Nico Dostal
Nico Dostal (full name: Nikolaus Josef Michael Dostal) (27 November 1895 – 27 October 1981) was an Austrian composer who later specialised in operetta and film music.
Nico Dostal

Donna Gedenk · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Born
- 1895 · Korneuburg.
- Died
- 1981 · Salzburg.
- Nationality
- Austria
- Occupation
- composer · conductor · actor · musician
- Fields
- film score
- Education
- University of Vienna
- Honours
- Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany · Paul-Lincke-Ring · Austrian Decoration for Science and Art First Class
- Languages
- German
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Documentary summary
Nico Dostal (full name: Nikolaus Josef Michael Dostal) (27 November 1895 – 27 October 1981) was an Austrian composer who later specialised in operetta and film music.
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Note VALÉORINE
Nico Dostal (1895–1981) was an actor, composer and conductor, among other activities, of Austrian nationality. The actor was born in Korneuburg and died in Salzburg.
Nico Dostal was educated at University of Vienna. The actor was a member of Schlaraffia. Activity centred on film score.
The work spans liturgical music and operetta. Languages used include German. Honours include Austrian Decoration for Science and Art First Class and Paul-Lincke-Ring.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q318942 · wikipedia · Nico Dostal
In this article
Life
Life
Nico Dostal studied at University of Vienna. The recorded working language is German. The field of work recorded is film score. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are operetta and liturgical music. Distinctions recorded are Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Paul-Lincke-Ring and Austrian Decoration for Science and Art First Class.
Dostal was born in Korneuburg, Lower Austria, and was the nephew of composer Hermann Dostal. He initially studied law at the University of Vienna, but turned to studying music at the Academy for Church Music in Klosterneuburg, and made a name for himself when his Great Mass in D major premiered in Linz in 1913. After participating in World War I, Dostal worked as the theatre Kapellmeister in Innsbruck, St. Pölten, Vienna, Chernivtsi and Salzburg, before moving to Berlin in 1924, where he turned his hand to secular music. He worked in music publishing and as a freelance arranger for Oscar Straus, Franz Lehár and Robert Stolz, among others. Whilst working as a Kapellmeister and composer, Dostal wrote the music for the film The Emperor's Waltz (1933) and enjoyed great success with his first operetta Clivia. This was followed by Die Vielgeliebte (1934) (The Much-Loved), Die ungarische Hochzeit (1939) (The Hungarian Wedding), and numerous pieces of film music. In 1946 Dostal moved to Vienna, then in 1954 to Salzburg, where he continued to devote himself to composition, writing there among other pieces the chamber musical So macht man Karriere (1961) (How To Make a Career). Dostal also composed church music along with operettas and film music. In 1942 he married the opera singer Lillie Claus, by whom he had one son, Roman Dostal, later a conductor. Dostal died in Salzburg, where he is buried in a grave of honour in the main cemetery, the Salzburger Kommunalfriedhof.
Operettas
Operettas
Die exzentrische Frau, 1922 (The Eccentric Woman) Lagunenzauber, 1923 (Lagoon Magic) Clivia, 1933 Die Vielgeliebte, 1934 (The Much-Loved) Prinzessin Nofretete, 1936 (Princess Nefertiti) Extrablätter, 1937 (Extra Sheets) Monika, 1937 Die ungarische Hochzeit, 1939 (The Hungarian Wedding) Die Flucht ins Glück, 1940 (The Flight into Happiness) Die große Tänzerin, 1942 (The Great Dancer) Eva im Abendkleid, 1942 (Eva in Evening Dress) Manina, 1942 Verzauberte Herzen, 1946 (Enchanted Hearts) Ein Fremder in Venedig, 1946 (A Stranger in Venice) Süße kleine Freundin, 1949 (Sweet Little Girlfriend) Zirkusblut, 1950 (Circus Blood) Der Kurier der Königin, 1950 (The Queen's Courier) de:Doktor Eisenbart, 1952 (Dr. Eisenbarth) de:Der dritte Wunsch, 1954 (The Third Wish) Liebesbriefe Operette, 1955 (Love Letters Operetta) So macht man Karriere, 1961 (How To Make A Career) Rhapsodie der Liebe, 1963 (Rhapsody of Love) Der goldene Spiegel (The Golden Mirror) Don Juan und Figaro oder Das Lamm des Armen, 1990 (Don Juan and Figaro, or the Lamb of the Poor)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1981
Nico Dostal died at Salzburg.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Korneuburg.
Birth place
Salzburg.
Death place
Film music
Everybody Wins (1930) Three Days Confined to Barracks (1930) Headfirst into Happiness (1931) The Emperor's Waltz (1933) The Cabbie's Song (1936) The Holm Murder Case (1938) Thirteen Chairs (1938) The Optimist (1938) The Girl with a Good Reputation (1938) Heimatland, 1939, with Wolf Albach-Retty (Homeland) The Desert Song, 1939, with Zarah Leander, Gustav Knuth The Vulture Wally (1940) Black on White (1943) Glück bei Frauen, 1944, with Johannes Heesters (Luck/Happiness with Women) Child of the Danube (1950) Spring on Ice (1951) Das Herz einer Frau, 1951 (The Heart of a Woman) Starfish (1952) A Night in Venice (1953) Die Ungarische Hochzeit, 1969, with Maria Schell (The Hungarian Wedding)
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q318942: Nico DostalWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,307 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Niclas EngelinPerson
- Nico CarstensPerson
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- Nico ConstantinePerson
- Nico FidencoPerson
- Nico KaufmannPerson
- Ñico LoraPerson
- Nico MuhlyPerson
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