- Franz Behr
Franz Behr (1837 – 1898) was a prolific, but minor, and now almost forgotten, German
composer of songs and salon pieces for piano.He 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", "Will o’ the wisp", "Valse des Elfes" (Op. 497), "Perciotta, serenande catalane", and "Evening Chimes in the Mountains". He also wrote under the name G. Bachmann ("Marche bulgare", "Succès-mazurk", "Collier de rubis", "Paris-valse", "Gavotte duchesse", "Floréal mazurka").
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 because of its transcription as a virtuoso piano piece, "Polka de W. R.", by
Sergei Rachmaninoff .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".
Rachmaninoff wrote the transcription on
24 March 1911 , the day after the premiere of the "Liturgy of St John Chrysostom" inSt. Petersburg . "Polka de W. R." was dedicated toLeopold Godowsky . It was published the same year, as part of an album of Russian pieces, "Nouvelle Collection de Musique", the other composers represented in the album beingAlexander Scriabin ,Nikolai Medtner ,Taneyev ,Georgy Catoire , andAlexander Goedicke .Its first known public performance was on
6 May 1922 , by the composer, at theQueen’s Hall ,London . Rachmaninoff recorded it four times, without revision. It was a favourite encore of pianists such asVladimir Horowitz andShura Cherkassky , and has been recorded many times.External links
* [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=xsWjvwM_FWIC&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=Behr+Lacht%C3%A4ubchen+1837+1898&source=web&ots=kqvRofLPJj&sig=Z1_rUjCo_8zhXNWLJSyY_6fdZIY&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result The Pianist's Guide to Transcriptions, Arrangements and Paraphrases]
* [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=HwSvhu1kLikC&pg=PA175&lpg=PA175&dq=Franz+Behr+Polka&source=web&ots=qX_rQqCI_Y&sig=IuO5IJaUUXZEZ-eZQ2GtRv93rQI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA175,M1 Max Harrison, "Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings"]
* [http://www.henseltlibrary.org/scores1.html The Henselt Library of Nineteenth-Century Piano Music]
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