Category: In Conversation

Paris Conservatoire

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Created in 1795, the Paris Conservatoire is one of the world’s leading conservatoires and can boast an extraordinary roster of graduates, from Ravel to Boulez and Messiaen to Fauré.
This highly competitive school offers specialised tuition and professional training at the highest level in music, dance, and sound technologies.
The Paris Conservatoire’s annual concours (competitions have added a great number of solo works to the wind and brass repertoire.
From 1797 until 2011, these competitions awarded prizes to the top-ranked students in each discipline.
Attaining a premiere prix (first prize) practically guaranteed the musician a good job, and at various times also earned the player a new instrument, musical scores, and (or) money.
The ‘golden age’ of competition pieces was 1898–1984, during which the Conservatoire mostly commissioned new works from established composers.
In Conversation looks at some of the great works composed by the great French composers for the students to perform

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Fantaisie Op 79
Suh Jiwon (Flute)

Louis Diémer (1843-1919)
Legende for Oboe and Piano
ToniMarie Marchioni (Oboe)
Kevin Murphy (Piano)

Paul-Agricole Génin (1832-1903)
Solo de Concourse Op 13
Claude Delangle (saxophone)
Odile Delangle (piano)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Premierè Rhapsodie
Gervaise de Peyer (Clarinet)
Gwyneth Pryor (Piano)

Gabriel Fauré and Suh Jiwon (flute)

Gabriel Fauré’s refined music influenced the course of modern French music.
In 1896 he was appointed professor of composition at the Paris Conservatoire and eventually Director in 1905.
Among his students were Maurice Ravel, Georges Enesco, and Nadia Boulanger.
He wrote more than 100 songs, nocturnes, barcaroles, and impromptus for piano and his Requiem (1887) has become one of Fauré’s most frequently performed works.
His fondness for daring harmonic progressions and sudden modulations stimulated a quiet and unspectacular musical revolution, preparing the way for more the sensational innovations offered by the modern French school of Debussy and Ravel
The Fantaisie for Flute and Piano was commissioned by and dedicated to Paul Taffanel in 1898 for the Paris Conservatoire flute competition
Taffanel, who took over a flute class in 1893, regularly commissioned new compositions for the annual competition,
The Fantaisie was given an eightfold premiere at the competition in 1898 by all of Taffanel’s students and has since become a firm part of the flute repertoire.

Louis Diémer and ToniMarie Marchioni (oboe)

Louis Diémer was a student at the Paris Conservatoire from 1855 to 1861.
As a very fine pianist, his repertoire included pieces written for him by Charles-Marie Widor, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Édouard Lalo.
He was appointed professor of piano at the Conservatoire in 1887.
In 1889 Diémer gave a series of harpsichord recitals at the Universal Exhibition whose favourable reception encouraged him to establish a Société des Instruments Anciens.
He also edited a collection of early French keyboard pieces (Clavecinistes français, 1928).
Active also as a composer, Diémer wrote both piano and chamber works and among his students were Alfred Cortot and Robert Casadesus.
The Legende Op. 52 for oboe and piano was written for the 1904 competition at the Paris Conservatoire

Photo left: Paul-Agricole Génin Photo right: Odile Delangle (piano) and Claude Delangle (saxophone)

Paul-Agricole Génin was the Principal flute of the Theatre Italien in Paris and of the Colonne Orchestra.
In addition to writing many works for the flute (he wrote over 60 works for this instrument, he was also one of the first composers to write for the saxophone.
The Solo de Concourse Op 13 was used as an examination piece at the Paris Conservatory in the class of Adolphe Sax, to whom it is dedicated.
Claude Delangle is one of the greatest contemporary saxophonists. He has collaborated with many renowned composers including Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Toru Takemitsu, Astor Piazzolla and has performed at many of the world’s preeminent music festivals such as the Aldeburgh Festival, Zagreb Biennale, Helsinki Festival, Musica Strasbourg
He was appointed professor at the Paris Conservatoire in 1988

Photos left: Claude Debussy – Photo right: Gervase de Peyer (clarinet)

In 1909, Claude Debussy was elected a member of the Paris Conservatoire Council.
As such, he was called upon to write two pieces for the clarinet class for the 1910 end-of-year competitions. This was the origin of the Premiere Rhapsody for clarinet.
The Premiere Rhapsody alternates between reverie and playfulness and Debussy himself said how much he enjoyed writing the piece and, indeed, was very satisfied with the outcome.
The composer and conductor, Pierre Boulez, on commenting on the work expressed amazement to find so much musical quality in a competition piece.
This piece is dedicated to Prosper Mimart who gave the first performance in 1911. Mimart was a principal clarinet at the Opéra Comique, and clarinet teacher at the Paris Conservatoire from 1905 to 1918.

United Nations Day of Happiness

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On 12th July 2012 the United Nations proclaimed 20th March as International Day of Happiness.
This initiative aimed to recognise the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals for people around the world and to stimulate a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth.
The resolution was initiated by Bhutan, a country which has recognised the value of national happiness over national income since the early 1970s and famously adopted the goal of Gross National Happiness over Gross National Product!
Music, of course, can play a important role in stimulating happiness so our edition of In Conversation looks at some of the ‘happiest’ pieces of classical music ever composed and guarantees to bring a smile to your face…

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Overture to The Marriage of Figaro
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Sir Colin Davis (conductor)

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Symphony No4 ‘Italian’ : Movt 1 Allegro vivace
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

George Gershwin (1898-1937)
Promenade: Walking The Dog
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas (conductor)

Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Hoedown
New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein (conductor)

Mihail Glinka (1805-1857)
Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla
Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra
Rico Saccani (conductor)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and a scene from The Marriage of Figaro

From a young age, Mozart demonstrated extraordinary musical talent, composing his first pieces at the age of five and embarking on concert tours across Europe with his family by the age of six.
He quickly gained recognition as a child prodigy and continued to develop his musical abilities throughout his short but impactful life.
Despite his musical brilliance, Mozart faced financial difficulties throughout his life, often struggling to secure stable employment and experiencing periods of financial insecurity.
His contributions to classical music are immeasurable and his music embodies the elegance, grace, and emotional depth of the Classical era.
The Overture to Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro is a vibrant piece of music that sets the stage for the dramatic events of the opera.
As the overture progresses, it introduces various themes and melodies from the opera and showcases Mozart’s mastery of composition and his ability to evoke a range of emotions, from humour to romance to suspense.
It serves as a brilliant introduction to one of Mozart’s most beloved operas, setting the tone for the drama that is about to unfold on stage.

