Oscar Fetrás

Oscar Fetrás
Oscar Fetrás
Birth name	Otto Kaufmann Faster
Born	16 February 1854
Died	10 January 1931 (aged 76)
Genres	Classical
Occupation(s)	Composer, musician
Instrument	Piano

Oscar Fetrás (16 February 1854 – 10 January 1931) was a German composer of popular dance music, military marches, piano pieces and arrangements.

Fetrás had over 200 compositions to his name. His best known work is his waltz "Mondnacht auf der Alster" Op. 60 which is still immensely popular to the present day.

Biography

Fetrás was born as Otto Kaufmann Faster in 1854 in Hamburg. His father Matthias Faster was an Hamburgian editor of a stock-exchange magazine. The Faster family originally came from Bützfleth, a locality of today's Stade near Hamburg. Fetrás's grandfather, a sea captain, died in the sinking of his ship Ceres. His mother Amalie Margarethe, born Decker, had ancestral origins from the island of Sylt.

Early in his career Fetrás worked for Ferdinand Laeisz [de], founder of the Flying P-Liner. Once he became widely regarded as being on the same level as the revered Viennese waltz kings, he departed to conduct his own orchestra. At the age of 26 Fetrás's compositions attracted the attention of a Hamburg publisher. He changed his name to Fetrás, an anagram of his surname Faster.

Fetrás soon rose to the position of conductor of the Uhlenhorster Fährhaus, a famous restaurant with ballrooms in Hamburg for which he composed his second most famous, but now forgotten work, Uhlenhorster Kinder. He was regarded as the most talented light music composer that Northern Germany ever produced and from the start modelled his own composing on that of his idol, Johann Strauss Jr. As a gift of thanks for his waltz "Mondnacht auf der Alster" which brought Hamburg international acclaim, the local business community gave Fetrás a bronze statue of the Roman god Hermes/Mercurius by the French artist Marius Montagne. This statue is the only remaining possession of Fetrás which survived the World War II bombings and is now owned privately in Henstedt-Ulzburg near Hamburg.

His tombstone

It might have been Franz von Blon, at that time the conductor of the Stadttheater Orchestra, who introduced "Mondnacht auf der Alster" at the inaugural concert for the 1888 ball season. It was a sensation and earned Fetrás the title of "The Hamburg Waltz King". Soon he was invited to tour Germany, Austria and France with his orchestra. He became personally acquainted with Johann Strauss. In 1904 he won a prize for his composition "Frühlingsluft" and later he wrote Reiche Mädchen, a reworking of Johann Strauss's 1897 operetta Die Göttin der Vernunft. The complete Die Göttin der Vernunft operetta has been released in 2011 by Naxos Records, whilst the Reiche Mädchen has been recorded by Marco Polo on their two CD production of Johann Strauss operetta collections. Fetrás remained well-known and respected and though definitely a second rank composer in the Viennese style, he produced some 300 works. Fetrás died January 1931 in Hamburg and was buried in the Ohlsdorf Cemetery.

Legacy

In 1943, the Uhlenhorster Fährhaus was destroyed by Allied bombing, and with it was lost the original score of Fetrás's most famous work "Mondnacht auf der Alster". The waltzes and music of Fetrás appear to have disappeared from the mainstream repertoire since then. This was primarily due to the many outlets of music publishers and music parts libraries which issued his material being destroyed during the bombing of Hamburg in World War II, leaving no publishers to issue his material to this day. Arrangements for solo piano of all of his works, published with opus numbers, are available on IMSLP.

In Hamburg-Rahlstedt the street Fetrasweg is named after him.

