Johann Strauss Jr., The Waltz King, had to fight to become a composer. His father, a composer of 300 pieces himself, told young Johann the life of a traveling musician was not a good career. Become a banker, he told him.

However, his son insisted on following the music he loved, composing the “The Beautiful Blue Danube” and over 500 other waltzes, polkas, dance music and operettas.  His brothers Josef and Eduard each composed nearly 300 pieces.

The Strauss family lived for most of the 19th century in Austria, where dance music was an important part of life. The era was also beset by wars, revolutions and diseases like scarlet fever, which ultimately took the life of Strauss’ father, Johann Sr. Johann Jr. lived a turbulent life as well. His father sent gangs to disrupt his concerts, and later became his son’s political and musical rival. The senior Strauss also left the family to live with his mistress, throwing them into distress.

Johann Jr. married three times and suffered exhaustion from overwork, shifting the burden of orchestra work to his brothers. Most of the 1,400 pieces written by the Strauss family are as fresh as they were when written.

Two generations of their monumental genius and the turmoil under which they worked are brought to life in a lavish eight-part British saga about one of the most talented musical families in history. British actress Anne Stallybass, who plays Johann Sr.’s wife Anna, was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress. The cast includes Emmy-winning actors Derek Jacoby (“Anstezsa”) and Jane Seymour (“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”), with glorious renditions of Strauss works by the London Symphony Orchestra.