(1819 - 1895)
Franz von Suppé was an Austrian composer of light operas who was born in what is now Croatia during the time his father was working in this outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A composer and conductor of the Romantic period, he is notable for his four dozen operettas. Two of Suppé’s comic operas – Boccaccio and Donna Juanita – have been performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, but failed to become repertoire works. He composed about 30 operettas and 180 farces, ballets, and other stage works. Although the bulk of Suppé’s operas have sunk into relative obscurity, the overtures – particularly Dichter und Bauer (Poet and Peasant, 1846) and Leichte Kavallerie (Light Cavalry, 1866) – have survived and some of them have been used in all sorts of soundtracks for movies, cartoons, advertisements and so on, in addition to being frequently played at symphonic “pops” concerts. Some of Suppé’s operas are still regularly performed in Europe.
Franz von Suppé Composition Timpani and Percussion Requirements
Light Cavalry (Overture)
Timpani + 3 percussion
Snare drum, orchestral bass drum, clash cymbals
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Pique Dame (Overture)
Timpani + 4 percussion
Snare drum, clash cymbals, orchestral bass drum, triangle
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Poet and Peasant (Overture)
Timpani + 2 percussion
Clash cymbals, orchestral bass drum
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