Felix Mendelssohn and the recording of Symphony No 4 by Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Mendelssohn’s musical output was diverse and prolific, encompassing symphonies, concertos, chamber music, piano works, choral music, and operas.
As a conductor, Mendelssohn played a significant role in reviving interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, conducting a historic performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in 1829.
He also served as the director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and played a crucial role in establishing the Leipzig Conservatory.
Despite his considerable success during his lifetime, Mendelssohn struggled with periods of depression and illness.
When he passed away at the age of 38, he left behind a rich legacy of music celebrated for its elegance, lyricism, and emotional depth.
Mendelssohn composed the Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90, between 1831 and 1833, during a trip to Italy that deeply influenced his musical style.
The symphony premiered in London on May 13, 1833, conducted by the Mendelssohnm and despite his enthusiasm for the work, the premiere received mixed reviews
Over time, the symphony gained popularity and acclaim, becoming one of his most beloved compositions.

George Gershwin (left) Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers ‘Walking the dog’

George Gershwin is one of the most significant figures in American music of the 20th century.
His music spanned multiple genres, including classical, jazz, and popular music and he was known for his innovative fusion of these styles.
Gershwin’s music became synonymous with the vibrant cultural scene of 1920s and 1930s America, capturing the energy and excitement of the Jazz Age.
Despite his relatively brief life, Gershwin left an indelible mark on American music, and his compositions continue to be celebrated and performed around the world.
Walking The Dog Is a charming piece of music composed by Gershwin in 1937.
It is part of his score for the film Shall We Dance, which starred Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
The piece serves as a playful and lighthearted accompaniment to a scene in the film where Astaire’s character takes his dog for a walk.
The piece features a prominent clarinet solo, representing the dog’s playful antics as it accompanies its owner on a stroll through the city streets.
Although Shall We Dance was not as commercially successful as some of Gershwin’s other works, ‘Walking the Dog’ has endured and is frequently performed piece in concert halls throughout the world

Left photo: Aaron Copland Right photo: Hoedown dance

Aaron Copland played a significant role in shaping the course of American classical music in the 20th century.
His music is characterised by its accessibility, distinctive style, and incorporation of American folk and popular music elements, drawing inspiration from a wide range of sources, including jazz, folk songs, and the American landscape itself.
His compositions often evoked images of the American West, rural landscapes, and the struggles and triumphs of everyday Americans.
In addition to his work as a composer, Copland was a respected conductor and music educator.
Copland left behind a rich and enduring legacy as one of America’s greatest composers and musical ambassadors.
Hoedown was composed by Copland ain 1942 as part of his ballet score titled Rodeo.
It is one of the most famous and recognisable sections of in the ballet, a lively and spirited piece, evoking the atmosphere of a traditional American square dance or hoedown.

Left photo: Mikhail Glinka Right photo: a scene from Ruslan and Ludmilla

Mikhail Glinka played a crucial role in establishing a distinct Russian musical identity during the 19th century.
His compositions combined elements of Western European classical music with Russian folk melodies, creating a unique and captivating style that influenced generations of Russian composers.
During his time abroad, Glinka absorbed the musical styles and traditions of these countries while remaining deeply rooted in his Russian heritage.
Despite his pioneering contributions to Russian music, Glinka faced challenges and criticism from conservative elements within the Russian musical establishment.
Nevertheless, his influence continued to grow, and he inspired a new generation of Russian composers, including the influential ‘Mighty Five’ group (César Cui, Aleksandr Borodin, Mily Balakirev, Modest Mussorgsky, and Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov).
The Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla is one of the Glinka’s most famous works dating from 1842 and is a vibrant and energetic composition that captures the essence of the opera’s plot and themes.
It has become one of the most iconic and frequently performed orchestral works in the Russian repertoire.
Its memorable melodies and dramatic flair continue to captivate audiences around the world, solidifying its place as a classic of Russian orchestral music.

Music from Bohemia

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Music from Bohemia traces its roots back to the Middle Ages in the monasteries of the Bohemian Forests where Gregorian chant and religious music were performed for centuries. With the arrival of the Reformation, secular music began to take hold and during the 17th Century Bohemian composers stepped up to the forefront. After the transition into the Romantic era, nationalism emerged as a potent force all over Europe. This impacted on Bohemian music so many notable Bohemian composers such as Dvořák and Smetana developed there own musical language firmly rooted in the musical culture of Bohemia

Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904).
Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, B. 83: No. 8, Furiant
Concerto Budapest
Andras Keller (conductor)

Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745)
Barbara, dira effera, ZWV 164: I. Barbara, dira, effera
Il Pomo D’oro
Francesco Corti (conductor)
Jakub Józef Orliński (countertenor)

Jan Vaclav Antonín Stamic (1717-1757), (Johann Wenzel Stamitz)
Symphony in D Major, Op. 3, No. 2: IV. Prestissimo
New Zealand Chamber Orchestra
Donald Armstrong (conductor)

Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884)
The Bartered Bride, JB 1:100: Dance of the Comedians
Vienna Philharmonic
Christoph Eschenbach (conductor)

Antonin Dvorak and Slavonic dancing

Dvorák, who began his career as a violist in an orchestra conducted by Smetana, distilled the warmth, gaiety and optimism of native Czech music to the classical forms developed by Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.
The most important influence on the young Dvorák was that of his friend and benefactor, Johannes Brahms, who at that time was the last remaining stalwart of the classical tradition.
Dvorák was a great patriot. He fought for years with his publisher, Simrock, to get the titles and lyrics of his compositions, and his Christian name, published in Czech as opposed to German. After he had achieved international stature as a composer, he won.
The Czechs viewed Dvorák, like Smetana, as an artistic champion of Czech nationhood.
When he died, the people of Prague learned of his death when they came one night to the opera and found the auditorium of the National Theatre draped in black.
When Johannes Brahms told his publisher Fritz Simrock about an exciting but largely unknown Czech composer named Antonín Dvořák, Simrock jumped at a new opportunity to capitalize on a growing interest in folk music among music lovers all over Europe.
Simrock asked Dvořák to compose a set of dances modeled after Brahms’ popular and commercially successful Hungarian Dances.
Dvořák complied, writing a set of six Slavonic Dances originally for four-hand piano.
Soon after he completed the piano version, Dvořák orchestrated them.
They were an immediate success and remain some of Dvořák’s most popular works.
Unlike Brahms’ Hungarian Dances, which are arrangements of actual folk songs, the melodies of Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances are wholly original, composed in folk style.
No. 8, a Czech furiant, is often performed as a stand-alone piece.

