The Blue may refer to:

• The Blue, a market place in Bermondsey, London
• The Blue (album), an album by Novembre
• Bronco Stadium, Boise, Idaho, U.S., nicknamed "The Blue"

See also[link]

• Blue (disambiguation)
• The Blue Album (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Coordinates: 51°29′32.48″N 0°03′48.96″W / 51.4923556°N 0.0636°W / 51.4923556; -0.0636

The Blue is a central market place in Bermondsey an area in London.^[1] The market is open Monday to Saturday from 9am until 5pm and has about 50 stall holders, selling food and clothes.^[2] The area has been known as The Blue for more than two hundred and thirty years and is probably named after the Blue Anchor public house that gave its name to Blue Anchor Lane.^[3][4]

In 2005 a Metropolitan Police report described the area as a crime hotspot for "race crime and youth disorder".^[5] In 2009 during the funeral procession of Jade Goody a white dove was released at The Blue, where her family once had a stall.^[6]

References[link]

This London location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Johann Strauss II

Johann Strauss II (October 25, 1825 – June 3, 1899), also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son (German: Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas and a ballet. In his lifetime, he was known as "The Waltz King", and was largely then responsible for the popularity of the waltz in Vienna during the 19th century.

Strauss was born in St. Ulrich (now a part of Neubau), the son of Johann Strauss I, another composer of dance music. His father did not wish him to become a composer, but rather a banker; however, the son defied his father's wishes, and went on to study music with the composer Joseph Drechsler and the violin with Anton Kollmann, the ballet répétiteur of the Vienna Court Opera. Strauss had two younger brothers, Josef and Eduard Strauss, who became composers of light music as well, although they were never as well known as their elder brother.

Some of Johann Strauss's most famous works include The Blue Danube, Kaiser-Walzer, Tales from the Vienna Woods, the Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, and the Pizzicato Polka. Among his operettas, Die Fledermaus and Der Zigeunerbaron are the most well-known.

Early life[link]

His father, Johann Strauss I, in an etching from 1835

Strauss was born in St. Ulrich near Vienna (now a part of Neubau), Austria, on October 25, 1825, to the famous composer Johann Strauss I. His father did not want him to become a musician but rather a banker.^[1] Nevertheless, Strauss Junior studied the violin secretly as a child with the first violinist of his father's orchestra, Franz Amon.^[1] When his father discovered his son secretly practising on a violin one day, he gave him a severe whipping, saying that he was going to beat the music out of the boy.^[2] It seems that rather than trying to avoid a Strauss rivalry, the elder Strauss only wanted his son to escape the rigours of a musician's life.^[3] It was only when the father abandoned his family for a mistress, Emilie Trampusch, that the son was able to concentrate fully on a career as a composer with the support of his mother.^[4]

Strauss studied counterpoint and harmony with theorist Professor Joachim Hoffmann,^[1] who owned a private music school. His talents were also recognized by composer Joseph Drechsler, who taught him exercises in harmony. His other violin teacher, Anton Kollmann, who was the ballet répétiteur of the Vienna Court Opera, also wrote excellent testimonials for him. Armed with these, he approached the Viennese authorities to apply for a license to perform.^[5] He initially formed his small orchestra where he recruited his members at the Zur Stadt Belgrad tavern, where musicians seeking work could be hired easily.^[6]

Debut as a composer[link]

Johann Strauss in his younger years

Johann Strauss I's influence over the local entertainment establishments meant that many of them were wary of offering the younger Strauss a contract for fear of angering the father.^[4] Strauss Jr. was able to persuade the Dommayer's Casino in Hietzing, a suburb of Vienna, to allow him to perform.^[7] The elder Strauss, in anger at his son's disobedience, and at that of the proprietor, refused to ever play at the Dommayer's Casino again,^[8] which had been the site of many of his earlier triumphs.

