Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 6, No. 2 (1931-11)

26 The Phonograph Monthly Review Johann Strauss, The Waltz King By JAMES HADLEY J OHANN STRAUSS has been universally acclaimed as the world’s greatest genius in the realm of the dance; here, indeed, he is without a peer, and reigns supreme. “It would be difficult—if not impossible— to exaggerate the hold that the music of the Strauss family has taken on the Viennese mind”, says a writer, in the “Berlin Tage- blatt”. “To speak of Vienna is to evoke the memory of Johann Strauss, the Waltz King. Never before has a hero been so absolutely identified with his native city . . . beautiful and fascinating Vienna, past which flows his beloved Blue Danube. The most famous waltz ever written bears the name of this historic river.” Strauss’ method of composition was sub- ject to no rule or method, and was wholly characteristic of the man. His musical ideas came to him anywhere and everywhere. No matter how weighty the proposition that oc- cupied him at the time, he was never too much absorbed to jot down a suggestion for future reference. The moment a melody came into his head, down it went on a scrap of paper. It might be on a menu-card in a cafe, on the margin of a newspaper, the back of an en- velope, or, as was frequently the case, on his shirt-bosom or cuffs. This haphazard method was recognized, and provided for, by his wife, for his apartment was strewn with pads of paper, in every possible and impossible place, where they could be pounced upon without a moment’s delay. Strauss, himself, appears to have had, if anything, a preference for his cuffs, as a medium for preserving his sudden inspirations. One night, with the refrain of a verse by a now half forgotten poet, Carl Beck, ringing in his ears—An der Donau, an der Schonen blauen Donau—Strauss con- ceived the basic idea of the music. There was no convenient pad of paper at hand, so he sketched the theme on his cuffs, and The Beau- tiful Blue Danube was nearly lost to the world by a too officious chambermaid who sent the shirt on which it had been sketched to the laundry before Madame Strauss had, as was her custom, copied the musical gems jotted down on the linen. Fortunately, the ever- watchful mistress discovered the mistake be- fore it was too late. Before her marriage to the Waltz King, Madame Strauss had been an opera singer— Henriette (Jetti) Treffz. The wedding took place despite his mother’s protests and pray- ers ; she had violently opposed the match from the very outset. Though much older than her husband, Jetti was a woman of striking beauty, and much personal charm. Her dramatic talent was considerable, and her influence in the world of art and finance proved to be of great assistance to her husband; indeed it was to his wife that Strauss owed a large measure of the success that marked his early professional career. He was fortunate in possessing a mate who was so greatly absorbed in his pro- fessional life, for some of the wives of great musicians seem to have been very unmusical. Mme. Offenbach heartily detested music, and would, if possible, leave the room when any- one sang or played. Madame Verdi never, under any circumstances whatsoever, could be induced to attend the opera. She often quoted the famous word of Beaumarchais:— “Ce qui vaut pas la peine d’etre dit, on le chante”. (What is not worth saying, one sings). Madame Gounod was a most devout mem- ber of the church, and considered that her husband did very wrong to compose anything for the stage. Mme. Strauss had an excellent business sense, and, among other things, wrote to her husband where he was giving concerts in St. Petersburg, in the late ’60s:— “It would be well, I think, if you could al- ways manage to introduce, in your own clever fashion, some part of the national hymn be- loved by the sovereigns of the country in which you happen to be playing.” Strauss, who had a keen sense of humor, wrote back:— “Your idea is a good one, but to follow it is not so easy as it sounds, for, in this year of grace, Europe certainly presents a cosmopoli- tan atmosphere in royalty. England is ruled by a Hanoverian. Russia is governed by a German Czar and a Danish Empress, Ger- many has an English Crown-princess; France