Jan Dismas Zelenka and Jakub Jósef Orliński (counter tenor)

Zelenka’s was employed as a double bass player in about 1710 at the court of August the Strong.
Soon his activities as a composer were drawing attention. In order to complete his musical training, the Electoral Prince allowed him to undertake study trips between 1716 and 1719 to Italy and Vienna where he took lessons with Johann Joseph Fux.
Although Zelenka had a promising career it had begun to waver by 1730.
The Saxon heir to the throne, Prince Friedrich August II, had discovered his love for the modern Italian style and a young German composer, Johann Adolf Hasse, was being celebrated as his style was brilliant, melodious and simple, and immediately swept away the works of older composers.
Zelenka’s complex and ornate style he did not stand a chance against Hasse’s disarming simplicity so sadly Zelenka became withdrawn, composed far less and died an embittered, broken man.
However, his surviving compositions often have a grandeur and contrapuntal mastery which can be compared to Zelenka’s friend and colleague, Johann Sebastian Bach.
Zelenka’s Barbara dira effera probably dates from around 1733, when his star was being eclipsed by new operatic developments.
Although a church motet, it displays Zelenka’s brilliant sense of theatricality.
Described as a ‘rage aria for the church’, it may have been composed to remind the new elector that he could perfectly well produce thrillingly dramatic works.

Jan Vaclav Antonin Stamic and New Zealand Chamber Orchestra


Jan Vaclav Antonín Stamic, known in Germany as Johann Wenzel Stamitz, who with his sons Jan and Karel, founded the well-known Mannheim School.
In Mannheim they set a new standard of quality for orchestral performance for all of Europe and expanded the compositional format of the symphony, paving the way for Franz Joseph Haydn.
Stamic’s innovative approach to composition anticipated the new classical musical period and he became an important influence on the classical style.
His colourful music and fresh, courageous ideas were even admired by Mozart
He was also regarded as the best conductor of his times.
His style included the development of large crescendos and decrescendos along with his development of classical sonata form. In his symphonies he also included a minuet between the usual second and third movements, forming the standard four part sonata.
His instrumentation extensively used wind instruments (horns and clarinet particularly were later used by Mozart in a similar way).
He also abandoned the common general bass line and gave the bass part an independent role in the orchestra.
Importantly, musical ideas were often influenced by Czech traditional folk music.

Bedrich Smetana and Dance of the Comedians

Smetana is regarded as the founder of a Czech national music.
An ardent patriot, he even manned the barricades during the 1848 Prague uprising which was eventually crushed by the Hapsburgs.
Like Beethoven, he was confronted by the personal tragedy of the loss of his hearing (in fact, Smetana was tormented by incessant, painfully dissonant noise)
As a pianist he was a famed interpreter of Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and Schumann
At the end of his tragic life, during which he lost a wife, several children, his hearing and finally his reason, the Czechs mourned him as a national hero.
Smetana wrote his comic opera The Bartered Bride between 1863 to 1866.
The opera was not successful in its first outing at the Provisional Theatre in Prague and went through four years of revisions.
Finally, in its 1870 premiere, it found its audience and became a world-wide success and was the first Czech opera that made a hit on the international stage.
Smetana was trying to create a true Czech operatic style and he did it through the use of dance forms, such as the polka and furiant, rather than through quotation of folk songs.
Even though Smetana doesn’t use folk melodies, his opera is thoroughly Czech in spirit.

Asian Conductors

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Asian conductors have made significant contributions in the classical music world for many years. Kent Nagano and Tadaaki Otawa (Japan) and Myung-Whun Chung (South Korea) among others. In this edition of In Conversation we look at two titans of the classical stage whose impact has been immense for close on fifty years. However, a new generation of talent is immerging so we pick two conductors who are up and coming and certainly worth keeping an eye on for the future

Xian Zhang (China)
Gérard Salonga (Philippines)
Zubin Mehta (India)
Seiji Ozawa (Japan) (1935-2024)

Kevin Puts (b. 1972)
Time For Three: Contact: II. Codes. Scherzo
Philadelphia Orchestra
Xian Zhang (conductor)

George Gershwin (1898-1937)
Variations on “I Got Rhythm”
Cecile Licad (piano)
South Denmark Philharmonic Orchestra
Gérard Salonga (conductor)

Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
The Planets, Op. 32: III. Mercury, the Winged Messenger
New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Zubin Mehta (conductor)

Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36:
IV. Finale. Allegro con fuoco
Orchestre de Paris
Seiji Ozawa (conductor)

Top photo: Xian Zhang – Lower photos: Kevin Puts (composer) and Time for Three (string trio)

Xian Zhang
Music Director: New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
Principal Guest Conductor: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Emeritus: Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano
Honorary Doctorate: The Juilliard School

Xian Zhang is certainly in high demand as a guest conductor, juggling a busy diary of guest engagements alongside her titled commitments. Throughout 2023/24, she is conducting Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and this follows on from a busy summer 2023 season which saw her conducting Boston Symphony at Tanglewood.
Zhang’s upcoming symphonic highlights include returns to the Philadelphia Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Orchestra of St Luke’s, and National Symphony Orchestra DC.
She remains a popular guest of London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony and Norwegian Opera where she returned recently for Puccini’s Tosca. The performance included in our proigramme – Letters for The Future (released 2022) – is Zhang’s recording on Deutsche Grammophon with Philadelphia Orchestra and the extraodinary string trio, Time for Three.
This performance won multiple GRAMMY awards in both the Best Contemporary Classical Composition nd Best Classical Instrumental Solo categories. Xian Zhang previously served as Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales, the first female conductor to hold a titled role with a BBC orchestra.

