The operetta Die Lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow) was written in 1905 by Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehar (1870-1948), with a libretto by Viktor Leon and Leo Stein. The story tells of a rich widow for whom her countrymen attempt to find her a new husband that will keep her money in the principality. The operetta was successful when it premiered on December 30, 1905 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, with Lehar conducting, and it has remained a staple of the opera repertoire ever since. In 1907, only two short years after the premiere of the staged work, two of the more popular sections were arranged separately by two individuals, then combined and published as this brief two-movement suite: Maxim March, arranged by Alfred Roth, and Waltz Intermezzo, arranged by Walter Henry Lewis. Instrumentation: 1.2.2.2: 4.2.3.0: Timp.Perc(3): Str (9-8-7-6-5 in set).