About The Society

Foundation

This Society was founded in 1964 with the view of rediscovering the rich musical treasury composed by the Strauss family and their Viennese contemporaries, the majority of which had long been obscured by the extraordinary popularity of a tiny number of waltzes, polkas and marches. Since then the Society has grown to become one of the principal Societies devoted to the promotion of Viennese and related light classical music, and operetta worldwide. Dr Eduard Strauss, the great-great-grandson of Johann Strauss the Elder, is the Society's Honorary Patron.

Society Newsletter and Magazine (free to members)

Members receive a professionally produced newsletter to keep them abreast of activities, and news both in the UK and worldwide, and also a bi-annual illustrated magazine Vienna Music which contains topical articles, features and reviews.

Piano and Orchestral Scores and Parts

The Society possesses the piano scores of practically every Strauss work, and the collection of orchestral parts of rare works by the Strauss family and contemporaries is one of the largest such archives outside Vienna. Using this material has resulted in many recordings, broadcasts, concerts and stage performances of otherwise unknown works by the Strauss family and contemporary composers of Viennese music. The Society holds in its archive a large collection of piano and orchestral scores that can be made available for hire or purchase. For details go to www.viennese-music-library.com

Research

Much original research has been achieved. The Society regularly provides authoritative notes for concert programmes and recordings. In addition, members have had biographies published. Peter Kemp, now Honorary Life President, is author of the biography The Strauss Family: Portrait of a Musical Dynasty, which, though now out of print, was published in English, German, Japanese, Hungarian and Chinese editions. Other books in English have been published by members, on Josef Strauss, C.M.Ziehrer and Josef Gung'l.

Recorded Music on Compact Disc

In the field of recorded music, the Society has sponsored three highly acclaimed commercial recordings of previously unrecorded orchestral works by the Strauss musical dynasty and other composers of this genre, entitled Vienna Première, Volumes 1, 2 and 3 (Chandos Records). The first two volumes include vocal contributions from the internationally acclaimed soprano Marilyn Hill Smith.

In 1989, a new Chandos recording called Johann Strauss and Family in London was issued in co-operation with the Society, featuring the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Georgiadis in works especially written by members of the Strauss family for their various visits to Great Britain.

The Society was heavily involved with a project for the Marco Polo label to record the complete orchestral output of the 'Waltz King' Johann Strauss II on 52 compact discs, which was completed in 1996.

The recording of the complete orchestral works of Josef Strauss, the talented brother of the 'Waltz King' was completed in 2003, and now the recording of the complete orchestral works of Johann Strauss I in original instrumentation is well underway with new CD's being released every few months. Our Hon. Life Member Prof. Christian Pollack is undertaking the necessary musical research for this project and is conducting many of the CD releases.

There are many other recording projects in which the Society and its members have been or are involved in, including recordings by Marco Polo, Naxos and Preiser, in addition to our own joint productions with sister societies of music by Ivanovici, and our Spirit of Vienna series. Further CD productions are planned with Naxos and the Ziehrer Stiftung (Preiser records) in the near future. These all require considerable research, and in many cases there is some degree of sponsorship.

Social Activities

Members enjoy various musical and social events throughout the year, including a social after the Annual General Meeting in March, a formal event held in London in October or November each year and another held in Matlock. We participate in and are involved in the planning of both the New Year Concert at the Barbican in London and the Grand Viennese Ball held in Oxford by the Oxford Philomusica. There are also many events held in various European countries which are also attended each year by our members and some of these are organised through the society. There are several other more localised events for members to enjoy.

Special offers

We have arrangements in place with a number of producers of Viennese music to offer members a significant discount on CDs, frequently better than is obtainable through e-commerce, and include some CDs not otherwise readily available. Information on these is regularly provided in our Newsletters.

Membership

We have about 400 members world-wide, a number of whom are resident in the United States, Canada, Australia and other English-speaking countries. For more information, please go to the feedback page.

Liaison with other Johann Strauss Societies and organisations

The Society has close links with the Johann Strauss Societies of Vienna, Germany, Sweden, Japan, Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic. Our Society has significant American and Canadian membership and we also cater for events in those countries. Working together, we are a very potent force.

Six International Johann Strauss Symposia have taken place: Vienna (1983), Stockholm (1985), Tokyo (1997), London (1989), Coburg & Berlin (2000), and Bucharest (2002). 1989 was our 25th anniversary and over 200 fellow enthusiasts from overseas attended. In addition there was a special International Meeting in Vienna in 1999 to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Johann Strauss II and the 150th anniversary of the death of Johann Strauss I. In the past few years many smaller international meetings have taken place in Austria, Germany, Sweden, Slovakia, The Czech Republic and various Romanian cities.

We also have a close working relationship with other organisations such as the Vienna based Institut für Strauss Forschung (Institute for Strauss Research) who hold an annual seminar in Vienna every March entitled Tanz-Signale (Dance Signals) and are in regular contact with many performing artists, orchestras and ensembles who perform music in the Viennese style.

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