Top photo: Gerard Salonga – Lower photos: George Gershwin Cecile Licad (piano)

Gerard Salonga is currently Resident Conductor of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur. Maestro Jaap van Zweden invited him to the position of Assistant Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra from 2016 to 2018 selected from a field of over 170 international applicants.
He also served as Music Director of the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra in Manila from 2012 to 2020 and in January 2021, Gerard began his term as the Music Director of the Orchestra of the Filipino Youth (OFY).
Gerards has conducted the Philippine Philharmonic, Shanghai Opera House Orchestra and Chorus, Thailand Philharmonic, Royal Bangkok Symphony, Singapore Symphony, South Denmark Philharmonic and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in iconic venues such as the Sydney Opera House and Royal Albert Hall, London.
His orchestral arrangements have been performed by orchestras such as the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Malaysian Philharmonic, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, New York Pops, Cincinnati Pops, Indianapolis Symphony, BBC Symphony, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras.
The recording we feature today was made in 2019 in a collaboration with pianist Cecile Licad and the Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester (Denmark) on a new recording of the works of George Gershwin for piano and orchestra.
Gerard was honoured as one of The Outstanding Young Men), the Philippines’ highest civilian award to achievers under the age of 40. In 2021 he was named one of the recipients of the SUDI National Music Awards by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

Top photo: Zubi Mehta – Lower photos: Gustav Holst, The Planets

Zubin Mehta was born in 1936 in Bombay.
Zubin Mehta won the Liverpool International Conducting Competition in 1958 and was also a prize-winner of the summer academy at Tanglewood.
By 1961 he had already conducted the Vienna, Berlin and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras and has recently celebrated 50 years of musical collaboration with all three ensembles.
Zubin Mehta was Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 1961 to 1967 and also assumed the Music Directorship of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 1962, a post he retained until 1978.
In October 2019 he celebrated his farewell with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra to which he has served for 50 years.
In 1978 he took over the post as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic commencing a tenure lasting 13 years, the longest in the orchestra’s history.
From 1985 to 2017 he has been chief conductor of the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence.
Zubin Mehta made his debut as an opera conductor with Tosca in Montreal in 1963.
Since then he has conducted at the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, La Scala Milano, and the opera houses of Chicago and Florence as well as at the Salzburg Festival.
Between 1998 and 2006 he was Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.
He is an honorary citizen of both Florence and Tel Aviv and was made an honorary member of the Vienna State Opera in 1997, of the Bavarian State Opera in 2006 and of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Wien in 2007.
The title of Honorary Conductor was bestowed to him by the following orchestras: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (2001), Munich Philharmonic Orchestra (2004), Los Angeles Philharmonic (2006), Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (2006), Staatskapelle Berlin (2014) and Bavarian State Orchestra (2006).
In February 2019 the Berlin Philharmonic appointed him their Honorary Conductor.
The Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany was bestowed to him in July 2012.
Zubin Mehta continues to support the discovery and furtherance of musical talents all over the world. Together with his brother Zarin he is a co-chairman of the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation in Bombay where more than 200 children are educated in Western Classical Music.
The recording in our programme today is one of the iconic performance of The Planets by Gustav Holst. Mehta and the NY. Phil give a thrillingly executed and virtuosic reading that holds nothing back. It’s a brilliant recording that highlights swift tempi, performed in confident manner by one of the world’s great orchestras.

Top photos: Seiji Ozawa – Lower photos: Peter Tchaikovsky and Orchestre de Paris

Seiji Ozawa was one of the leading conductors of his generation and was for several decades a major player on the international scene and a figure of historical significance on several counts.
He was the first conductor from Japan to achieve recognition in the west and the only one to date to attain superstar status, the longest serving music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1973-2002) and one of the longest serving of any American orchestra.
His dress sense (including flowery shirts and cowboy boots and a roll-necked sweater rather than a dress-shirt) and extravagant podium movements, attracted attention from his first engagements in America in the 1960s.
Ozawa was born in Shenyang, China. His parents were Japanese, and having begun music lessons at the age of seven, he entered the Toho School of Music in Tokyo when he was 16.
Graduating in 1959, he won first prize in the international conductors’ competition at Besançon, eastern France (1959) and so impressed Charles Munch, one of the judges, that he invited him to the US, to the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood,
Having then taken the prestigious Koussevitzky award (1960), Ozawa won a scholarship to study with Herbert von Karajan in Berlin. It was there that he was spotted by Leonard Bernstein, who offered him a post as an assistant conductor with the New York Philharmonic (1961-65).
Ozawa’s career took off at this point, with a Carnegie Hall début in 1961, an invitation to conduct the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in 1962, and engagements with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, culminating in the artistic directorship of the Ravinia festival (1964-68) and the music directorship of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (1965-69).
In 1970 Ozawa was appointed music director of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, a post he held until 1976.
The three-decade-long tenure with the Boston Symphony Orchestra helped develop a sense of confidence in the musicians who delighted in their own virtuosity. He is also created a darker, more Germanic sound colour, suitable for the mainstream repertoire of Beethoven, Brahms and Mahler.
In 1984 Ozawa was instrumental in the founding of the Saito Kinen Orchestra, an ensemble of distinguished Japanese musicians, gathered in tribute to the educationist Hideo Saito.
In 2002 he was appointed music director of the Vienna State Opera and in 2005 artistic director of the new Tokyo Opera Nomori.
In 2016 he published a book of conversations with the novelist Haruki Murakami under the title Absolutely on Music.
Our programme features a brilliant recording of Tchaikovsky’s Finale to his 4th Symphony and is a fitting tribute to one of the great and colourful conductors of our time.

