San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1894-10-15
THE GOLDEN JUBILEE.
JOHANN STRAUSS, KING OF THE
WALTZ,
Who Was Fifty Years Leader.
HIS LIFE STORY FULL OF R0-
NANCE.
His American Admirers Present
Him With Silver Wreath
Sixteen Inches in
Diameter,

N EW 1Ohh, wv lcs-lh iOhho
today musicians from all parts of
the world are celebrating the gold
en- Jubilee of the King of the Waltz,
Johann Strauss. 1t is fifty years
since he welded a baton, and
Americans have contributed sill
YER wreath for the occasion. Ru-
dolph Aronson was the promoter
of the idea, and all the great must
clans of America have contributed.
Strauss was born in 1925. When
he was only six years old he be-
came a composer. At eighteen he
was clerk in a savings bank and at
nineteen he made his debut as a
conductor in a concert hall. From
that time on he devoted himself
entirely to music, and for more
than a quarter Of century his
principal compositions were dance
music. His opus 3l4, "On the Beau
tiful Blue Danube" is now ma
tional Austrian popular piece. 1t
was originally written for male
chorus and orchestra, and it paved
the way for it's composers entrance
into the field of operetta. In 1871
Strauss produced at the Theater an
der Trotten his "Indigo und die
Vierzig Raeuber," his great oper-
eta. In this country he is known
most widely as the writer of "The
Merry War;" "The Queens Lace
Handkerchief" "Prince Methusa-
lem" "The Gypsy Baron" and ain.
digo, Night in Venice"
Strauss visited this country in
1869, when he appeared at Gill
more's Peace Jubilee, in Boston,
and at the Academy of Music, New
York, where he conducted several
of his own composition.
The wreath presented by the
Americans is of sterling silver, six
teen inches in diameter, and was
designed by Mr.. Paulding Farm
ham, of Tiffany & Co. There are
fifty leaves, on each of which the
name of a composition of Strauss
is engraved. The "Waltz Kings"
portrait modelled in relief on gold
lyre, with few bars Of his famous
"On the Beautiful Blue Danube"
waltz, is to adorn the apex Of the
wreath, while the base shows a
graceful intermingling Of the
American and Austrian flags, with
the Austrian coat Of arms and the
inscription "Presented to Johann
Strauss by his American admirers,
Get. Is, 1894" Mr.. Aronson in
raising this subscription had the
cooperation of Thodore Thomas,
Anton Seidel, Walter Damrosch,
Rafael Joseffy, Frand Wander
Stucken, Victor Herbert, John
Philip Sousa, Arthur Mees, Gustav
Kerker and others as we'll known.
King Johann ii has been twice
married. He first espoused "Jetty"
Treffz, a charming music hall
singer. In 1878 he married Angeli-
ca Ditrich, an opera singer. The
heir apparent to the throne is his
youngest brother, Eduard. Joseph
you may remember, died some
years ago, when still in the first
| flights of youth. He left 2S3 works
many of them of a bright and gen.
tie gayety, which insured his sue
cession. But he was never destined
to be Joseph l. He was giving con-
certs in Warsaw. One night, after
he and his wife had retired, crowd
of half-drunken Russian officers
dra gged him out of bed and de-
manded that he play for them.
They had a mob Of tipsy women
with them, and demanded waltz.
The angry composer refused. He
was set upon and beaten into in
sensibility. He was removed to
Vienna and died within a few days.
And so Eduard, the youngest of
the three brothers, is in the line of
the throne. He is not yet 80, and
has written over 200 works, full of
all the Strauss life and merriment
copious melody and brilliant or.
chestrian. He has in Vienna an
admiral orchestra Of his own, which
paws in the summer in the Volgs-
karten, and in the winter in the
large hall of the Musikverein.
IV. go. x,.L-yro, uo,uds~