Historians generally mark 1860 as a watershed year in Johann Strauss II's development as a composer. It was at this point in his career that he began to expand upon the Viennese waltz as handed down to him by his father, Johann Strauss I, and Joseph Lanner, and to perfect the genre of which he became the undisputed master. Accelerationen, Op. 234, is usually cited as Strauss' first work in his new direction. Legend has it that the composer began writing the work in the early morning hours of February 14, just after he and his orchestra had performed at a ball in Vienna's Sofiensäle. A member of the dance committee of the Technical College of Vienna, which had commissioned a new waltz from Strauss to be played that very evening, approached the composer and asked to see the new work.