Variations

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Composers have used variations in music for centuries. Renaissance and Baroque composers wrote variations on a short tune in the bass which was repeated again and again. Handel wrote a famous set of variations for harpsichord and Bach wrote his monumental Goldberg Variations. Mozart, Beethoven Brahms, Elgar, Schoenberg and Britten all contributed to the genre so the programme today explores some of the great music composed using this form.

Zoltán Kodaly (1882-1967)
Variations on a Hungarian Folk Song ‘The Peacock’
Philharmonia Hungarica
Antal Dorati (conductor)

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Variations on a Theme of Haydn
Variation 10 – Finale
London Symphony Orchestra
Valery Gergiev (conductor)

Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
Enigma Variations
Variation 8 – Nimrod
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
John Eliot Gardner

J.S Bach (1685-1750)
Goldberg Variations
Variations 8, 9 & 10
Glenn Gould (piano)

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell
Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Libor Pesek

Zoltán Kodaly and Antal Dorati

Zoltán Kodály, like his friend and fellow Hungarian, Béla Bartók, sought out the authentic folk music of Hungary at a time when it was virtually unknown. Beginning in 1905, he gathered more than three thousand folk melodies in his expeditions throughout Hungary, and not only drew attention to the melodies themselves, but grew as a composer through his study of them. He was a tireless proponent for the further exploration of true Hungarian folk music – and fought for the revitalisation of music education and culture.

The Variations on a Hungarian Folk Song (The Peacock) were composed in 1939 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. The work consists of variations on a single melody based on the pentatonic scale – a scale consisting of only five notes. By composing a series of variations on the basic melody, Kodály thus stayed true to the essence of folk song performance while writing a modern masterpiece in traditional European variation form.

Brahms and Valerie Gergiev conducting the London Symphony Orchestra

Brahms (1833-1897) broke new ground for himself and for the musical world with this set of variations. He returned to symphonic writing during his 1873 summer holiday in the Bavarian town of Tutzing using the variation form as a preparation for his first symphony. He was accomplished at writing in the variation form having previously done so for piano and movements of chamber works, but this set of variations would prove to be the first ever written for full orchestra. This work served to usher in Brahms’ own symphonic phase (his four symphonies, Academic Festival & Tragic Overtures, as well as two more concertos would follow). Brahms was introduced the to a set of manuscripts supposedly by Haydn and Brahms jotted down a portion that had been used as a theme for a set of variations, “Chorale St. Antoni.” Most scholars now believe that Haydn had nothing to do with the chorale or the variations, but it was this chorale and its original orchestration for winds that provided the basis for Brahms’ variations. The theme, “Chorale St. Antoni” is thought to be a pilgrim hymn from Bergenland. Each variation displays a unique mood, tempo, and orchestration and Brahms employs the forces of the classical orchestra (pairs of winds, timpani, and strings) but experiments with additional possibilities of orchestral color by adding two additional horns, contrabassoon, piccolo and triangle. In he final variation the triangle and piccolo are employed to add colour the final triumphant chorale theme.

Edward Elgar and John Eliot Gardner

Enigma Variations unfolds as a theme and 14 short variations. Most are labeled with initials, lending an even more enigmatic appearance—but the subjects were easily identified and confirmed by Elgar. The ‘Enigma’ arises from the word being scrawled on the first page of Elgar’s manuscript, above the theme. It was jotted there by August Jaeger, Elgar’s best friend and the subject of the ‘Nimrod’ variation. Elgar stated: The Enigma I will not explain—its “dark saying” must be left unguessed, and I warn you that the apparent connection between the Variations and the Theme is often of the slightest texture; further, through and over the whole set another and larger theme “goes,” but is not played’. ‘The theme is so well known that it is extraordinary that no one has spotted it,” Elgar later added. Given Enigma Variations was arguably the most sensational piece of British orchestral music ever heard up to that time it made Elgar suddenly famous after the premiere on June 18, 1899. The variation ‘Nimrod’ is based on a character from Genesis, ‘a mighty hunter before the Lord’ and in a translation pun, Elgar uses it to refer to August Jaeger, whose last name means ‘hunter’ in German.

J.S.Bach and Glenn Gould

Bach’s Goldberg Variations was published in 1741 and consists of 30 variations, starting with a single ‘Aria’. It was the largest single keyboard composition published in the 18th century.The story behind their composition is priceless. Count Kaiserling, who suffered from insomnia, would make his musician, Johann Goldberg, play in the adjacent room to help him sleep. Goldberg was a student of Bach and when hearing of Goldberg’s plight composed the Variations for Goldberg to play to his employer. Bach thought that variations was almost a form of musical ‘sheep counting’ and thus perfect for an insomniac. Luckily for Bach, and also for Goldberg, the new composition helped Kaiserling a good night’s sleep!

Bach uses the Aria as the theme for the variations and transforms the music over the course of an hour, using different time signatures, textures, and harmonies. At the end of the work the beautiful first aria returns. After its publication, a change in musical taste toward simpler, more transparent textures meant that the Goldberg Variations were largely forgotten until the harpsichordist Wanda Landowska (1879-1959) recorded the set in 1933. When a 22-year-old Canadian pianist, Glenn Gould, walked into the New York studios of Columbia Records to record his debut album little did anyone know that this recording was to became one of the best-selling classical albums of all time. In his 1955 recording Gould revealed the intellectual depth of the work, and the breadth of interpretive possibilities which it offers to the performing pianist. Glenn Gould placed Bach’s Goldberg Variations in the standard repertoire and according to the Goldberg Variations Discography website, there have now been more than 600 recordings made of the work.