Works

Op. 10 Goldschmieds Töchterlein – waltz
Op. 11 Bankett – march
Op. 12 Schönes Lenchen – polka française
Op. 13 Hand in Hand – lanciers
Op. 14 Lustig voran! – march
Op. 15 in der gold'nen Faschingszeit – waltz
Op. 16 Traulich beisammen – gavotte
Op. 17 Fruhling im Herzen – waltz
Op. 18 Ihm nach! – polka schnell
Op. 19 Luftschlösser – waltz
Op. 20 Flottes Carré – lanciers
Op. 21 Rosamundchen – polka française
Op. 22 Carmen – waltz after motives from Bizet's opera
Op. 23 Nachtschwärmer – waltz
Op. 24 An die Gewehre! – march
Op. 25 Die Schäferin – rheinische polka
Op. 26 Das blonde Gretchen – waltz
Op. 27 Maskentrubel – polka française
Op. 28 Elekrisch – polka schnell
Op. 29 Balduin Dahl-march – march
Op. 30 La mascotte – waltz after motives from Audran's opera
Op. 31 Im Morgengrauen – waltz
Op. 32 Le Petit blue – march
Op. 33 Vis a Vis – lanciers
Op. 34 Rip-Rip Valse – waltz after motives from Robert Planquette
Op. 35 Spanischer – waltz
Op. 36 Blumenpyramiden – waltz
Op. 37 Wintergarten – quadrille
Op. 38 Zigeunerblut – march
Op. 39 Kostümfest – quadrille
Op. 40 Uhlenhorster Kinder – waltz
Op. 41 Nur fest! – march
Op. 42 Irma – waltz after motives from Audran's opera
Op. 43 Fensterpromenaden – waltz
Op. 44 Dunkle Rose – polka-mazurka
Op. 45 Dir zu Lieb! – polka française
Op. 47 Tosti-Leider – waltz
Op. 48 Husarenliebchen – march-polka
Op. 49 Derby – quadrille
Op. 50 Veilchen am Wege – waltz
Op. 51 Frisch gewagt – march
Op. 52 Bei Nacht und Nebel – waltz
Op. 53 Emmeline – polka française
Op. 54 Stelldichein – march
Op. 55 Lieb und Lied – waltz
Op. 57 Jeanette – polka française
Op. 58 Barcelona – march
Op. 59 Erwischt! – polka schnell
Op. 60 Mondnacht auf der Alster – waltz
Op. 61 Bunte Reihe – lanciers
Op. 62 Train – march
Op. 63 Marias Traum – waltz
Op. 64 Quadrille im Militärstil – quadrille
Op. 65 Fifi – March
Op. 66 En tete a tete – lanciers
Op. 67 Trinket, scherzet! – waltz
Op. 68 Margaretha – polka-mazurka
Op. 69 Maskenscherze – quadrille
Op. 70 Auf rosigem Pfad – waltz
Op. 71 Geschichten aus dem Sachsenwald – waltz
Op. 72 Leichtes Element – polka française
Op. 73 Nervös – polka schnell
Op. 74 Schalagat – quadrille
Op. 75 Blaue Augen – blauer Himmel – waltz
Op. 76 Wissmann – march
Op. 77 Eichhörnchen – polka schnell
Op. 78 Der Gladiator – march
Op. 79 Spielmanns Lieder – waltz
Op. 80 Strand-Idyllen – waltz
Op. 82 Dimitri – march
Op. 83 Fidele – march
Op. 93 Harvestehuder Schwalben - waltz
Op. 112 Märchen aus der Quellental – waltz
Op. 122 Die Königsmaid – waltz
Op. 126 Redaktionsgeheinmisse – waltz
Op. 128 La Barcarolle – waltz after motives from Jacques Offenbach's opera
Op. 137 Carmen – march after motives from Bizet
Op. 139 Tirol in Lied und Tanz
Op. 140 Carmen – quadrille after motives from Bizet's opera
Op. 145 Prisca – waltz (Rupprecht)
Op. 146 Funkensprache – polka schnell
Op. 147 Flunkermichel – polka française
Op. 148 Scheiden und Meiden (Les Adieux) – waltz
Op. 149 Sommernacht am Rhein – waltz
Op. 150 Frohsinn auf den Bergen – waltz
Op. 152 Im 7 Himmel – potpourri
Op. 153 Liebe schafft Rat – overture
Op. 154 Freikugeln – march
Op. 157 Melodien-Parade – march-potpourri
Op. 163 Offenbach – quadrille after motives from Jacques Offenbach
Op. 164 Offenbach – waltz
Op. 165 Wenn die Füsschen sie heben – waltz after motives from Die keusche Susanne von Jean Gilbert
Op. 166 Wenn der Vater mit dem Sohne – march after motives from Die keusche Susanne von Jean Gilbert
Op. 167 Hahnen-Rheinländer (Die keusche Susanne – Gilbert) / Kätchen-Rheinländer (Tieck) – polka française
Op. 168 Die keusche Susanne – potpourri (Gilbert)
Op. 169 Onegin-Klänge – waltz after motives from Tchaikovsky's opera
Op. 170 Margueritentag – waltz
Op. 171 Operetten-Revue – potpourri
Op. 174 Willst du Liebe lernen? – waltz after motives from Marine-Gust'l von Georg Jarno
Op. 175 Spanisch-Polnisch – march
Op. 176 Auf hoher See – march after motives from Marine-Gust'l von Jarno
Op. 177 Die keusche Susanne – quadrille after motives from Die keusche Susanne von Jean Gilbert
Op. 178 Die Marine-Gust'l – potpourri (Georg Jarno)
Op. 179 Truthahn-Tanz – trot de dindon
Op. 180 Blumenfest – overture
Op. 188 Skizzen aus Russland – divertissement
Op. 189 Die Wandervögel – march
Op. 191 Polo-Spiele – intermezzo
Op. 192 Mia Cara – tango
Op. 193 Walzerflut oder 100 Jahre in 15 Minuten – chronological waltz-suite
Op. 194 Die lustigen Marionetten – intermezzo
Op. 195 Juchhei, Tirolerbub – march
Op. 196 Souvenir de Chopin – fantasie
Op. 197 Froh im Kreise – Deutsches Volkslieder Potpourri
Op. 199 O Deutschland hoch in Ehren – march
Op. 200 Hurra Hurra die Ulanen sind da – war March 1914
Op. 201 Hindenburg – march
Op. 202 Kinderlieder – march
Op. 203 Verkaufte Braut – march after motives from Smetana's opera
Op. 204 Andreas Hofer – march
Op. 205 Nachruf an Schubert – potpourri
Op. 206 Nachruf an Mendelssohn – potpourri
Op. 207 Alpensänger – potpourri
Op. 208 Holzschuh -Tanz – Charakterstück – potpourri
Op. 209 Künstlerlaune – intermezzo
Op. 210 Hoffnungssterne – waltz
Op. 211 Von Bühne zu Bühne – opera fantasie
Op. 212 Erinnerung an Josef Gung'l – potpourri
Op. 213 Aus Deutschlands Liederhain – potpourri
Op. 215 Lumbye-Fantasie – divertissement (Hans Christian Lumbye)
Op. 216 Nymphe und Faun – waltz after motives from Léo Delibes
Op. 218 Minutenspiele – potpourri
Op. 219 Sang und Tanz vom Böhmerland – potpourri
Op. 222 Russische Volksklänge – potpourri
Op. 223 Tanzlust auf der Alm – Ländler

