Oscar Nathan Straus (6 March 1870 – 11 January 1954) was a Viennese composer of

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its ...

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

s, and songs. He also wrote about 500 cabaret songs,

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small nu ...

, and orchestral and choral works. His original name was actually Strauss, but for professional purposes he deliberately omitted the final 's'. He wished not to be associated with the musical Strauss family of Vienna. However, he did follow the advice of

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ove ...

in 1898 about abandoning the prospective lure of writing

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

es for the more lucrative business of writing for the theatre. The son of a JewishOscar Straus, Noted Composer, Dead; Fled Nazis in Vienna, Paris
''Jewish Telegraphic Agency''. 13 January 1954 family, he studied music in Berlin under Max Bruch, and became an orchestral conductor, working at the Überbrettl

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

. He went back to Vienna and began writing operettas, becoming a serious rival to

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; hu, Lehár Ferenc ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is ''The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe''). Life a ...

. When Lehár's popular ''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt ...

'' premiered in 1905, Straus was said to have remarked "Das kann ich auch!" (I can also do that!). In 1939, following the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germa ...

, he fled to Paris, where he received the honour of a Chevalier of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, and then to Hollywood. After the war, he returned to Europe, and settled at

Bad Ischl Bad Ischl (Austrian German ) is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the Traun River in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden ''Ahorn'', ''Bad Ischl'', ''Haiden ...

, where he died. His grave is in the

Bad Ischl Friedhof Bad Ischl Friedhof is the town cemetery of Bad Ischl in Austria. It is on the State of Upper Austria's list of protected historical sites. The cemetery was originally located at the . In 1719 it was moved to its present location on Grazer Straß ...

. Straus' best-known works are ''

Ein Walzertraum ' (''A Waltz Dream'') is an operetta by Oscar Straus with a German libretto by and , based on the novella ' (''Nux, the Prince Consort'') by Hans Müller-Einigen from his 1905 book ' (''Book of Adventures''). The young Jacobson presented Strau ...

'' (''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''.

Works

Operettas

*''Die lustigen Nibelungen'' (''The Merry Nibelungs'') – 1904 *''Zur indischen Witwe'' – 1905 *''Hugdietrichs Brautfahrt'' (''Hugdietrich's Honeymoon'') – 1906 *''

'' (''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 ''Der letzte Walzer'' (''The Last Waltz'') is a Viennese operetta in three acts, with music by Oscar Straus, to a libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald. It opened at the in Berlin on 12 February 1920 and starred Fritzi Massary. It was ...

'' (''The Last Waltz'') – 1920 *''Die Perlen der Cleopatra'' – 1923 *''Die Teresina'' – 1925 *''Die Königin'' – 1926 *''Marietta'' – 927 in French, 1928 in German*''Die Musik kommt'' – 1928 *''Eine Frau, die weiß, was sie will'' – 1932 *''Drei Walzer'' (''Three Waltzes'') – 1935 *''Ihr erster Walzer'' (revised version, ''Die Musik kommt'') – 1950 *''Bozena'' – 1952

Ballets

*''Colombine'' – 1904 *''Die Prinzessin von Tragant'' – 1912

Orchestral music

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

Film scores

*''

A Lady's Morals ''A Lady's Morals'' is a 1930 American pre-Code film offering a highly fictionalized account of opera singer Jenny Lind. The movie features Grace Moore as Lind, Reginald Denny as a lover, and Wallace Beery as P. T. Barnum. The film contains some ...

'' – 1930 *''Danube Love Song'' – 1931 (never released due to backlash against musicals) *''

The Smiling Lieutenant ''The Smiling Lieutenant'' is a 1931 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert and Miriam Hopkins, and released by Paramount Pictures. It was written by Samson Raphaelson and ...

'' – 1931 *''The Southerner'' – 1932 *'' One Hour with You'' – 1932 * ''

The Gentleman from Maxim's ''The Gentleman from Maxim's'' (german: Die Herren vom Maxim) is a 1933 German comedy film directed by Carl Boese and starring Lee Parry, Johannes Riemann and Oskar Karlweis. It was shot at the Johannisthal Studios in Berlin. The film's sets we ...

'' – 1933 *''Frühlingsstimmen'' – 1934 *''

Land Without Music ''Land Without Music'' is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Richard Tauber, Diana Napier and Jimmy Durante. It was made at Denham Studios. The film was one of a number of operetta films made in Britain during the ...

'' – 1935 *''Make a Wish'' – 1935 * ''

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

'' – 1940 *'' La Ronde'' – 1950

References

External links

List of Straus's stage works, with information and links

operone.de * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Straus, Oscar 1870 births 1954 deaths 19th-century Austrian composers 20th-century Austrian composers 20th-century classical composers Austrian film score composers Austrian opera composers Male opera composers Austrian Jews Jewish composers Austrian Romantic composers Composers from Vienna Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Austrian refugees Austrian male classical composers 20th-century male musicians 19th-century male musicians Burials at the Bad Ischl Friedhof