Waltzing with the Great

I was digging through some old movies in my cabinet and came across The Great Waltz, which was originally filmed in 1938. For the next hour and forty minutes I was charmed by its classical masterpieces that were both enormously powerful and stunningly graceful, created by composer Johann Strauss II. Some, such as The Blue Danube, were strikingly familiar, and contained enough energy to fill a palace. Others were softer and more graceful, but still got my foot tapping to the beat as I watched the characters waltz enthusiastically in the black and white motion picture.

In particular I felt very moved by watching the autobiography, especially with the artistic inspiration and sympathy that I received. Johann Strauss II was a musical protege from the start of the movie, portrayed as one who could not leave his passion as he secretly scrawled music scores whilst working as a banker. When he is fired for slacking on the job, I felt reminded so that there was a great difficulty to become financially stable when living as an artist. Later in the movie when he first becomes successful and signs a contract to a member of the Imperial Palace, thus agreeing to hand over every piece of completed music he writes, I feel that he had attached himself to something that perhaps did not fully appreciate his abilities - for personally I felt that no amount of money could substitute or be exchanged for his composition. When he becomes married and thus very financially comfortable, there is a sudden sense of anxiety and bitterness, for I felt that he was caught between two different worlds and decisions. Despite having everything he could have possibly wanted materialistically - money, fame in Vienna, and wife - the only way he could continue to further pursue his musical passion was to give even more of himself to the Imperial Palace.

The matters were complicated when the opera soprano Carla Donner seems to be the only one who really appreciates his ability for writing such brilliant waltz pieces. Yet she is a member of the Imperial Palace, and thus visibly puts pressure onto the marriage between Strauss and his wife with her love for his music. The beginnings of an affair between her and Strauss came across to me as even more tragic because for Strauss, he could only take his zest for music further by being with a woman such as Carla, who understood his passion more than his wife. Strauss realized that although he was socially and financially happy, spiritually he was not because his own passion could not progress unless he hurt someone important in his life.

I felt a strong pull towards the portrayal of the young artist in The Great Waltz. There was the brooding atmosphere of trouble when Strauss is pulled into an affair with Carla, and for me there was even more pain because I saw his music could only progress by moving past what he currently had. When his own wife was so devoted to his welfare and happiness, Strauss still could not afford to lose his grip upon his passion, and here the tug of war began erupting even further. What compounded the problem was his integration and interaction with the rich: the close friends of Strauss particularly did not prefer the rich, and this is peaked with the revolution that occurs later in the movie. Here Strauss puts even his own social bonds and connections at risk here for the pursuit of his passion and love, and I found myself looking at the plight of an artist as he faced such pressures and restrictions. I always saw it as too unfortunate when one delved too much into the arts that they neglected their family and loved ones, but after viewing The Great Waltz I saw it as almost inevitable - or at the very least very likely to happen. And with that I found myself wondering if I would have to deal with such a frightening dilemma if I were to pour myself into an artistic passion. Would there still be room for anyone or anything else in my life? Or would my only love be what I was creating?