Eduard Strauss' style was individual and did not attempt to emulate the works of his other brothers or his contemporaries. But he was primarily remembered and recognized as a dance music conductor rather than as a major composer in the Strauss family, and his popularity was overshadowed by that of his elder brothers. Realising this, he stamped his own mark with the quick polka, known in German as the "polka-schnell". Among the more popular polkas that he ever penned for the Strauss Orchestra, which he continued to conduct until its disbandment on 13 February1901, were "Bahn Frei", op. 45, "Ausser Rand und Band", op.168, and "Ohne Bremse", op. 238. He also found time to pen a few lovely waltzes, of which only a handful survived obscurity. The most famous is probably the "Doctrinen", op.79.
Strauss' musical career was pervaded with rivalry not only from his brothers, but also from the military bandmaster and dance music composer Karl Michael Ziehrer, who even formed a rival orchestra called "Formerly Eduard Strauss Orchestra", and began giving concerts in Vienna under this new title. Eduard Strauss successfully filed a court action against Ziehrer for the improper and misleading use of his name, but Ziehrer would eventually surpass the Strauss family in popularity in Vienna, particularly after the deaths of his more talented brothers, Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss. Their rivalry was to extend until the Strauss Orchestra was disbanded.
However, personal setbacks in the 1890s, such as the death of brother Johann Strauss II in 1899, and his realization that his immediate family had squandered his personal fortune, led Eduard Strauss to decide on retirement. Eduard Strauss engaged in the final tour of his musical career to North America in 1899 and in 1901, disbanded the Strauss Orchestra, and returned to Vienna where he died in 1916.1 He retired from public life and never actively took part in any public musical activity, although he did document his family memoirs titled Erinnerungen in 1906.
Das Leben ist doch Schön ('The Life is So Beautiful') waltz op.150
Leuchtkäferln waltz op.161
Ausser Rand und Band ('Out of Control') Polka-Schnell op.168
Krone und Schleier ('Crown and Veil') waltz op.200
Mit Chic! ('With Style') Polka-schnell op.221
Mit Vergnügen! ('With Pleasure!') Polka-schnell op.228
Ohne Bremse ('Without Brakes') Polka-schnell op.238
Blüthenkranz Johann Strauss'scher Walzer in Chronologischer Reihenfolge von 1844 bis auf die Neuzeit ('Bouquet of Johann Strauss' Waltzes in Chronological Order from 1844 to Present Time') (1894)
Works with Strauss brothers
Trifoilen waltz, ('Trifles') (with Johann II and Josef Strauss) (1865)
Schützen quadrille, ('Sharpshooter') (with Johann II and Josef Strauss) (1866)
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