The Austrian composer Wilhelm Kienzl studied in Graz, Prague, and Leipzig, and briefly with Liszt in Weimar, before continuing his studies in Vienna. He visited Bayreuth and was influenced by Wagner, and appeared as a pianist in duo recitals throughout Germany, before settling again in Graz, where he remained until 1917, when he moved to Vienna. He enjoyed contemporary success as a composer, but did not come to terms with the new musical fashions of his time.

Operas
Kienzl won his greatest success with the musical play Der Evangelimann. Here, and in other operas, he continued the vein of German romanticism developed by Humperdinck, with his last opera, a Singspiel, Hans Kipfel staged in Vienna in 1926. His stage works have long disappeared from current repertoire.