Benjamin Britten and Henry Purcell

Young Persons Guide To The Orchestra was composed in 1946 for a film, Instruments of the Orchestra, produced by Crown Film Unit and first shown at the Empire Theatre, London, on November 29, 1946. The concert version had already been introduced on October 15 by the Liverpool Philharmonic under Malcolm Sargent with the same musicians who made the soundtrack for the film. The main theme comes from Henry Purcell’s music for a revival in 1695 of the tragedy Abdelazer, or the Moor’s Revenge. Britten lets us hear this theme first with full orchestra and then introduces the orchestral families one at a time (woodwind, brass, strings, percussion), finally giving it to us for full orchestra once more in the glorious finale. After the orchestra has been taken to pieces, Britten puts it all back together again through a fugue, in which the themes are introduced one after the other and then combined. The ‘grand finale’ hears Purcell’s original tune rides in majestic brass chords across the busy scurry of Britten’s original fugue writing

Year of the Dragon

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The only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac, the dragon has long been associated with prosperity and imperial power. Initially a vague motif in ancient Chinese art, the dragon is now an emblem of benevolent divinity, imperial power and sweeping unity. Its symbolism builds on thousands of years of folklore and Chinese history. Dragons have also been a source of inspiration to composers for many years…

John Frederick Lampe
The Dragon of Wantley
The Brook Street Band
John Andrews (conductor)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Magic Flute: Help! Help, or I am lost, doomed to fall prey to the cunning serpent!
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Bernard Haitink (conductor)

John Powell
How To Train Your Dragon: See you Tomorrow
Abbey Road Session Orchestra
Gavin Greenaway (conductor)

Philip Sparke
Year of the Dragon
Symphonic Winds
Alexander Veit (conductor)

John Frederick Lampe was born in Germany but came to England in 1724 and played the bassoon in opera houses. In 1730, he became the composer for Covent Garden Theatre and also played at the coronation of King George II. He wrote operatic works in English in spite of the vogue for Italian opera popularised by George Frederic Handel. From November, 1750 until his death, Lampe was based in Dublin and later in Edinburgh. He is buried in Canongate Kirkyard on the Royal Mile. The Dragon of Wantley was a big success at its 1737 premiere at the Haymarket Theatre in London and it ran for a record 69 performances. It even received more performances in the 18th century than any opera by the Handel. The absurd story sees The Dragon of Wantley terrorising the countryside of Yorkshire, eating its children like bonbons. The country people beg the local hero, Moore of Moore Hall, to slay it. He assents and asks for the hand of Margery. This arouses the jealousy of Mauxalinda, his cast-off mistress. Even though the opera is a send-up of Handel’s serious Italian operas he music remains utterly charming.

During the first scene of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Magic Flute, a fearsome serpent pursues Prince Tamino. Amid stormy and ominous music, the handsome, young nobleman cries for help but is knocked unconscious. Within moments, three ladies slay the monster. After a brief discussion of the young man’s attractiveness, they depart to advise their mistress of this unexpected occurrence. A panpipe-playing birdcatcher then appears. When Tamino regains consciousness, the birdcatcher falsely claims to have killed the serpent. The three ladies return and chastise him and then show Tamino a portrait of a beautiful girl. He is immediately smitten by this vision of loveliness and sings a rapturous aria praising her beauty. The opera, Mozart’s last, was premiered just before his death on December 5th 1791. On one level, The Magic Flute is a simple fairy tale concerning a damsel in distress and the handsome prince who rescues her. Beneath the surface, however, the piece is much more complex. It is an allegory of the quest for wisdom and enlightenment as presented through symbols of Freemasonry; Mozart was himself a Freemason. Most obvious of the Masonic symbols is the number three: among the cast are three boys, three ladies, and three slaves, and musical passages feature three chords (as those that begin the overture) or three stanzas, among other instances. The Magic Flute, which was successful from the beginning, continues to make frequent appearances on the world’s opera stages.

John Powell is an English composer and has been based in Los Angeles since 1997. Although he has composed the scores to over 70 feature films he is perhaps best known for composing the scores for the Bourne film series, X-Men and nine DreamWorks Animation films. He was nominated for an Academy Award for How to Train Your Dragon. Powell was a member of Hans Zimmer’s music studio and has collaborated frequently with other composers from the studio, including Harry Gregson-Williams on Antz, Chicken Run and Shrek and Zimmer himself on Chill Factor, The Road to El Dorado, and the first two Kung Fu Panda films.

Born and raised in London, Philip Sparke studied composition, trumpet, and piano at the Royal College of Music. Known as being one of the leading brass band and wind band composers, Sparke has won a notable amount of awards. Composed between 1984-85, The Year of the Dragon was originally written for brass band, but has since been orchestrated for wind band. It was composed to a commission from the Cory Band, one of the world’s premier brass bands, in 1984. The Finale is a tour-de-force with a rapid sequence of semi-quavers dominating the opening part of this bold and heroic movement.

Fairy Tales

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Fairy tales have stimulated generations of composers to write some of their finest music. With a rich source of characters that includes dragons, dwarfs, elves, fairies, giants, gnomes, goblins, monsters, talking animals, trolls, unicorns, witches and wizards, it’s no wonder these stories have captivated the imaginations of compsers and audiences alike.

Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921)
Hansel and Gretel
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Georg Solti (conductor)

Franz Schubert (1997-1928)
The Earl King
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone)
Gerald Moore (piano)

Nikolai Rimsky Korsakoff (1844-1908)
Scheherazade
New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Alan Gilbert (conductor)

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Cinderella: Cinderella’s Departure for the Ball
Moscow RTV Symphony Orchestra
Gennady Rozhdestventsky (conductor)

Originally conceived as a small-scale vocal entertainment for children, Hansel and Gretel resonates with both adults and children, and has become one of the most successful fairy-tale operas ever created. The composer, Engelbert Humperdinck, was a protégé of Richard Wagner’s, and the opera’s score is flavoured with the sophisticated musical lessons he learned from his idol while maintaining a charm and a light touch that were entirely Humperdinck’s own. The opera acknowledges the darker features present in the Brothers Grimm version of the familiar folk tale, yet presents them within a frame of grace and humor. Engelbert Humperdinck began his career as an assistant to Richard Wagner in Bayreuth in a variety of capacities, including tutoring Wagner’s son Siegfried in music and composition. Hansel and Gretel was Humperdinck’s first complete opera and remains the foundation of his reputation.

