Richard Franz Joseph Heuberger (18 June 1850 in

Graz, Austria Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popula ...

– 28 October 1914 in

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

) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

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 ...

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

s and

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 ...

s, a music

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

, and teacher. Heuberger was born in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

, the son of a

bandage A bandage is a piece of material used either to support a medical device such as a dressing or splint, or on its own to provide support to or to restrict the movement of a part of the body. When used with a dressing, the dressing is applie ...

manufacturer. He initially studied engineering, but gave it up in 1876, and turned to music. He studied at the

Graz Conservatory The University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, also known as Kunstuniversität Graz (KUG) is an Austrian university. Its roots can be traced back to the music school of the '' Akademischer Musikverein'' founded in 1816, making it the oldest u ...

(where he studied with

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 later transferred to

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

, where he eventually became the chorus master of the Wiener Akademischer Gesangverein, conductor of the

Wiener Singakademie The Wiener Singakademie is a choir in Vienna, Austria. History As the first mixed choir in Vienna, the Wiener Singakademie was founded in 1858 to establish a "Singübungsanstalt" - an institution for the training of voices. It aims to promote th ...

, director of the

Wiener Männergesang-Verein The Wiener Männergesang-Verein ("Vienna Men's Choral Society" or "Vienna Male Voice Choir") is a men's choir in Vienna, Austria, founded in 1843. The choir has regularly appeared with the Vienna Philharmonic, and has performed worldwide. Notable ...

(Vienna Men's Choral Association), and a teacher at the Konservatorium der Stadt Wien. As a music critic he wrote for the ''

Neues Wiener Tagblatt The Neues Wiener Tagblatt was a daily newspaper published in Vienna from 1867 to 1945. It was one of the highest-circulation newspapers in Austria before 1938. History The newspaper was founded by Eduard Mayer as a successor to the Wiener Journ ...

'' from 1881, the ''Allgemeine Zeitung'' in Munich from 1889, and (succeeding

Hanslick Eduard Hanslick (11 September 18256 August 1904) was an Austrian music critic, aesthetician and historian. Among the leading critics of his time, he was the chief music critic of the ''Neue Freie Presse'' from 1864 until the end of his life. H ...

) on the ''

Neue Freie Presse ''Neue Freie Presse'' ("New Free Press") was a Viennese newspaper founded by Adolf Werthner together with the journalists Max Friedländer and Michael Etienne on 1 September 1864 after the staff had split from the newspaper ''Die Presse''. It ex ...

'' from 1896 until 1901. He also edited the ''Musikbuch aus Österreich'' (1904–6).Andrew Lamb. 'Heuberger, Richard (Franz Joseph)' in ''Grove Music Online'' (2001) Although Heuberger wrote many

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

s, choral works, and songs, he is best known today for his operetta ''

Der Opernball ''Der Opernball'' (''The Opera Ball'') is an operetta in three acts with music by Richard Heuberger, and libretto by Viktor Léon and Heinrich von Waldberg, based on the 1876 comedy ' by Alfred Delacour and Alfred Hennequin. Alexander von Zemlins ...

'', which he composed in 1898. He taught at the Vienna Conservatory from 1902. Among his pupils was

Clemens Krauss Clemens Heinrich Krauss (31 March 189316 May 1954) was an Austrian conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and Richard Wagner. Krauss was born in Vienna to Clementine Krauss, the ...

Selected works

Operettas *''

'' (1898) *''Ihre Excellenz'' (1899), revised as ''Eine entzückende Frau'' *''Der Sechsuhrzug'' (1900) *''Das Baby'' (1902) *''Der Fürst von Düsterstein'' (1909) *''Don Quixote'' (1910) Operas *''Abenteuer einer Neujahrsnacht'' (1886) *''Manuel Venegas'' (1889), revised as ''Mirjam, oder Das Maifest'' (1894) *''Barfüssele'' (1905) Ballets *''Die Lautenschlägerin'' (1896) *''Struwwelpeter'' (1897)

References

External links

*
Biography
!-- not quite dead but does not quite seem to work?--> * (Another good biography) * *
Songs by Richard Heuberger on The Art Song Project
1850 births 1914 deaths 19th-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers Austrian male classical composers Austrian music critics Austrian opera composers Austrian Romantic composers Male opera composers Musicians from Graz Pupils of Wilhelm Mayer (composer) 20th-century male musicians 19th-century male musicians {{Austria-composer-stub