Oscar Fetrás

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 , 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.

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. 187 London Beauties - waltz 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.