A Selective Study of the Art Songs of Franz Lehár

Though best known for his operetta output, German composer Franz Lehár (1870-1948) wrote over one hundred lieder, including at least six cycles. This is the first formal study available on the art songs of Franz Lehár. The opening chapter provides a short biography. Subsequent chapters seek to provide specific musical cues and idioms to describe Lehár’s musical style, along with insights into his compositional technique and musical aesthetic as they are employed in his art songs. Chapter III begins with an overview of the historical importance of Franz Lehár, including a brief discussion of the musical trends and composers of the time. Analysis of Lehár’s compositional style includes discussion of general stylistic traits, along with formal structures, use of harmony and keys, rhythmic devices, melody and text, and piano accompaniment. Musical examples from his art song output are provided to illustrate these various points. Chapters IV-VI offer a brief musical and textual analysis of 24 song selection from his four published art song volumes. The analyses include historical background on the song\u27s composition and poet, the song’s style sheet, followed by a rendering of the text with English translations. The concluding chapter offers a summary of Lehár’s compositional style, a generalized style guide chart, and brief insight as to the possible motivations behind the composition of the art songs. This dissertation comprises a research guide that applies a musical-analytical methodology to Lehár’s art songs (a topic that until now has been woefully neglected). Thus, it aims to strengthen the current body of research that is available in Lehár’s scholarship