# legendary boring as hell works everyone like and you wonder why since a musician?



## deprofundis (Apr 25, 2014)

Im not a musician every seem listenable not that boring in classical i can pronounced myself , but a dude once said to me Strauss is for 90+ yrs old , i was like what why Strauss, i don't know this composer only from factual info he was specialist of valse music what wrong whit it , is it that boring are there far worst offender, i don't know Strauss music output so i can't tell if this mytho real...


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Maybe one of the 90+ year olds who posts here will comment.


----------



## deprofundis (Apr 25, 2014)

Mandryka said:


> Maybe one of the 90+ year olds who posts here will comment.


this would be so cool, i like the old folks there usually nice, like old couple, 90'' years old are welcomes here? 
common tell me what kind of classical composer is your composer of choice?


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

deprofundis said:


> Im not a musician every seem listenable not that borring in classical i can pronounced myself , but a dude once said to me Strauss is for 90+ yrs old.


I think this guy is full of himself. Brahms seemed to like Strauss' waltzes. According to an article in Etude magazine, "It is also related that the wife of Johann Strauss once asked Brahms for his autograph to put on her fan. He immediately complied with her request, writing the opening measure of the Blue Danube waltz, and putting under it, 'not, alas, by Johannes Brahms.'"


----------



## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

I assume you mean the Strauss family, creators or many waltzes, as opposed to Richard Strauss? If so this is because the Strauss waltzes were the rearguard of Viennese geniality before the onset of changes that happened in the 20th century.

There is a wonderful CD that addresses this -- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004GYS91S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 -- whose contents contrast several miniaturized Strauss waltzes against a great masterpiece from a 12 tone composer.

The Vienna New Year's day concert each January is full of Strauss waltzes, a reminder of what music once was in Vienna.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Strauss was the first great crossover artist, a popular entertainer whose music captivated the greatest musical minds of his day. Brahms and Wagner may not have agreed on much else, but they seemed to share a passion for Strauss. He and Brahms were good friends, and there's a famous photo of them together on Brahms's balcony. Wagner called Johann Strauss "the most musical head in Europe," listened to his waltzes to relax when the Bayreuth festival was stressing him out, and apparently allowed him to give with his dance orchestra the first public performance of the prelude to _Tristan und Isolde._ I've been unable to find out how the audience, who were probably expecting lighter fare, received that daring bit of programming, but it shows Strauss's interest in advocating for serious contemporary music.

As a composer Strauss didn't often venture far outside the realm of dance and popular entertainment - most of his over 400 works are waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, marches and operettas - but he was a sophisticated musician, conversant with the trends of his time, and a fountain of inspired melody. He was an icon in his lifetime, he and his brother Josef (also a fine composer) concertized all over Europe, their romantic and invigorating dances virtually defined a culture, and if their work represents a world inconceivable to younger people it will nevertheless endure as the best of its kind.


----------



## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Love the melodies, hate the incessant _RAT-tat-tat_.


----------



## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

Playing second violin in a Strauss waltz is tedious and as boring as hell. While nearly everyone else in the orchestra gets to play some part of the melody, second violin, viola and a couple others instruments play --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat;--- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat;


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

senza sordino said:


> Playing second violin in a Strauss waltz is tedious and as boring as hell. While nearly everyone else in the orchestra gets to play some part of the melody, second violin, viola and a couple others instruments play --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat;--- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat; --- tat tat;


Ah, but think of the snare drum...


----------



## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

My feeling is that the classical warhorses have earned their place in the repertoire, and it’s up to the listener not to let them become boring by overworking and overplaying them to the point of exhaustion and numbness. Anything can become boring if overplayed and overexposed and it’s not the fault of the composers what listeners do. The waltzes were originally written as dance music and not for the couch potatoes. The New Year’s celebrations in Vienna would be unthinkable without them, and that’s because many of these famous waltzes can be highly romantic, colorful, optimistic, happy, and people can dance to them. This is another thread of complaint, seemingly without gratitude, where some listeners may never have asked themselves how these works became so popular in the first place.


----------

