Lehár, Franz (1870–1948)

Hungarian composer. He wrote many operettas, among them The Merry Widow (1905), The Count of Luxembourg (1909), Gypsy Love (1910), and The Land of Smiles (1929). He also composed songs, marches, and a violin concerto.

Born in Komárom, the son of a military bandmaster, he studied at the Prague Conservatory, in the modern-day Czech Republic, intending to become a violinist, but then became a military bandmaster. His music shows the influence of the southern Slavonic folk tunes and he first tried to win fame as a composer of serious opera as, for example, in Kukuška (1896; later renamed Tatjana), but it was in the field of operetta that he achieved real distinction. During his last years he lived in retirement in Ischl.

Works Opera and operetta opera Kukuška (1896, later called Tatjana); operettas The Merry Widow (1905), The Count of Luxembourg (1909), Gypsy Love (1910), The Three Graces, Pompadour, Springtime, Frasquita (1922), Clo Clo, The Blue Mazurka, Frederica (1928), The Land of Smiles (1929), and many others.

Orchestral symphonic poem Fieber, three comedy scenes for orchestra.