The operetta Die Fledermaus comes out of a period when Vienna, Austria was experiencing significant change. Vienna was one of the most important capitals in Europe during the nineteenth century and was often called the 'city of dreams'. This was the golden age of the Hapsburgs, the most prosperous royal family in continental Europe, and Vienna was their capitol. This atmosphere was perfect for the growth of the entertainment industry, such as it was and in the midst of this, the need for entertaining music: party music, dance music and theatre music.
It's fascinating that the production of virtually all of this music ended up falling into the hands of a single family of musicians: the Strauss family who had no fewer than six members involved in part of a musical dynasty that lasted from the 1830s to the 1960s. The most important Strausses were the two Johanns, Johann the elder who was the first Strauss to be described as 'the waltz king', and his eldest son Johann who single-handedly codified the dance form which we now know as the Viennese waltz. Johann Strauss, Jr. gave us such famous waltzes as the "Tales of the Vienna Woods", "Wine, Women and Song" and "On the Beautiful Blue Danube"./ Source |
