The Merry Widow (La Viuda Alegre, Die lustige Witwe) - Franz Lehar (1870–1948) The Merry Widow ('Die lustige Witwe' in German) is an operetta by the Austro– Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Leon and Leo Stein, based the story - concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband - on an 1861 comedy play, L'attache d'ambassade (The Embassy Attache) by Henri Meilhac. The operetta was first performed at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on the 30 December 1905. It was Lehar's first major success, becoming internationally the best-known operetta of its era. - (c) Wikipedia I came across this wonderful transcription for the guitar of the famous composition by F.Lehar made by Heike Matthiesen a couple of years ago. Since I was unable to find any music sheets or tabs on the Internet, I tried to tab it myself directly from the video recording. I am sure you will do justice to this beautiful piece of music despite the fact that tabs may contain mistakes. I would be grateful for any additions and corrections. It is better if you listen to the song by yourself (either the video by Heike Matthiesen or the original composition) and thus learn the tempo and timing. From the Heike Matthiesen video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeKkF2yRCpM Tabbed by Rostislav V. Razumchik - 28 June 2014 - rrazumchik@ieee.org ********************************************************************* thanks to Oliver Goodbourn for the following correction - 29 May 2021 measure 29 - the lower note of the 2nd interval changed from D to D# ********************************************************************* Standard tuning: E A D G B E "C(number)" means barre at that fret 1 C2________________________ C4__________ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | E|-------------|-5-----------|---------2---|-7-----------|----------9-12-| B|-0---2-4-5-2-|-----2---2---|---2-4-5---4-|-----5---5---|-5-9-10-12-----| G|-------------|-----2---2---|---2---------|-----4---4---|-4-------------| D|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|---------------| A|-------------|-------------|-2-----------|-------------|---------------| E|-------------|-2-----------|-------------|-4-----------|---------------| C7___________ 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |--9-----5-9-5-|--------------|-------------|---------7-7-|-7-5-4-5s-14---| |------5-------|-7-10-7---7---|-0-----------|-------------|-----2----10---| |------6-------|--------9---9-|-----1---1---|-1-----------|-----2----12---| |--------------|--------------|-----2---2---|-2-----------|-4-------------| |--0-----------|--------------|-------------|-------------|---------------| |--------------|-7------------|-0-----------|-------------|---------------| 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |----12-11-12-9----|-----9-------|-7-----------|-------------|-4-----------| |-10------------10-|-8-9-9---9---|-----9-5-4-2-|-2-----------|---------4---| |-12---------------|-----9---9---|-------------|-----2-----2-|-----2---2---| |------------------|-------------|-------------|-----4-4-6---|-----4-------| |------------------|-------------|-------------|-----4-------|-2-----------| |------------------|-0-----------|-------------|-2-----------|-------------| 16 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |--0-----------|-------------||---------0---|-2-------4---|---------0---| |------0-------|-------------||-0-----------|-------------|-0-----------| |------1-------|-------------||-----1-------|-----1-------|-----1-------| |--2-----------|-------------||-----2-------|-----2-------|-----2-------| |----------2---|-------------||-------------|-2-----------|-------------| |--------------|-0-----------||-0-----------|-------------|-0-----------| C2__________ 16 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |--2-------4---|-5-----------|-4-----------|--2----------|-------------| |--------------|-----4---4---|-----0---0---|-----4---4---|-4---4---4---| |------1-------|-----2---2---|-----1---1---|-----2---2---|-2---2---2---| |------2-------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------| |--2-----------|-------------|-------------|--2----------|-------------| |--------------|-2-----------|-0-----------|-------------|-------------| C2__________ C2__________ C4__________ 21 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |----------2---|-4-------5---|---------2---|-4-------5---|-7-----------| |--0-----------|-----4-------|-0-----------|-----4-------|-----5---5---| |------2-------|-----2-------|-----2-------|-----2-------|-----4---4---| |------1-------|-------------|-----1-------|-------------|-------------| |--------------|-2-----------|-------------|-2-----------|-------------| |--2-----------|-------------|-2-----------|-------------|-4-----------| C2__________ CIX__________ 26 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |--5-----------|-4-----------|-------------|-9-------9---|-11------9---| |------4---4---|-----0---0---|-0---0---0---|-----7-------|-----10------| |------2---2---|-----1---1---|-1---1---1---|-----8-------|-----9-------| |--------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------| |--------------|-------------|-------------|-0-----------|-9-----------| |--2-----------|-0-----------|-------------|-------------|-------------| C4________________________ C2__________ C4__________ 31 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |--7-----------|-------------|-5-------5---|-7-------5---|-4-----------| |------5---5---|-5-----------|-----2-------|-----4-------|-------------| |------4---4---|-----6---6---|-----2-------|-----4-------|-----5---5---| |--------------|-----6---6---|-------------|-4-----------|-----6---6---| |--------------|-4-----------|-------------|-------------|-------------| |--4-----------|-------------|-2-----------|-------------|-4-----------| C2__________ C4__________ 36 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |--------------|-2-------2---|-4-------2---|-7-------4---|-0-----------| |--------------|-----4-------|-----4-------|-----5-------|---------2---| |--5---5---5---|-----2-------|-----4-------|-----4-------|-----2-------| |--6---6---6---|-------------|-------------|-------------|-----2-------| |--------------|-2-----------|-0-----------|-------------|-0-----------| |--------------|-------------|-------------|-4-----------|-------------| C2__________ 36 | | | | | | | | | | | | |--------------|-2-----------|-0-----------|-------------|| |--5-----------|-----4---4---|-----0-------|-------------|| |------2---2---|-----4---4---|-----1-------|-------------|| |------4---4---|-------------|-2-----------|-------------|| |--------------|-2-----------|---------2---|-------------|| |--2-----------|-------------|-------------|0------------|| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ the latest version of this tab can be found at http://www.classtab.org if you come across any mistakes please let me know - weed@wussu.com