In popular culture

"Moonlight on the Alster" is described as being popular with Royal Navy personnel in the novel HMS Ulysses by Alistair MacLean.

Sources and references

Lexikon des Blasmusikwesens, Freiburg-Tiengen: Blasmusikverlag Schulz, 1988
La musica en la radio: radio Ciudad Real EAJ 65 y sus discos de pizarra Coordinador: Francisco Alía Miranda Cuenca: Ediciones de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 2000, p. 321–356
The heritage encyclopedia of band music: composers and their music. Edited by Paul E. Bierley. William H. Rehrig, Westerville, Ohio: Integrity Press, 1991
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. London: Macmillan, 1980
Kürschners Deutscher Musiker-Kalender 1954, zweite Ausgabe des Deutschen Musiker-Lexikons. Edited by Hedwig and E.H. Mueller von Asow, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1954
Sohlman's musiklexikon. Gosta Morin, Carl Allan Moberg. Einar Sundstrom Stockholm: Sohlman Forlag, 1951
Dizionario universale dei musicisti: Supplemento. Schmidl, Carlo. Milan: Sonzogno, 1938
Kurzgefasstes Tonkünstler-Lexikon: für Musiker und Freunde der Musik, begründet von Paul Frank. Neu bearbeitet und ergänzt von Wilhelm Altmann. Regensburg: Gustav Bosse, 1936
Lemma "Fetrás, Oscar". In: Deutsches Musiker-Lexikon. Edited by Erich H. Müller. Dresden: Wilhelm Limpert, 1929, p. 318.

References

External links

Oscar Fetrás' biography, Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain
Oscar Festras biography, Hamburg Stadtwiki
Free scores by Oscar Fetrás at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
Gesine Schröder, "Erinnerungen an Meyerbeer" by Oscar Fetrás : on three operas fantasies for salon orchestra. In: Musicology Papers / Lucrări de Muzicologie – Cluj-Napoca Vol. 39 (2024), 1, pp. 26-43.