The Lighter Classics in Music by David Ewen

instruction took place with private teachers; that in 1851 he was appointed singing master to the Empress Eugénie in Paris; and that for a period he lived in Cuba. He died in Vitoria, Spain, on December 6, 1865. He was a successful composer of Spanish songs. The most famous is “_La Paloma_,” which is in the habanera rhythm, its melody in the sensual, sinuous style of a flamenco song. “_El Arreglito_,” also a habanera, was borrowed by Bizet for his opera _Carmen_ where it re-emerges as the world-famous “Habanera”; Bizet made only minor changes in the melody while retaining Yradier’s tonality and accompaniment. A third popular Yradier song, in a style similar to “_La Paloma_,” is “_Ay Chiquita!_” Carl Zeller Carl Zeller was born in St. Peter-in-der-Au, Austria on July 19, 1842. Music, the study of which he had pursued since boyhood with private teachers, was an avocation. He earned his living as an official in the Ministry of Education in Austria. Nevertheless, he managed to write many operettas, two of which were among the most successful written in Austria during his time. Among his first works for the stage were _Joconde_ (1876), _Die Carbonari_ (1880), and _Der Vagabund_ (1886). His first major success came with _Der Vogelhaendler_ in 1886, still a great favorite on the Continent. The second of his operetta classics, _Der Obersteiger_, was introduced in 1894. A later successful, though less well known, operetta, _Der Kellermeister_, was produced posthumously in