Strauss made his debut at Dommayer's in October 1844, where he performed some of his first works, such as the waltzes "Sinngedichte", Op. 1 and "Gunstwerber", Op. 4 and the polka "Herzenslust", Op. 3.^[1] Critics and the press were unanimous in their praise for Strauss's music. A critic for Der Wanderer commented that "Strauss’s name will be worthily continued in his son; children and children’s children can look forward to the future, and three-quarter time will find a strong footing in him."^[1]

Strauss at the beginning of his career.

Despite the initial fanfare, Strauss found his early years as a composer difficult, but he soon won over audiences after accepting commissions to perform away from home. The first major appointment for the young composer was his award of the honorary position of "Kapellmeister of the 2nd Vienna Citizen's Regiment", which had been left vacant following Joseph Lanner's death two years before.^[9]

Vienna was wracked by a bourgeois revolution on February 24, 1848, and the intense rivalry between father and son became much more apparent. Johann Jr. decided to side with the revolutionaries. It was a decision that was professionally disadvantageous, as the Austrian royalty twice denied him the much coveted 'KK Hofballmusikdirektor' position, which was first designated especially for Johann I in recognition of his musical contributions. Further, the younger Strauss was also arrested by the Viennese authorities for publicly playing "La Marseillaise", but was later acquitted.^[10] The elder Strauss remained loyal to the monarchy, and composed his "Radetzky March", Op. 228 (dedicated to the Habsburg field marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz), which would become one of his best-known compositions.^[11]

When the elder Strauss died from scarlet fever in Vienna in 1849, the younger Strauss merged both their orchestras and engaged in further tours.^[1] Later, he also composed a number of patriotic marches dedicated to the Habsburg Emperor Franz Josef I, such as the "Kaiser Franz-Josef Marsch" Op. 67 and the "Kaiser Franz Josef Rettungs Jubel-Marsch" Op. 126, probably to ingratiate himself in the eyes of the new monarch, who ascended to the Austrian throne after the 1848 revolution.^[1]

Career advancements[link]

Strauss Jr. eventually surpassed his father's fame, and became one of the most popular waltz composers of the era, extensively touring Austria–Hungary, Poland, and Germany with his orchestra. He applied for the KK Hofballmusikdirektor Music Director of the Royal Court Balls position, which he eventually attained in 1863,^[1] after being denied several times before for his frequent brushes with the local authorities.

In 1853, due to constant mental and physical demands, Strauss suffered a nervous breakdown.^[1] He took a seven-week vacation in the countryside in the summer of that year, on the advice of doctors. Johann's younger brother Josef was persuaded by his family to abandon his career as an engineer and take command of Johann's orchestra in the interim.^[1]

In 1855, Strauss accepted commissions from the management of the Tsarskoye-Selo Railway Company of Saint Petersburg to play in Russia for the Vauxhall Pavilion at Pavlovsk in 1856. He would return to perform in Russia every year until 1865.^[1]

Later, in the 1870s, Strauss and his orchestra toured the United States, where he took part in the Boston Festival at the invitation of bandmaster Patrick Gilmore and was the lead conductor in a 'Monster Concert' of over 1000 performers,^[12] performing his "Blue Danube" waltz, amongst other pieces, to great acclaim.^[12]

Marriages[link]

Strauss married the singer Henrietta Treffz in 1862, and they remained together until her death in 1878.^[1] Six weeks after her death,^[1][13] Strauss married the actress Angelika Dittrich. Dittrich was not a fervent supporter of his music, and their differences in status and opinion, and especially her indiscretion, led him to seek a divorce.^[1]

Strauss was not granted a divorce by the Roman Catholic Church, and therefore changed religion and nationality, and became a citizen of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in January 1887.^[1] Strauss sought solace in his third wife Adele Deutsch, whom he married in August 1882. She encouraged his creative talent to flow once more in his later years, resulting in many famous compositions, such as the operettas Der Zigeunerbaron and Waldmeister, and the waltzes "Kaiser-Walzer" Op. 437, "Kaiser Jubiläum" Op. 434, and "Klug Gretelein" Op. 462.

Musical rivals and admirers[link]

Johann Strauss and Johannes Brahms photographed in Vienna.

Although Strauss was the most sought-after composer of dance music in the latter half of the 19th century, stiff competition was present in the form of Karl Michael Ziehrer and Émile Waldteufel; the latter held a commanding position in Paris.^[14] Phillip Fahrbach also denied the younger Strauss the commanding position of the KK Hofballmusikdirektor when the latter first applied for the post. The German operetta composer Jacques Offenbach, who made his name in Paris, also posed a challenge to Strauss in the operetta field.^[15]

Strauss was admired by other prominent composers: Richard Wagner once admitted that he liked the waltz "Wein, Weib und Gesang" Op. 333.^[16] Richard Strauss (unrelated to the Strauss family), when writing his Rosenkavalier waltzes, said in reference to Johann Strauss, "How could I forget the laughing genius of Vienna?"^[17]

Johannes Brahms was a personal friend of Strauss; the latter dedicated his waltz "Seid umschlungen, Millionen!" ("Be Embraced, You Millions!"), Op. 443, to him.^[18] A story is told in biographies of both men that Strauss's wife Adele approached Brahms with a customary request that he autograph her fan. It was usual for the composer to inscribe a few measures of his best-known music, and then sign his name. Brahms, however, inscribed a few measures from the "Blue Danube", and then wrote beneath it: "Unfortunately, NOT by Johannes Brahms."^[19]

Stage works[link]

The most famous of Strauss' operettas are Die Fledermaus, Eine Nacht in Venedig, and Der Zigeunerbaron. Notwithstanding their general lack of modern popularity, there are many dance pieces drawn from themes of his operettas, such as "Cagliostro-Walzer" Op. 370 (from Cagliostro in Wien), "O Schöner Mai" Walzer Op. 375 (from Prinz Methusalem), "Rosen aus dem Süden" Walzer Op. 388 (from Das Spitzentuch der Königin), and "Kuss-Walzer" op. 400 (from Der lustige Krieg), that have survived obscurity and become well-known. Strauss also wrote an opera, Ritter Pázmán,^[20] and was in the middle of composing a ballet, Aschenbrödel, when he died in 1899.^[21]

Death and legacy[link]

A statue of the Waltz King in Stadtpark, Vienna

Silhouette by Otto Böhler

Strauss was diagnosed with pleural pneumonia in the spring of 1899,^[21] and died in Vienna, at the age of 73. He was buried in the Zentralfriedhof. At the time of his death, he was still composing his ballet Aschenbrödel.^[21]

Strauss's music is now regularly performed at the annual Neujahrskonzert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, as a result of the efforts by Clemens Krauss who performed a special all-Strauss programme in 1929 with the Viennese orchestra. Many distinguished Strauss interpreters include Willi Boskovsky,^[22] who carried on the "Vorgeiger" tradition of conducting with violin in hand, as is the Strauss family custom, as well as Herbert von Karajan and the opera conductor Riccardo Muti. In addition, the Wiener Johann Strauss Orchester, which was formed in 1966, pays tribute to the touring orchestras which once made the Strauss family so famous.^[23]

Most of the Strauss works that are performed today may once have existed in a slightly different form, as Eduard Strauss destroyed much of the original Strauss orchestral archives in a furnace factory in Vienna's Mariahilf district in 1907.^[24] Eduard, then the only surviving brother of the three, took this drastic precaution after agreeing to a pact between himself and brother Josef that whoever outlived the other was to destroy their works. The measure was intended to prevent the Strauss family's works from being claimed by another composer. This may also have been fueled by Strauss's rivalry with another of Vienna's popular waltz and march composers, Karl Michael Ziehrer.^[25]

