In spite of ill-health, Josef Strauss joined his elder brother, the younger Johann Strass as a major purveyor of light Viennese music. In addition to superior craftsmanship, shown in the more balanced and concentrated form of his waltzes, and a generally greater ingenuity in both harmonic and melodic invention, there is true poetry and a pessimistic romantic touch about Josef’s music, reminiscent of Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner.