Perhaps the highlights of the 1859 and 1860 Vienna Carnivals were the Strauss benefits organised by Johann and Josef Strauss, each advertised as a ‚Monster Ball‘ under the title „Carnevals Perpetuum mobile, oder: Tanz ohne Ende“ (Carnival‘s Perpetual Motion, or Non-Stop Dancing). On both occasions, the two Strauss brothers each appeared at the head of a separate orchestra and jointly played their way uninterruptedly through no less than fifty dances.