Alexander von Zemlinsky

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Alexander Zemlinsky

Alexander (von) Zemlinsky , pseudonym Al Roberts , (born October 14, 1871 in Vienna , † March 15, 1942 in Larchmont , New York ) was an Austrian composer and conductor . His father was the writer and journalist Adolf von Zemlinszky .

Life

origin

Zemlinsky's grandfather, Anton Semlinsky, came from a Catholic family of the then Hungarian Zsolna (today Žilina in northern Slovakia) and settled in the 2nd Viennese district Leopoldstadt in the first half of the 19th century . His son Adolf was born in Vienna on April 23, 1845. To help his ambitions as a writer, Adolf Semlinsky changed the Slavonic spelling of his name into Hungarian and added a nobility predicate that was never confirmed. As Adolf von Zemlinszky , he subsequently worked as a typist for an insurance company and married Clara Semo (1848–1912) in 1871, after he had left the Catholic Church in 1870 and was accepted into the Turkish-Israelite community. Clara Semo came from a Jewish-Muslim family. With the marriage, Adolf became an integral part of the Sephardic community of Vienna. Alexander von Zemlinszky was born on October 14, 1871 in his parents' apartment (Odeongasse 3) in Leopoldstadt. When Clara became pregnant for the second time, the family moved to Springergasse 6. Bianca was born on March 26, 1874, but she died after only five weeks. The third child, Mathilde, was born on September 7, 1877. In 1882 the family moved to Pillersdorfgasse 3.

First musical experiences

Young Alexander first came into contact with music at the age of four. His father had taken in a friend of the family as a lodger, who brought his piano with him. He gave his son piano lessons and also allowed Alexander to take part in the lessons. Since he made much faster progress, Alexander soon got his own teacher and was given intensive support. In 1881, at the age of ten, he was accepted into the newly founded temple choir of the Sephardic community. When his voice broke three years later, he was able to earn pocket money for the first time as a musical accompanist for choir rehearsals and by playing the organ in the synagogue. Musically, however, the sacred, Sephardic music influenced him only slightly. Growing up with Mozart's music as a child , he quickly discovered Brahms and Wagner . Only one motet he composed with the title Wedding Song for the Marriage of the Cantor's Daughter in 1896 is documented.

School education

At the age of six, Alexander was enrolled by his parents in the Sephardic school of Midrash Eliahu in Novaragasse. In addition to arithmetic, writing and reading, Alexander was taught the Torah and Tefillot (Bible and prayers) as well as the Sephardic rite ( Minhag ). Two years later he moved to a general elementary school, where he was often best in class. Shortly before his thirteenth birthday, Adolf von Zemlinszky registered his son at the Conservatory of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna , where he passed the exam and was accepted into Wilhelm Rauch 's piano class in autumn 1884 . Here his curriculum at the pre-school school included piano and theory; he was released from the choir because of a four-year broken voice .

Further studies and first successes

After three years, Zemlinsky's progress was checked and he was awarded a Rubinstein grant of 1,000 guilders per year. From this money as well as private tuition and participation in competitions, he initially financed his life. After passing the exam in 1887, he switched to the so-called training school and completed Anton Door's piano class . In addition, he learned theory for two years with Franz Krenn and Robert Fuchs , the latter placing great emphasis on classical music and rejecting the New German School around Liszt and Wagner. However, this was offset by the multi-layered musical life of Vienna. A folder from his time in Doors' class has been preserved containing short pieces, sketches and fragments of piano music, songs and chamber music as well as unfinished cadenzas for Beethoven's G major piano concerto and a short sketch for his own piano concerto.

Towards the end of his studies, Zemlinsky got some opportunities for appearances as a soloist for the first time. In 1889 he played the solo part in a piano concerto by Robert Fuchs at the Conservatory Concert, a year later he won the gold medal and a grand piano from the Bösendorfer company at the Conservatory's annual piano competition with the Handel Variations by Brahms . Despite these successes, Zemlinsky did not aim for a solo career or wrote concerts of his own, rather he was a sought-after pianist and companion of the wealthy Viennese. After his pianist diploma in 1890, Zemlinsky stayed for two more years as a composer student at the Conservatory, where he received lessons from Johann Nepomuk Fuchs . In 1891 he composed his first work, Ländliche Tanzen op. 1, which was published by the music publisher Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig . However, Zemlinsky was very dissatisfied with the publication, as he probably feared being considered a composer of easier works. So it was five years before he turned to a publisher again. His thesis, a symphony in D minor [No. 2], was performed at the Conservatory in 1892. The criticism was consistently positive about the work.

