Austrian composer Richard Heuberger (1850 – 1914) first studied engineering, but gave it up in 1876, and turned to music. He studied at the Graz conservatory and later transferred to Vienna where he eventually became the chorus master of the Wiener Akademischer Gesangverein, conductor of the Wiener Singakademie, director of the Wiener Männergesang-Verein and a teacher at the Konservatorium der Stadt Wien.
Heuberger wrote operas, ballets, choral works and songs, as well as working as a critic and editor. He is best known today for his first operetta “Der Opernball”, which he composed in 1898. Heuberger was the first choice of composer for the libretto of “The merry widow”, but he took so long to do anything with it, that it was given to a Mr Léhar instead (who did have some measure of success with it 😉 .)