world-famous "waltz king" Johann Strauss II -- widely revered like a modern-day pop star during his lifetime -- his music has lost none of its magic.

What better way to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of a world-renowned composer than to ensure his music has a truly universal audience. Johann Strauss II was born in 1825 and two ...

Johann II’s grandfather was a humble innkeeper on the outskirts of Vienna and committed suicide after his second marriage; Johann I (1804-49) picked up a love of music from the itinerant musicians who ...