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Strauss fights
with his violin
(Excerpt taken from Composers III Book)
Strauss started playing for money, and eventually he and a close
friend,
Josef Lanner started a small orchestra of twelve players.
The two young men had a nice arrangement. Johann did all the
conducting while Lanner did all the composing. One day Lanner
became ill and asked Johann to write "something" for their upcoming
performance. The day that Johann composed a
waltz changed his life forever.
Lanner did not like the competition with another
"composer" and the tension grew.
Strauss accused Lanner of stealing one of his
compositions. During their last appearance together, a drunken
Lanner got up to give Strauss a farewell speech. Insults flew and
before the next waltz could begin, the composer and the conductor
fought with their violin bows as if they were swords. |