Johann Strauss I (1804-1849) was the son of an innkeeper. Largely self-taught as a musician, he developed the waltz in the form and style we associate with the family. He wrote 251 opus numbered works (out of a total of over 300), among them 153 waltzes, the most famous of which is Lorelei-Rheinklänge (Sounds of the Rhine Loreley) (1843). As such, and somewhat surprisingly, he was the only member of the family to write more waltzes than any other type of dance, but his most famous work is surely the Radetsky March (1848). He toured extensively throughout Europe, visiting Britain in 1838 and 1849. He married in 1825 and was the father of Johann II (1825-1899).

source : www.johann-strauss.org.uk/

“Radetzky March”, the last piece at the New Year’s Concert Vienna 1987, with Herbert Von Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic