And we start in Austria, the Hapsburg Empire, where the waltz embodies the elegance and joie de vivre of that society at its peak in the late 1800s. Now the Habsburgs ruled a vast empire. They loved music, and they were great patrons of the arts. That’s why Mozart and Beethoven and Brahms all lived and composed in the imperial capital of Vienna. Now, Johann Strauss was the heartthrob of the romantic period in Vienna. With his violin, he could whip the audience into a frenzy. His lilting and twirling waltzes were all the rage.

This piece was written to herald a political summit. Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany was meeting Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. It’s titled “Emperor Waltz.” That’s singular, ambiguous on purpose. Think about it. Kaiser Wilhelm, Franz Joseph, two imperial egos, each of them were so vain they probably thought this song was about them. Okay. The number one hit from 1889 by Johann Strauss, Jr., the “Emperor Waltz.”

[music: Emperor Waltz by Strauss]