Alfred Maria Willner (11 July 1859 – 27 October 1929) was an Austrian writer, philosopher, musicologist, composer and librettist.
Willner was born and died in Vienna. He began composing mostly music for the piano before making a career writing librettos for ballets, operas and operettas. One of his early operettas was Johann Strauss II’s Die Göttin der Vernunft, a commitment that Strauss regretted. Strauss was forced to complete the commission only by the threat of a lawsuit and declined to attend a performance. Later the libretto and score were legally separated, and Willner revised the libretto for Franz Lehár as Der Graf von Luxemburg.
Willner's first big success was his libretto for Leo Fall’s Die Dollarprinzessin and Willner soon became a much sought-after operetta librettist. He wrote several successful librettos for Lehár operettas, particularly in collaboration with Heinz Reichert. The two also collaborated on highly successful adaptations of music by Schubert, such as Das Dreimäderlhaus, and by Johann Strauss father and son, such as Walzer aus Wien. In addition, Willner and Reichert were the contracted librettists for Puccini's opera La rondine which was later adapted by Giuseppe Adami.
Das Heimchen am Herd (opera), Karl Goldmark, 1896Die Schneeflocke (opera), Heinrich Berté, 1896Der Schmetterling (operetta with Bernhard Buchbinder), Charles Weinberger, 1896Die Göttin der Vernunft (operetta with Buchbinder), Johann Strauss II, 1897Fräulein Hexe (operetta with Buchbinder), Josef Bayer, 1898Die Debutantin (operetta with H. von Waldberg), Alfred Zamara, 1901Das Baby (operetta with Waldberg), Richard Heuberger, 1902Die Millionenbraut (operetta with E. Limé), Berté, 1904Der schöne Gardist (operetta with A. Landesberg), Berté, 1907Der kleine Chevalier, (operetta) Berté, 1907Die Dollarprinzessin (operetta with Fritz Grünbaum), Leo Fall, 1907Ein Wintermärchen (Oper), Goldmark, 1908Baron Trenck (komische Operette, with R. Bodanzky), Felix Albini, 1908Ein Mädchen für Alles (operetta with Waldberg), Heinrich Reinhardt, 1908Die Paradiesvögel (operetta with J. Wilhelm), P. Silber, 1908Die Glücksnarr (operetta with Landesberg), Berté, 1908Die Sprudelfee (operetta with Wilhelm), Reinhardt, 1909Der Graf von Luxemburg (operetta with Bodanzky), Franz Lehár, 1909Zigeunerliebe (romantische Operette, with Bodanzky), Lehár, 1910Schneeglöckchen (operetta with Wilhelm), G. Kerker, 1910Das Puppenmädel (operetta with L. Stein), Fall, 1910Die schöne Risette (romantische Operette, with Bodanzky), Fall, 1910Die Sirene (operetta with Stein), Fall, 1911Der Eisenhammer (Opera), B. Bersa, 1911, as OganjDer flotte Bob (operetta with W. Sterk), K. Stigler, 1911Die kleine Freundin (operetta with Stein), Straus, 1911Eva [Das Fabriksmädel] (operetta with Bodanzky), Lehár, 1911Casimirs Himmelfahrt (burleske Operette, with Bodanzky), B. Granichstaedten, 1911Prinzess Gretl (operetta with Bodanzky), Reinhardt, 1913Endlich allein(operetta with Bodanzky), Lehár, 1914Der Schuster von Delft (Opera, with Wilhelm), Bersa, 1914, as Postolar iz DelftaDer Märchenprinz (operetta with Sterk), Berté, 1914Der Durchgang der Venus (operetta with R. Oesterreicher), E. Eysler, 1914Der künstliche Mensch (operetta with Oesterreicher), Fall, 1915Die erste Frau (operetta with Oesterreicher), Reinhardt, 1915Wenn zwei sich lieben (operetta with Bodanzky), Eysler, 1915Das Dreimäderlhaus (Singspiel, with H. Reichert, after R. H. Bartsch: Schwammerl), Berté, 1916Die Faschingsfee (operetta with Oesterreicher), Kálmán, 1917Die schöne Saskia (operetta with Reichert), O. Nedbal, 1917La rondine (opera), Giacomo Puccini, 1917Hannerl [Dreimäderlhaus, part 2] (Singspiel, with Reichert), K. Lafite, 1918Wo die Lerche singt (operetta with Reichert), Lehár, 1918Johann Nestroy (Singspiel, with Oesterreicher), E. Reiterer, 1918Nimm mich mit (operetta with Waldberg), H. Dostal, 1919Der heilige Ambrosius (Schwank, with A. Rebner), Fall, 1921Nixchen (operetta with Oesterreicher), Straus, 1921Frasquita (operetta with Reichert), Lehár, 1922Libellentanz (Revue-Operette), Lehár, 1923Agri (operetta with Sterk), E. Steffan, 1924Ein Ballroman [Der Kavalier von zehn bis vier] (operetta with Oesterreicher and F. Rotter), Stolz, 1924Das Milliardensouper (operetta with H. Kottow), Steffan, 1925Der Mitternachtswalzer (operetta with Oesterreicher), Stolz, 1926Ade, du liebes Elternhaus [Die Lori] (Singspiel, with Reichert), O. Jascha, 1928Rosen aus Florida (operetta with Reichert), Korngold, after Fall, 1929Walzer aus Wien (Singspiel, with Reichert and Ernst Marischka), J. Bittner and Korngold, after J. Strauss II and I, 1930