Franz Behr (22 July 1837 – 15 February 1898) was a prolific, but minor, and now almost forgotten,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

of songs and salon pieces for piano. Behr was popular at one time, and many of his works were published (his opus numbers reached at least 582, with ''Royal Gavotte''). His works include names such as ''The Camp of the Gypsies'' (''Im Zigeunerlager'', Op. 424 No. 3), ''Will o' the wisp'' (Op. 309 No. 2), ''Valse des Elfes'' (Op. 497), ''Perciotta, serenade catalane'', and ''Evening Chimes in the Mountains''. He also wrote under the names G. Bachmann (''Marche bulgare'', ''Succès-mazurk'', ''Collier de rubis'', ''Paris-valse'', ''Gavotte duchesse'', ''Floréal mazurka'') and Charles Godard (''La Belle Fileuse'', ''L'Angelus (Op. 65)'', ''Danse d'Etoiles - Valse (Op. 66)''). At least one of his songs was translated into English by Helen Tretbar. However, the only piece of his that appears in the modern-day repertoire is ''Lachtäubchen, Scherzpolka'' in F major, Op. 303 (also known by its French title ''La rieuse, polka badine''), and then only in the form of a transcription as a virtuoso piano piece, ''

Polka de W.R. Sergei Rachmaninoff's ''Polka de W.R.'' is a virtuoso piano arrangement of Franz Behr's '' Lachtäubchen'' (Scherzpolka) in F major. Composition Rachmaninoff wrote the arrangement on 24 March 1911, the day after the premiere of the '' Litur ...

'', by

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

. The tune was a favourite of Rachmaninoff's father Vassily (the "W. R." in the title refers to his father's initials in the German transliteration, Wassily Rachmaninoff), but it is not known whether Rachmaninoff knew its true author to be Behr, or whether he believed the melody was concocted by his father. Behr was given no mention in the published edition of ''Polka de W.R.'', and it was universally believed to be an original work of Rachmaninoff's until the late 20th century, when the true author of the melody was identified. The piece is now generally listed as being by "Behr/Rachmaninoff", or "Behr, arr. Rachmaninoff".

References

External links

Etude Magazine (September 1912): Arnold Sartorio, Well Known Composer, Reaches Opus 1000
- Article mentions Behr and his pseudonyms.
The Pianist's Guide to Transcriptions, Arrangements and Paraphrases

Max Harrison, ''Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Behr, Franz 1837 births 1898 deaths 19th-century German composers