Scope and Content Note
The Paul Löwenberg Collection of Music by the Johann Strauss and Joseph Lanner Families spans the years 1825 to 1929, the bulk of which dates from 1825 to 1898. Paul Löwenberg, a Viennese railroad baron and Straussiana enthusiast, originally compiled the collection.
The larger of its two series, Music, is a nearly complete collection of all first edition scores for piano written and published by the six prominent members of the Johann Strauss and Joseph Lanner families. The six composers represented are Joseph Lanner, August Lanner, Johann Strauss Sr., Johan Strauss Jr., Josef Strauss, and Eduard Strauss. Among the scores is Johann Strauss Jr.’s An der schönen, blauen Donau (The Blue Danube), one of the best known tunes in nineteenth-century music.
The Miscellany series consists of four manuscript volumes created by Löwenberg and a water-color portrait of Johann Strauss Jr. The four volumes constitute an invaluable source of information on Viennese music and dance of the nineteenth century.