Ludwig Minkus

Ludwig Minkus
Maestro Ludwig Minkus, photographed by Bruno Braquehais. Paris, ca. 1870.
Born	Aloysius Bernhard Philipp Minkus (1826-03-23)23 March 1826 Vienna, Austrian Empire
Died	7 December 1917(1917-12-07) (aged 91) Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Occupation(s)	Composer, violinist, teacher

Ludwig Minkus (Russian: Людвиг Минкус), also known as Léon Fyodorovich Minkus (23 March 1826, Vienna – 7 December 1917, Vienna), was an Austrian composer of ballet music, a violinist and teacher of music.

Minkus is noted for the music he composed during his career in St. Petersburg, Russia. Beginning in 1871 Minkus served in the official post of Composer of Ballet Music to the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, a position he held until it was abolished upon his retirement in 1886. During his long career in St. Petersburg, Minkus composed for the original works and revivals staged by the ballet masters Arthur Saint-Léon and Marius Petipa. Among the composer's most celebrated compositions is his score for La source (1866; composed jointly with Léo Delibes), Don Quixote (1869); and La Bayadère (1877). Minkus composed many pieces for older works. The most well-known of Minkus's additional music is the Grand Pas classique and Mazurka des enfants composed for Petipa's 1881 revival of Paquita.