Portrayals in the media[link]

The lives of the Strauss dynasty members and their world-renowned craft of composing Viennese waltzes are also briefly documented in several television adaptations, such as The Strauss Family (1972), The Strauss Dynasty (1991)^[26] and Strauss, the King of 3/4 Time (1995).^[27] Many other films used his works and melodies, and several films have been based upon the life of the musician, the most famous of which is called The Great Waltz (1938).^[28]

Alfred Hitchcock made a low-budget biographical film of Strauss in 1933 called Waltzes from Vienna.^[29] After a trip to Vienna, Walt Disney was inspired to create four feature films. One of those was The Waltz King, a loosely adapted biopic of Johann Strauss, which aired as part of the Wonderful World of Disney in the U.S. in 1963.^[30] In Mikhail Bulgakov's 1940 (published 1967) novel, The Master and Margarita, Johann Strauss conducts the orchestra during Satan's Great Ball at the invitation of Behemoth.

A Corny Concerto (1943), a Warner Bros cartoon, directed by Bob Clampett with animation by Robert McKimson, features music that was composed by Johann Strauss, and is a parody of Walt Disney's 1940 Fantasia. The cartoon is narrated by Elmer Fudd, parodying Deems Taylor's appearance in Fantasia.

The 1953 animated short "Johann Mouse" from the series Tom and Jerry features a mouse mesmerised by the playing of several Strauss waltzes by the cat.

	"The Blue Danube"
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Works[link]

See List of operettas by Johann Strauss II and List of compositions by Johann Strauss II.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Gänzl, Kurt. The Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre (3 Volumes). New York: Schirmer Books, 2001.
• Traubner, Richard. Operetta: A Theatrical History. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1983.
• Jacob, H. E. Johann Strauss, Father and Son: A Century of Light Music. The Greystone Press, 1940.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Johann Strauss II

Ballet portal

• A complete list of Strauss's compositions
• A complete list of compositions by Johann Strauss II compiled by the Johann Strauss Society of New York
• European Archive Copyright free LP recording of several (abridged) works by Johann Strauss II, at the European Archive (for non-American viewers only).
• Johann Strauss Gallery
• List of Strauss's stage works with date, theatre information and links
• Free scores by Johann Strauss II at the International Music Score Library Project
• www.kreusch-sheet-music.net Free Scores by Strauss
• Free scores by Johann Strauss II in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2011)

Sub Focus
Background information
Birth name	Nick Douwma
Origin	Guildford, England
Genres	Drum and bass, dubstep, house, electro
Occupations	Songwriter, musician, audio mixing, record producer, DJ
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Ram Records
Associated acts	Pendulum, TC, Danny Wheeler, Coco Sumner, The Prodigy, Chase & Status
Website	subfocus.com

Nick Douwma, better known by his stage name Sub Focus, is an English Electronic Music record producer. He has been releasing records since 2003.^[1] On 12 October 2009, he released his self-titled debut album. He plans to release a second album in 2012.^[2]

Chart success[link]

In March 2005 he had a number one single on the UK Dance Chart with "X-Ray / Scarecrow". The single reached number 60 on the UK Singles Chart.^[3] In June 2008, he hit number one on the UK Dance Chart again with "Timewarp / Join the Dots". In August 2009, he cracked the UK Top 40 for the first time with "Rock It / Follow the Light", which reached number 38.^[4] "Rock It / Follow the Light" also got him a third UK Dance Chart #1, as well as reaching the B-List of BBC Radio 1's playlist.

Sub Focus has also remixed selected works of The Prodigy, Deadmau5, Rusko, Dr. Octagon, Empire of the Sun and Dizzee Rascal.

On 6 October 2009, Sub Focus released "Smooth" which was free to download.

