New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-06-25
HOW STRAUSS COMPOSED.
THE ALMOST IMPROMPTU CHARACTER
OF HIS MUSICAL WRITINGS.

with which the Waltz King" just dead. com /
posed is almost incredible. He belonged TO the
good old times when such things were done Ill
another way than they are now. Nowadays
he used to say jokingly, one would nave 10 turn
over the whole literature OF music To find new
,olka Then all that was needed was for some
thing 10 occur to a man. and the composition
was as good as done In the morning the com !
poser generally had not yet thought OF the new
Waltzes that were to be played and got ready
by evening Lanners people regularly came 70
HIM in the morning; then he would think OF
something" and at once jot down a part Of the
brand new composition. which would then be
arranged for orchestra by other musicians.
copied. etc.
The elder Strauss. for instance. had no idea
of his talent. for composition till Lanner one
day fell sick and said to him. To-day l posi-
lively can't do a thing. see il you can't think
Of something" Strauss tried it, and succeeded
so well that the people in the evening were quite
beside themselves in their applause. ana de-
clared that THIS time Lanncr had oudone him
self The new piece had appeared under his
name Thus the elder Strauss took to compos-
ing. and his son afterward followed MIN. And
he could always think Of something, from his /
eleventh year to his seventy fourth-till MS
death. After he had lost the power Of speech
in his last illness he seen to be beating time
on the bedspread with his stffenng fingers.
Johann Strauss liked best to compose at night
over bottle Of wine. when his associates in the
game Of taroc had gone. But his ideas came
at no fixed times In the merriest. maddest so
ciety ne would suddenly become serious and re-
Elective Then his friends knew that he was
busy with a musical idea If he had no paper
by him he would speedily note down his idea
in A few measures on his cuffs This happened
especially when he was away from home, and
was travelling or driving Then he generally
forgot the matter and put the cuffs into the
wash These valuable notes We're thus for
long time generally lost till one day Frau Adele,
his wife, noticed them. Then all the cuffs that
were thrown in the wash were carefully saved
and examined. He would write on bank
notes-once he is said to have scrubbed music
over a hundred gulden note; but on that day
Johann strauss who was never an extravagant
person. must have been particularly absent
minded
Johann Barndl. many years conductor at the
Carl Theatre in Vienna. tells this story of
Strauss: At one Of the last rehearsas Of
Strauss operetta Prince Methusaen" it sud |
denly occurred to the conductor that the theme
in a certain love duet strikingly like popu |
lar song Of the day Strauss did not know the !
song but thanked the conductor for telling !
him. and promised to compose another number |
in place Of it by the next day. ON the way
home charming polka theme occurred to him. |
called up, as he declared by the rafting Of the
wagon wheels on the badly paved street BY |
the time he reached his house 1t was complete |
in his head This polka, TO which a very happy |
text was written, became the music of one OF
the chief numbers of the opera the cOupet
known as The Dotet on the t. that was popu-
lar everywhere on its journey around the world
But Strauss at that time did not feel quite sure
whether his polka was a full substitute for the
omitted love duet, and the following day he
brought in a delicious waltz. These were the
two numbers of the opera that did most to
assure its success.
StraUss's first composition was the waltz
"Sinngedichte," written when he was eleven
years old. 1t did not convince the father Of his
sons talent. or else it aroused the elders jeal-
Ousy: it is well known that he made a deter
mined opposition to his son becoming a must
clan. Perhaps the younger Strauss did not un-
derstand his father till he himself had become
an old man, and had dsinherited talented
nephew solely because he wanted to become
composer.
Strauss is described by those who knew him
as a singularly naive soul and quite ignorant
Of the more serious side Of music. In his young
er days, however he is said to have studied the
science with teachers " good standing one
fruit OF this study was a set Of serious and
learned church compositions. Strauss, however
felt the need Of getting immediate pecuniary
results from his studies. and communicated his
feelings on the subject to his teacher. The lat
ter answered. "Go and write waltzes. then
you wouldn't have needed any counterpart for
that"
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