''The Merry Farmer'' (German: ''Der fidele Bauer'') is a German-language

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 ...

composed by

Leo Fall Leopold Fall (2 February 187316 September 1925) was an Austrian Kapellmeister and composer of operettas. Life Born in Olmütz (Olomouc), Leo (or Leopold) Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall (1848–1922), a bandmaster and composer, who sett ...

with a

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Viktor Léon Victor Léon, also Viktor Léon (born Victor Hirschfeld; 4 January 1858, Szenic, Nyitra County, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire (today Senica, Slovakia) – 23 February 1940, Vienna) was a well-known Jewish Austrian-Hungarian librettist. He col ...

. It premiered at the

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

Hoftheater on 27 July 1907 and was Fall's first major hit. It transferred to the

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...

in June 1908, and to the

Theater des Westens The Theater des Westens (Theatre of the West) is one of the most famous theatres for musicals and operettas in Berlin, Germany, located at 10–12 in Charlottenburg. It was founded in 1895 for plays. The present house was opened in 1896 and dedi ...

, Berlin, in October 1908. As ''The Merry Peasant'', the operetta was produced in London in 1909, opening at the Strand Theatre on 23 October for 69 performances, with

Courtice Pounds Charles Courtice Pounds (30 May 1861 Gänzl, Kurt"Pounds of Pyes, or mea culpa No. 2" Kurt Gänzl's blog, 4 May 2018. Note that hibirth registrationis in central London in the third quarter of 1861 – 21 December 1927), better known by the sta ...

(as ) &

Sybil Arundale Sybil Arundale (20 June 1879 – 5 September 1965) was an English stage and film actress born Sybil Kelly. From age 11, Arundale appeared with her sister Grace in music halls, where they were billed as "The Sisters Arundale". An early dramatic ...

(as Annamirl). The English book and lyrics were by

Cosmo Hamilton Cosmo Hamilton (29 April 1870 – 14 October 1942), born Henry Charles Hamilton Gibbs, was an English playwright and novelist. He was the brother of writers Arthur Hamilton Gibbs, Francis William Hamilton Gibbs, Helen Katherine Hamilton Gibbs an ...

, with additional songs by

Theodore Holland Theodore Samuel Holland, OBE (25 April 1878 – 29 October 1947), was a British composer and academic. Born in Wimbledon, Holland attended Westminster School and then the Royal College of Music, where his composition teacher was Frederick Corder. ...

Film adaptations

In 1927 a German silent film '' The Merry Farmer'' was based on the libretto with extracts of the music played in cinemas by accompanists. In 1951 it was remade as an Austrian sound film '' The Merry Farmer''.

References

German-language operettas 1907 operas Operettas Operas by Leo Fall Operas {{German-opera-stub