program notes by composition > b > Berliner Luft
Berliner Luft Marsch
Paul Lincke, arranged by Michal Worek
Berliner Luft Marsch ("Spirit of Berlin" or "Berlin Echoes"), a song-march from the operetta Frau Luna, became the work’s most popular piece soon after it was produced in Berlin in 1899. In 1906, Lincke wrote another musical which he entitled Berliner Luft and in which the same march was featured.
The plot of Frau Luna concerns Fritz, an engineer, who constructs a balloon which takes him to the moon. When he arrives, he is arrested by the moon police and put on trial. At this point he thinks of the sights, sounds, and atmosphere of his native Berlin and sings the poignant melody about the “Berliner Luft, Luft, Luft.” Everything turns out well when he is ordered to be released and is invited to the palace to meet the ruler. To his surprise (this is 1899), the “man in the moon” turns out to be a lovely woman, Frau Luna, who gives Fritz a warm reception and provides a space car to take him back to Berlin.