Franz von Suppé (ZOOP-ay) was Austrian. His family had lived in Italy for two generations so he spoke Italian in addition to German. He is best remembered for his overtures, which are still played frequently today. Suppé's most famous overture is the Light Cavalry. The cavalry is an army group mounted on horseback. The music reminds us of prancing horses.

When Franz was eleven he learned to play the flute and studied harmony. He wrote a Mass when he was thirteen. Franz loved music, but his father decided that he should attend the University of Padua and become a doctor. After his father died, Franz decided to follow his love for music. He moved to Vienna, the music capital of Europe. First he conducted music for the theater. Then he began composing music for the theater. He composed a score for Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Do you remember Mendelssohn's Wedding March for the same play? 

Offenbach's operettas were becoming popular in Vienna, and Suppé needed to compete for his share of theater audiences. Like Offenbach, he began composing lighthearted operettas and opera parodies which everyone loved. He also composed popular overtures. During the last years of his life he composed mostly sacred works for the church. He died of cancer in 1895.