Florian Hermann (18221892, russian: Флориан Герман, name is also spelled as Florian Herman, Florian German, Florjan Herman) was a composer of German-Polish origin active in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. Although he authored many works, Hermann is primarily notable as an author of the melody used in the music for the well-known Russian song " Dark eyes" (the composer wrote his opus as "Valse hommage", Op. 21). Very little is known about Hermann, Russian publications occasionally describe him as a FrenchThe details provided ("Hermann wrote a march for the Napoleon's army") make this connection improbable, as Hermann was active well into 1890s. or Austrian composer. Hermann's work as a composer spans 1870s1890s, according to the list available in a catalog by A. Gutheil (his company was later acquired by '' Éditions Russes de Musique''), the earliest known publications are from A. Büttner in St. Petersburg. Hermann's other best-known composition is "Rêverie russe, Op. 2". "Valse hommage" became famous as "Dark Eyes" after an

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

in the

Gypsy style The term gypsy style refers to the typical way Eastern European music is played in coffeehouses and restaurants, at parties, and sometimes on-stage, in European cities. Music played in this style and loosely called gypsy music differs from actual ...

by S. Gerdal (1884); the popular rendition belongs to

Adalgiso Ferraris Adalgiso Ferraris (16 February 1890 – 31 December 1968) was an Italian-born British composer and pianist. Ferraris' arrangements and compositions were based on classical and popular genres, with a particular flavour of gypsy, Hungarian and ...

(ca. 1910).

References

Sources

* Composers from the Russian Empire {{Composer-stub