Franz Von Suppe

Franz Von Suppe (1820-1895), Austrian musical composer, whose real name was Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo Suppe-Demelli, was born at Spalato, in Dalmatia, in 1820, and died at Vienna in 1895. Originally he studied philosophy at the university of Padua, but on the death of his father devoted himself to music, studying at the Vienna conservatoire. He began his musical career as a conductor in one of the smaller Viennese theatres, and gradually worked his way up to be one of the most popular composers of ephemeral light opera of the day. Outside Vienna his works never won much success. Of his sixty comic operas Fatinitza (Vienna, 1876; London, 1878) was the most successful, while Boccaccio (Vienna, 1879; London, 1882) only enjoyed moderate favour. Suppe's overture to Dichter and Bauer is his most successful orchestral work. He also wrote some church music.