Leopold Fall (2 February 187316 September 1925) was an Austrian

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

and

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 ...

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

Life

Born in Olmütz (

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on th ...

), Leo (or Leopold) Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall (1848–1922), a bandmaster and composer, who settled in Berlin. The younger Fall studied at the Vienna Conservatory before rejoining his father in Berlin. His teachers in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

were

Robert Fuchs Robert Fuchs (15 February 1847 – 19 February 1927) was an Austrian composer and music teacher. As Professor of music theory at the Vienna Conservatory, Fuchs taught many notable composers, while he was himself a highly regarded composer in hi ...

and Johann Nepomuk Fuchs. In 1895 he began a new career as an operetta conductor in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, and started to compose. From 1904 onwards he devoted himself to composition. While less successful than his contemporary

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; hu, Lehár Ferenc ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is ''The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe''). Life ...

, he was nevertheless capable of producing melodious and well orchestrated work. After working in Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne he settled in Vienna in 1906, where he died. He is buried at the

Vienna Central Cemetery The Vienna Central Cemetery (german: Wiener Zentralfriedhof) is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its ...

. His brothers and

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

were also composers; both were murdered by

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

. His best known operettas in the English-speaking world are ''

The Dollar Princess ''The Dollar Princess'' is a musical in three acts by A. M. Willner and Fritz Grünbaum (after a comedy by Gatti-Trotha), adapted into English by Basil Hood (from the 1907 '' Die Dollarprinzessin''), with music by Leo Fall and lyrics by Adrian ...

'' and ''

Madame Pompadour Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rema ...

'', which had successful runs in London and New York and remained in the repertory in Germany and Austria throughout the 20th century. ' (1912; ''

Princess Caprice ''Princess Caprice'' is a musical theatre work described as a "comedy with music", in three acts, with music by Leo Fall. The book was adapted by Alexander M. Thompson from Fall's operetta ''Der liebe Augustin'' by Rudolf Bernauer and Ernst Welisc ...

'' in London) is reported to have been given an unprecedented 3,360 performances.

Stage works

Fall wrote incidental music to numerous plays, and three unsuccessful operas; he is mainly known as a composer of operettas in the Silver Age of Vienna operetta. Operas: * ''Paroli oder Frau Denise'' (1 act; 1902) * ''Irrlicht'' (1905) * ''Der goldene Vogel'' (1920) Operettas: * ''Der Rebell'' (Vienna, 1905), later reworked as ''Der liebe Augustin'' * '' The Merry Farmer'' (''Der fidele Bauer'', Mannheim, 1907) * ''

Die Dollarprinzessin ' is an operetta by Leo Fall. The German libretto was by Alfred Maria Willner and Fritz Grünbaum. Performance history It was first performed at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 2 November 1907, conducted by the composer and starring Mizz ...

'' (Vienna, 1907; adapted into English as ''

'' 1909) * '' Die geschiedene Frau'' (Vienna, 1908; adapted into English as ''The Girl in the Train'' 1910) * ''Der Schrei nach der Ohrfeige'' (Vienna, 1909) * ' (Vienna, 1909) * ''Das Puppenmädel'' (Vienna, 1910) * ''Die schöne Risette'' (Vienna, 1910) * ''Die Sirene'' (Vienna, 1911; adapted into English as '' The Siren'' 1911) * ''The Eternal Waltz'' (London, 1911) * ' (Berlin, 1912) (''

'') (performed 3,360 times)Long Runs Broadway, off Broadway, London, Toronto & Other Major Cities
at www.world-theatres.com * ''Die Studentengräfin'' (Berlin, 1913) * ''Der Nachtschnellzug'' (Vienna, 1913) * ''Der Frau Ministerpräsident'' (Berlin, 1914) * ''Der künstliche Mensch'' (Berlin, 1915) * ''Die Kaiserin'' (Fürstenliebe) (Berlin, 1916) * '' The Rose of Stamboul'' (Vienna, 1916) * ''Die spanische Nachtigall'' (Berlin, 1920) * ''Der heilige Ambrosius'' (Berlin, 1921) * ''Die Straßensängerin'' (Vienna, 1922) * ''

'' (Berlin, 1922) * ''Der süße Kavalier'' (Berlin, 1923) * ''Jugend im Mai'' (Dresden, 1926)

References

Notes Sources *"Fall, Leo(pold)" by Andrew Lamb, in ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'', ed.

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...

(London, 1992)

External links

*
Fall's stage works
with information about librettists and theatres, musicaltheatreguide.com

musicals101.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Fall, Leo 1873 births 1925 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Austrian male musicians 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Austrian male musicians Austrian Jews Austrian male classical composers Austrian opera composers Austrian Romantic composers Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery Jewish classical composers Male opera composers Musicians from Olomouc University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni