Today, on the 140^th birth anniversary of the birth of the Austrian composer and conductor of Czech origin Ralph Benatzky, we present a rare recording – the composer's "Viennese Waltz" encoded on a perforated paper music roll that is stored in the "Music Records" section of the museum Collection exposition.

Ralph Benatzky is an author of the operetta "Casanova" (1928), "The Three Musketeers" (1929), " Im weißen Rössl" (1930), "The Luxurious Girl" (1933) and " Axel an der Himmelstür” (1936). He made his way from frustrated career of a military man and philosopher (from 1899 to 1910), later becoming composer and conductor of the National Theatre Orchestra in Munich.
R. Benatzky skilfully combined musical techniques of the past with innovative jazz sounding of the 1920’s, as well as the folklore performance manner with the modern dance rhythms and, thus, achieved worldwide recognition – his productions were performed in many cities of Europe and the USA.

Moreover, Ralph Benatzky was the author of music for movies and radio programs. He translated some of the literary works by the British prose writer – William Somerset Maugham (1874-1975).