Johann Strauss II

Johann Strauss II turned the Viennese waltz into an international symbol of elegance, motion, and social display. The Austrian composer wrote dance music, marches, polkas, and operettas that carried ballroom rhythm onto the concert stage. The Blue Danube, Tales from the Vienna Woods, Voices of Spring, and Die Fledermaus made his name inseparable from 19th-century popular-classical culture.