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Franz von Suppé

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Franz von Suppé was an Austrian composer of light operas and other theatre music. He was born on 18 April 1819 in Spalato, present-day Split in Croatia, and grew up in Zara, present-day Zadar. His mother tongue was Italian. After his father's death in 1835 the family moved to Vienna, where he was taught by Ignaz von Seyfried, a pupil of Mozart. He played flute in orchestras, gave Italian lessons and from 1840 worked as a composer and conductor for theatres in Vienna and the surrounding area. He died on 21 May 1895 in Vienna.

Music and breakthrough

Suppé wrote about thirty operettas and a hundred and eighty farces, ballets and other stage works. He also wrote a great deal of church music, including a Requiem for Franz Pokorny from 1855 and the Missa Dalmatica. Most of the operettas are forgotten, with a few exceptions: Boccaccio, Die schöne Galathée and Fatinitza. His name lives on in his overtures, such as Dichter und Bauer, Leichte Kavallerie, Ein Morgen, ein Mittag und ein Abend in Wien and Pique Dame. Many conductors have recorded them, including Karajan, Solti and Mehta.

Influence

According to the musicologist Robert Letellier, Suppé mastered three styles: Italian opera buffa, French opéra-comique and German. He blended them with experience as a theatre conductor and a solid classical technique. His overtures are a large part of the reason why Viennese operetta remained so well known outside the theatre too.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to the overture to Leichte Kavallerie and notice the trumpet calls and the galloping rhythms. Try to hear how an overture can work like a short opera without singers.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists