In a career that spanned a period from the 1820s until his death in 1849, the older Johann Strauss established an unrivalled position for himself among composers and performers of dance music in Vienna. His own achievements were continued by his three sons, ensuring the name of Strauss was inextricably identified with the musical pleasures of nineteenth-century Vienna. All the works featured on this recording date from the early-middle period, between 1829 and 1831, when Strauss was pre-eminent in the ballrooms of Society Vienna.