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Oscar Straus

Oscar Nathan Straus (6 March 1870 – 11 January 1954) was a Viennese composer of operettas, film scores, and songs. He also wrote about 500 cabaret songs, chamber music, 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 in 1898 about abandoning the prospective lure of writing waltzes for the more lucrative business of writing for the theatre.

The son of a Jewish family, he studied music in Berlin under Max Bruch, and became an orchestral conductor, working at the Überbrettl cabaret. He went back to Vienna and began writing operettas, becoming a serious rival to Franz Lehár. When Lehár's popular The Merry Widow premiered in 1905, Straus was said to have remarked "Das kann ich auch!" (I can also do that!). In 1939, following the Nazi Anschluss, he fled to Paris, where he received the honour of a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, and then to Hollywood. After the war, he returned to Europe, and settled at Bad Ischl, where he died. His grave is in the Bad Ischl Friedhof.

Straus' best-known works are Ein Walzertraum (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.

Birth and Death Data: Born April 6, 1870 (Vienna), Died January 11, 1954 (Bad Ischl)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1904 - 1949

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 51-75 of 136 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor BS-075411 10-in. 7/7/1942 My hero Dorothy Kirsten ; Felix Knight ; Victor First Nighter Orchestra Female-male vocal duet and mixed vocal chorus, with orchestra composer  
Victor PD6VB-3231 10-in. 10/28/1946 Love's rondolay Jimmy Carroll ; Dudley King Orchestra ; Frances Greer Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra composer  
Victor D9AB-2277 10-in. 10/4/1949 My hero Ralph Flanagan Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
Victor BVE-Test-934 10-in. 2/13/1930 A man, a maid Alex D. Richardson Organ solo composer  
Columbia 1480 10-in. between 1903 and 1908 Überbrettle tanz duet Sigmund Kunstadt ; Mia Werber Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with piano composer  
Columbia 3763 10-in. ca. 1907-Jan. 1908 Waltzes Prince's Orchestra Band composer  
Columbia 3764 10-in. between 1907 and January 1908 Piccolo-buffo duet Frank C. Stanley ; Elise Stevenson Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 3765 10-in. ca. 1907-Jan. 1908 Love's roundelay Henry Burr ; Frank C. Stanley Male vocal duet, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 3766 10-in. ca. 1907-Jan. 1908 Kiss duet Lucy Isabelle Marsh ; Berrick von Norden Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 4262 10-in. ca. 1909 The chocolate soldier : Selections Prince's Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia 4265 10-in. approximately 1909 That would be lovely Frank C. Stanley ; Elise Stevenson Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 4494 10-in. between January and July 1910 My hero Inez Barbour Female vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 46163 10-in. 10/29/1915 Die Musik kommt Robert Leonhardt Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 80101 10-in. 12/14/1921 My hero Gladys Rice Female vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 80262 10-in. 3/24/1922 My hero Margaret Romaine Female vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 30115 12-in. approximately 1907 Walzertraum Walzer aus ein Walzertraum Prince's Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia 49966 12-in. 5/28/1921 The last waltz Prince's Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia 98005 12-in. 12/17/1921 The chocolate soldier Prince's Dance Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia W98535 12-in. 5/12/1928 My hero Paul Whiteman Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo composer  
Columbia 41461 10-in. 1904 or later El encanto de un vals Berlin Military Band Band composer  
Columbia 43947 10-in. approximately May 1916 Pechvogel Max Bloch Tenor vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble composer  
Columbia 66741 10-in. between 1911 and 1913 Didi keringő Vince Farkas Violin solo, with band (Gypsy) composer  
Columbia 70443 10-in. between 1920 and 1923 Ein Walzertraum : Deh! Vieni fanciulla diletta Luigi Abrate ; Ines Talamo Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra composer  
Columbia 75173 12-in. 9/1/1922 The last waltz, selection, part 1 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia 75174 12-in. 9/1/1922 The last waltz, selection, part 2 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra composer  
(Results 51-75 of 136 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Straus, Oscar," accessed March 28, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102999.

Straus, Oscar. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102999.

"Straus, Oscar." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 28 March 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102999

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