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Joseph Lanner

A Minute with Miles
Mary Noble Ours
/
SC Public Radio

Don Drysdale was a great pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but you don’t usually hear his name mentioned without hearing the name of another Dodger, Sandy Koufax. Well, Joseph Lanner was a hugely popular and important composer and orchestra leader in Vienna in the 1820's and 30's, one of the first composers to create a refined version of the Viennese waltz and bring it into the dance hall. But you won’t often see Lanner’s name without also seeing the name Johann Strauss. 

Strauss—that’s Johann Strauss senior—started out as a kind of assistant to Lanner, but the two split, and they became friendly rivals, each with his own set of passionate fans. Eventually Strauss became an international touring sensation and much more famous than his former boss, who never left Vienna, and who had the misfortune to die young. Joseph Lanner, one of the first waltz kings, born on this day, April 12th in 1801.

A Minute with Miles is a production of South Carolina Public Radio, made possible by the J.M. Smith Corporation.

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Miles Hoffman is the founder and violist of the American Chamber Players, with whom he regularly tours the United States, and the Virginia I. Norman Distinguished Visiting Professor of Chamber Music at the Schwob School of Music, in Columbus, Georgia. He has appeared as viola soloist with orchestras across the country, and his solo performances on YouTube have received well over 700,000 views.