The Earl King is a song setting written in 1815 and based on a 1782 poem of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The song packs a remarkable amount of tension and drama into a mere four minutes and all the more impressive as Schubert was only 18 years old when he composed it. Inspired in part by his friendship with a number of talented singers, Schubert produced some 600 art songs during the course of his brief career and The Earl King is by far the best known of these. The poem that provides its text, like many of the supernatural tales that dominated literature in the Romantic era, has its roots in a Scandinavian folktale. Goethe’s poem tells the story of a boy riding home on horseback in his father’s arms. He is frightened when he is courted by the Earl King, a powerful and creepy supernatural being. The boy’s father, however, cannot see or hear the creature and tells the boy that his imagination is playing tricks on him. The boy grows increasingly terrified by what he hears from the Earl King, but his father tells him that the things he thinks he sees and hears are only the sights and sounds of nature on a dark and stormy night. When the Earl King eventually seizes the boy, the father spurs on his horse, but when he arrives home his son is dead.

Scheherazade was inspired by the collection of largely Middle Eastern and Indian tales known as The Thousand and One Nights (or The Arabian Nights). The piece evokes an image of Scheherazade , the young wife of the sultan Schahriar, telling tales to her husband to forestall his plan to kill her. Scheherazade derives its themes from the evocative stories of characters, such as Sindbad the Sailor and the woodcutter Ali Baba, that became widely known in Europe during the 1800s. Rimsky-Korsakov, renowned as a virtuoso of orchestral coloration, recognized in these tales an ideal realm in which to give free rein to his abilities. Colourful and highly varied in mood, Scheherazade was completed in 1888, and premiered on November 3rd of the same year in Saint Petersburg with Rimsky-Korsakoff himself conducting.

Tales are a major inspiration for Prokofiev’s works. Commissioned in 1940 for a ballet, Cinderella took five years to be presented to the public because of the Second World War. The musical composition perfectly highlights each character’s role in the tale and creates a symbiosis with classical ballet. Following the successful production of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet at the Kirov in Leningrad n 1940, Prokofiev joined forces with Nikolai Volkov who provided the scenario for Cinderella. The first two acts were completed in piano score by June of 1941, but with the German invasion on June 22, Prokofiev laid aside the ballet to begin work on something that would reflect Russia’s struggle against the Nazi onslaught. This was to become his huge, four-hour opera War and Peace. Prokofiev resumed work on Cinderella two years later, in mid-1943, and expected that it would be performed by the Kirov company, but in the end was first performed by the Bolshoi in Moscow on November 21, 1945. Soon after the highly successful premiere, Prokofiev drew from the full score nineteen numbers arranged into three suites that soon found their way into the orchestral repertory as his Op. 107, 108, and 109.

Music From Books

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From Shakespeare to J.K Rowling and The Bible to J.R.R. Tolkien, great books have often been the inspiration behind some of the greatest music. This programme looks a just a few of these great books and the music that they inspired

Edward German (1862-1936)
Tom Jones, Act III: For Tonight (Sophia’s Waltz-Song)
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Adrian Leaper (conductor)

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64 – Act 1: The Fight
Cleveland Orchestra
Lorin Maazel (conductor)

Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880)
Robinson Crusoe
Offenbach: Robinson Crusoe, Act 3: “I had a dream, a dream of you” Marilyn Hill Smith (soprano)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Alun Francis (conductor)

John Williams (b. 1932)
Hedwig’s Theme – From “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”
The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
Nic Raine (conductor)

The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling, often known simply as Tom Jones, is a comic novel by English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding. It was first published on 28 February 1749 in London and is among the earliest English works to be classified as a novel. It became a best seller with four editions published in its first year alone. It is generally regarded as Fielding’s greatest book and as an influential English novel and one of the greatest and most ambitious comic novels in English literature.
Sir Edward German is best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of English comic opera. Tom Jones is a comic opera in three acts and after an initial run in Manchester, it opened in London at the Apollo Theatre on 17th April 1907 for an initial run of 110 performances. Sadly, it then disappeared from the professional repertory but eventually became very popular with amateur groups.

Romeo and Juliet was among Shakespeare’s most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is still one of his most frequently performed.
Prokofiev’s ballet, Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64, was first composed in 1935 but substantially revised for its Soviet premiere in early 1940. Prokofiev made three orchestral suites from the ballet and a suite for solo piano. The ballet’s original happy ending (contrary to Shakespeare) provoked controversy among Soviet cultural officials. Its failure to be produced in the Soviet Union until 1940 may also have been a result of consequences in the performing arts following the denunciation of Dmitri Shostakovich in 1936. Suites of the ballet music were eventually heard in Moscow and the United States, but the full ballet was premiered in Brno (then in Czechoslovakia, now in the Czech Republic) on 30th December 1938.

Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling and the novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Although John Williams only scored the first three films, Philosopher’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets, and Prisoner of Azkaban, several motifs that he created have been reprised and incorporated into the remaining scores, in particular Hedwig’s Theme, which can be heard in all eight films.

Overtures You Might Not Know

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Overtures are popular pieces with concert goers the world over. The overtures to The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute and William Tell receive regular performances but what about many of the other overtures that are hardly performed at all? In this edition of In Conversation we look at some great overtures that are worth hearing…

Carl Maria Weber (1786-1826)
Overture to Euryanthe Op 81
London Symphony Orchestra
John Eliot Gardner (conductor)

Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek (1860-1945)
Donna Diana: Overture
Vienna State Opera Orchestra
Hermann Scherchen (conductor)

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
Overture The Tsar’s Bride
Mariinsky Orchestra
Valery Gergiev (conductor)

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Luisa Miller: Overture
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Lorin Maazel (conductor)

Carl Maria von Weber was a German composer, conductor and virtuoso pianist and was a crucial figure in the development of German Romantic Opera. His mature operas including Der Freischütz (1821), Euryanthe (1823) and Oberon (1826) had a major impact on subsequent German composers including Marschner, Meyerbeer, and Wagner; his compositions for piano influenced those of Mendelssohn, Chopin and Liszt. Euryanthe is a German grand heroic-romantic opera premiered on 25 October 1823. It is acknowledged as one of Weber’s most important operas but the work is rarely staged because of the weak libretto by Helmina von Chézy. Euryanthe is based on a 13th-century French romance but only the overture, an outstanding example of the early German Romantic style (heralding Richard Wagner), is played today.

Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek was especially productive as a composer of operas, the most famous of which was Donna Diana (composed in 1894, revised in 1908 and again in 1933). He also composed orchestral music including five symphonies, chamber music, organ works, and religious works for chorus. Born in Vienna on May 4th 1860, he became active as a conductor, beginning in Graz and gradually moving into increasingly important centers of activity including Mainz, Berlin, Prague, Weimar and Warsaw between 1884-1909. His exact contemporary, Gustav Mahler, who was born less than two months after Reznicek, was active in similar venues including Berlin, Prague and Weimar, where both worked between 1886 and 1907. While Mahler devoted himself less to operatic compositions than Reznicek did, both of them contributed heavily to the symphonic repertoire. Mahler composed ten symphonies (the last semi-finished) and two additional symphonic movement whereas Reznicek composed five symphonies. Donna Diana is a comic opera based on the Spanish comedy Disdain with Disdain by Agustín Cavana. It was first performed on 16th December 1894 in Prague. The opera was successful in its day, with productions in several German theatres, but is rarely performed today although the overture has been recorded and is very occasionally heard in the concert hall.

The Tsar’s Bride is Rimsky-Korsakov’s tenth opera. He himself said of the opera that he intended it as a reaction against the ideas of Richard Wagner, and to be in the style of “cantilena par excellence”. The Tsar’s Bride is a repertory opera in Russia, although it is not part of the standard operatic repertoire in the West. In an 1825 book, Russian historian Ivan Karamzin describes how Tsar Ivan the Terrible chose his third bride, Marfa Sobakina, out of over two thousand women. Marfa died two weeks after the wedding involving treachery and poison. Although The Tsar’s Bride was planned to be performed in the Imperial Theatres, it had to receive its premiere at a small theatre under private sponsorship. On October 30, 1901, nearly two years after its first performance, it finally appeared on the Imperial stage.

Based on Schiller’s Intrigue and Love, the play is a convoluted web of seedy Teutonic politics but Verdi distills it down to a love affair, producing what is generally considered his most underestimated opera. The first performance was given on 8 December 1849 and it is different to any of his previous works and far more akin to his later operas. Luisa Miller was Verdi’s 15th opera and marked a shift in focus from the more political statements found in his earlier works to one of relationships and all of the complications that arise. In addition he began to explore orchestral timbres and musical motives in greater detail. The theme of the Overture is based on the opening scene from Act III, where Luisa and the chorus sing Come in un giorno solo while she writes a letter before taking the fatal poison. In Act III the theme is in 3/4 time whereas in the Overture, Verdi presents the theme in 4/4 time and with a change in tempo.

The Strauss Dynasty

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Starting in the early 19th century, the Strauss family waltzes took Vienna by storm and went on to conquer Europe, even into the era of gramophone records. It began with Johann Strauss I and continued with his sons Johann II, Josef and Eduard and then his grandson Johann III

Josef Strauss (1827-1870)
Phoenix March
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Daniel Barenboim (conductor)

Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Overture Die Fledermaus
Hallé Orchestra
Bramwell Tovey

Eduardo Strauss (1835-1916)
Bahn Frei!
SWR Radio Orchestra
Jiří Stárek (conductor)

Johann Strauss III (1866-1939)
Unter den Linden Op 30
Viennese Orchestra of London
Jack Rothstein (Director)

Johann Strauss I (1804-1849)
Radetsky March
Johann Strauss Orchestra
André Rieu (Director)

Josef Strauss Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Josef’s father, Johan Strauss Snr, wanted Josef to choose a career in the Austrian military so he trained as an engineer, eventually working for the city of Vienna as an engineer and designer. He even designed a street-sweeping vehicle and published two textbooks on mathematical subjects! However, Josef studied music and learned to play the violin and showed himself to be a talented artist, painter, poet, dramatist, singer, composer and inventor
Josef joined the family orchestra, along with his brothers, Johann II and Eduard in the 1850s. His early compositions went down well with the Viennese so he decided to continue in the family tradition of composing dance music. He wrote many waltzes and polkas, perhaps most famously the Pizzicato Polka with his brother Johann.

Johann Strauss II composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas and a ballet. In his lifetime, he was known as The Waltz King, and was largely responsible for the popularity of the waltz in Vienna during the 19th century. Some of Johann Strauss’s most famous works include The Blue Danube, Kaiser-Walzer (Emperor Waltz), Tales from the Vienna Woods and the Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka. Among his operettas, Die Fledermaus and The Gypsy Baron are the best known. Johann Strauss II’s success and popularity eclipsed his father’s but he often played Johann Snr’s works and openly declared his admiration of them. It was no secret to the Viennese that their rivalry was intense with the press at that time fueling it.

Eduard Strauss’ style was individual and didn’t attempt to emulate the works of his other brothers or his contemporaries. He is primarily remembered as a dance music conductor rather than as a composer and his popularity was overshadowed by that of his elder brothers. However, he stamped his own mark with the quick polka Bahn Frei! Op. 45 one of his most popular compositions. He also composed waltzes of which only a handful survived obscurity. Strauss married Maria Klenkhart on 8 January 1863 and had two sons, Johann Strauss III and Josef Eduard Strauss.

Viennese musical tastes began to change with more popular composers such as Franz Lehár and Oscar Strauss dominating the Viennese musical scene with their operettas. Johann Strauss III only stage work, the three-act operetta Katze und Maus, composed in 1898, was disliked by both audiences and music critics who called for the composer to appear under a pseudonym in order not to tarnish the name of his famous relatives! In 1903, he elevated the Strauss family to a new age of development when Deutsche Grammophon recorded him conducting the Johann Strauss Orchestra on eight single-sided records. Unter den Linden (Under the Linden Trees) op. 30 was first performed by the composer on June 2, 1900.

Johann Strauss I became one of the best-known and well-loved dance composers in Vienna. He toured with his orchestra to Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Britain, where he was invited to provide the music for the opening state ball on the occasion of Queen Victoria’s accession to the throne, and later her coronation. Johann Strauss I’s most famous piece is probably the 1848 Radetzky March – named after Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, written to commemorate Radetsky’s victory at the Battle of Custoza. When it was first played in front of Austrian officers they spontaneously clapped and stamped their feet when they heard the chorus. This tradition is kept alive today when the march is played in classical music venues in Vienna.