Oscar Straus

He wished not to be associated with the musical Strauss family of Vienna. However, he did follow the advice of Johann Strauss II in 1898 about abandoning the prospective lure of writing waltzes for the more lucrative business of writing for the theatre. The son of a Jewish family, he studied music in Berlin under Max Bruch, and became an orchestral conductor, working at the Überbrettl cabaret. He went back to Vienna and began writing operettas, becoming a serious rival to Franz Lehár. When Lehár's popular The Merry Widow premiered in 1905, Straus was said to have remarked "Das kann ich auch!" (I can also do that!). In 1939, after the Anschluss, he fled to Paris, where he received the honour of a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur. In 1940 he fled via Portugal to the United States, where he settled in Hollywood. After the war he returned to Europe, and settled at Bad Ischl, where he died. His grave is in the Bad Ischl Friedhof. Straus' best-known works are Ein Walzertraum (A Waltz Dream), and The Chocolate Soldier (Der tapfere Soldat). The waltz arrangement from the former is probably his most enduring orchestral work. Among his most famous works is the theme from the 1950 film La Ronde.

The recorded working language is German. The field of work recorded is music composing, composed musical work and music composition. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are opera and operetta. Works named in the authority record are Ein Walzertraum. Distinctions recorded are Ring of Honour of the City of Vienna.

• Illustration — Sheet of music of a Straus' composition for the Überbrettl cabaret • Die lustigen Nibelungen (The Merry Nibelungs) – 1904 • Zur indischen Witwe – 1905 • Hugdietrichs Brautfahrt (Hugdietrich's Honeymoon) – 1906 • Ein Walzertraum (A Waltz Dream) – 1907 • Der tapfere Soldat (The Gallant Soldier, The Chocolate Soldier) – 1908 • Didi – 1908 • Das Tal der Liebe – 1909 • Mein junger Herr (My Son John) – 1910 • Die kleine Freundin (My Little Friend) – 1911 • Der tapfere Cassian (The Brave Cassian) – 1912 • The Dancing Viennese – 1912 • Love and Laughter – 1913 • Rund um die Liebe – 1914 • Liebeszauber – 1916 • Eine Ballnacht – 1918 • Der letzte Walzer (The Last Waltz) – 1920 • Die Perlen der Cleopatra – 1923 • Die Teresina – 1925 • Die Königin – 1926 • Marietta – [1927 in French, 1928 in German] • Eine Frau, die weiß, was sie will – 1932 • Drei Walzer (Three Waltzes) – 1935 • Die Musik kommt – 1948 • Ihr erster Walzer (revised version, Die Musik kommt) – 1950 • Bozena – 1952

• Colombine – 1904 • Die Prinzessin von Tragant – 1912

• Piano Concerto in B Minor – 1893 • Serenade for String Orchestra in G Minor, Op. 35 – 1905

Oscar Straus was recorded at birth as Oscar Nathan Strauss. The authorities additionally record the heading Oscar Nathan Straus.

Oscar Straus is recorded as conductor, composer, screenwriter, chapelmaster and musician.