In 2010, Sub Focus was a support act for Australian drum & bass band Pendulum on their UK tour to promote their third album Immersion.^[5] Later that year, he produced the Example track "Kickstarts" for his second album, Won't Go Quietly. The track was successful in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #3.^[6] This makes it Sub Focus' most commercially successful production to date.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

[A] "Falling Down will be re-released. It will consist of the original version, VIP Mix, xKore Remix & Nick Thayer Remix.

Remixes[link]

Guest appearances and collaborations[link]

VIP mixes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Sub Focus on Myspace
• Sub Focus on Facebook
• Sub Focus on Twitter
• Sub Focus discography at Discogs

Alice Gold (Alice McLaughlin) is an English singer-songwriter based in London, formerly signed to Sunday Best^[1] and currently signed to Fiction Records.^[2]

Alice Gold performing solo onstage at Guilfest 2011

Alice lives on her 53 foot narrowboat with her husband film producer Jules Cocke in north London’s canal boat community, where she recorded many demos.

"Like many an adventurer with wanderlust, Alice spent some of her early twenties traveling South East Asia with her trusty battered guitar, continually gathering inspiration and song ideas, before finding herself in Edinburgh. There she underwent a period of experimentation, collaborating with various lights on the music scene. She moved to London to pursue her ambitions, but the death of her mother precipitated an intense period of loss and grief, culminating in a need to escape the grind of city life. Alice took a trip to America, ambling around the Deep South, en route to San Francisco, with little more than her wits and that battered old guitar again, in a 1979 Dodge Winnebago. On the way she found courage, independence and freedom, all key in developing her own unique style and sound."^[3]

Her debut single "Dolly Figured" was released under her original name on 21 October 2007.^[1]

Her debut single as Alice Gold, "Orbiter," was released on 23 September 2010 through Pure Groove Records, with a single launch party at The Drop in Stoke Newington. The Guardian said it "showcases Gold's mighty voice through its power-pop chorus" and described her as "One to watch".^[4]

This was followed by "Runaway Love", released on Fiction Records, has received airplay on radio stations across the UK, entering the A-List on BBC Radio 2. On the official release date, 18 April 2011, an acoustic EP was recorded live at Toerag Studios where The White Stripes have previously recorded.

Gold's debut album Seven Rainbows, released on 4 July 2011, was produced by Dan Carey (Franz Ferdinand, Hot Chip, Lily Allen).^[5] In an interview with PopCultureMonster.com she said of the album "the main bass, drums and guitars rhythm tracks were all recorded live and on tape like the old 60s records. The over-dubs are mostly made up of one-takes, whether it be guitar or vocal takes. My producer Dan Carey and I decided that if a take felt good then we’d keep it, so it is complete with minor ‘mistakes’ and quirky sounds through doing that, which we both like. Its a very honest album, quite autobiographical. The songs were born from a lot of darkness and grief but the lyrics are drenched in hope because of that, which is why I imagine people connect to it."^[6]

In October 2010, Gold was shortlisted for Q magazine's 'Next Big Thing' award.^[5]

In September 2011, Gold's cover of the Billy Fury song "Wondrous Place" was used in an advert for the British beer brand Carling.^[7]

She has toured with Eels, Athlete, Band Of Skulls, Noah And The Whale, The Twilight Singers and has upcoming tour support slots confirmed with The Dears and The Bookhouse Boys.^[8]

Gold also played festivals in 2011, including Glastonbury, V Festival, T in the Park, Harvest at Jimmy's Festival, Jodrell Bank Live, Kendal Calling, Cornbury Festival and Hull's Freedom Festival.^{[citation needed]}

Discography[link]

Albums

• 2011 - Seven Rainbows

Singles

• 2011 - Wondrous Place
• 2011 - Runaway Love
• 2011 - Orbiter / Kill the Lights
• 2011 - Cry Cry Cry
• 2011 - End of the World / You'll Be Mine

Featured Artist

• 2012 - Out The Blue (Sub Focus feat. Alice Gold)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official blog
• Official website