First successes

In 1892 Zemlinsky was drafted by the military authorities for the first time, but in 1894 he was finally classified as unfit for military service due to his size (159 cm) and stature. In addition, contemporaries described him as very unattractive, which cartoonists later took as a reason for ridicule. Still, he had many affairs. During his studies, however, Zemlinsky made numerous friendships, including with the conductor Artur Bodanzky , the musicologist Hugo Botstiber , the cellist Friedrich Buxbaum and the music critic Richard Heuberger . Zemlinsky's entry into the Viennese Tonkünstlerverein founded by Anton Door in 1884 also opened many doors for Zemlinsky. In 1895 Zemlinsky initiated the "Musical Association Polyhymnia", which coordinated various amateur groups in Leopoldstadt, but only existed until March 1896. It was here that Zemlinsky probably met Arnold Schönberg , whom he gave lessons and introduced to the Viennese musical circles. A lifelong friendship developed from this. Zemlinsky won the Luitpold Prize in 1896 with his opera Sarema , which was written between 1893 and 1895 . Sarema was subsequently premiered at the Munich Court Opera in the 1897/98 season and was enthusiastically received. Nevertheless, the opera was only performed in Leipzig in 1899 and then disappeared for almost a century in the archives of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek . Other important compositions included the four ballads for piano (1893/94), a suite for orchestra and the symphony in B flat major composed in 1897 [No. 3], with which he won the Tonkünstlerverein 's Beethoven Prize . As early as 1896 Zemlinsky wrote his spring funeral in memory of Brahms , and from 1897 to 1899 he wrote the opera Once Upon a Time ... , which Gustav Mahler premiered. The premiere on January 22, 1900 at the Vienna Court Opera was a complete success.

As a result of Lueger anti-Semitism and the Dreyfus affair , the climate against Jews in Vienna worsened. In this climate, Zemlinsky, who was neither interested in politics nor in religion, left the Israelite religious community in 1899 . His sister Mathilde took this step in 1901 and in that year also married the friend and student of her brother, Arnold Schönberg. At the turn of the century, Zemlinsky became a Freemason . Around 1906 he converted to Protestantism. He also changed the spelling of his name by leaving out the pseudo-Hungarian z and using his presumably illegitimate nobility predicate “von” only when performing as a conductor. He also moved his official date of birth from October 14, 1871 to October 4, 1872. By 1900 at the latest, Zemlinsky's style had also found its unmistakable character. He strove to “push his music to the extreme limits of tonal harmony. The key is no longer an absolute value and is gradually being replaced by timbre , formal cohesion, freed from any system of tonal relationships, is increasingly dependent on the short motif cell. ”Zemlinsky preferred the key of D minor .

Alma Schindler

Alma Schindler, around 1900

In 1900 Zemlinsky met the young Alma Schindler at the world premiere of his cantata Spring Funeral in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein and became her music teacher. Under his guidance, she composed a number of songs. Little by little, this relationship developed into a love affair. Zemlinsky dedicated the Five Chants op. 7, composed in 1899, to his lover . Alma Schindler admired Zemlinsky's music and intelligence and was fascinated by his erotic charisma, although she did not find the short Zemlinsky attractive. She wrote in her diary: “A carricatur - chinless, small, with bulging eyes and too crazy conducting.” Zemlinsky loved Alma idolatrously (“I want you - with every atom of my feeling!”), But rejected her superficial social life and told her: “Either you compose or you go to societies - one of the two. But rather choose what is closer to you - go into company. ”Alma allowed Zemlinsky every intimacy down to the last and thereby almost drowned him. He was expecting a woman who would withdraw from the public with him and for him, which was out of the question for Alma. Ultimately, however, Alma decided against Zemlinsky and in 1902 married the court opera director Gustav Mahler, who was 19 years his senior . The relationship with Alma Schindler became the source of inspiration for Zemlinsky's opera “Der Zwerg” (based on Oskar Wilde, premiered in 1922). Zemlinsky mourned his liaison with Alma for a long time and only got engaged to Ida Guttmann in 1905, whom he married on June 21, 1907. On May 8, 1908, daughter Johanna Maria was born.

Start of career as a conductor and music director

In 1900, Zemlinsky's father Adolf died . In memory of him, the son set the 83rd Psalm to music for 4 solos, choir and large orchestra. However, the work was not premiered until 1987. Since Zemlinsky's father had not provided for the maintenance of his family, his son now had to take on this task. Since his modest income from teaching, accompanying and creating arrangements was not enough for this, he accepted the offer to become chief conductor at the Carltheater . For Zemlinsky, the engagement was a tiresome task that kept him from composing, but through which he received a regular income. After his application in Breslau was rejected in 1901, Zemlinsky extended his contract at the Carltheater and in the same year began to set the ballet The Triumph of the Time by Hugo von Hofmannsthal . However, since Mahler did not like the result, only parts of the work were put into circulation. For example, Zemlinsky performed three pieces from Acts 2 and 3 in 1903 as three ballet pieces . The second act, revised by Zemlinsky in 1904 as Ein Tanzpoem , was only brought to the stage in the 1990s. From 1902 to 1903 Zemlinsky worked on the fantasy for orchestra The Mermaid, based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen . In 1903 the composer was finally able to give up his position as a conductor at the Carltheater and switched to the Theater an der Wien in September . In September 1904, Zemlinsky was hired as music director by Rainer Simons , the new director of the Kaiser-Jubiläums-Stadttheater , the later Volksoper . Zemlinsky was soon able to raise the level of the inexperienced ensemble. During his time at the Volksoper, Zemlinsky worked on the operas Der Traumgörge , which contains some allusions to Alma Mahler-Werfel , and clothes make the man . In search of material improvements, Zemlinsky finally started negotiations with the Dresden Court Opera . When Mahler offered him a permanent engagement at the Court Opera in Vienna, Zemlinsky moved there in 1907. After Mahler had been replaced by Felix Weingartner (from January 1908), the premiere of Traumgörge was canceled. Since Weingartner did not want to entrust any further repertoire performances to Zemlinsky either, Zemlinsky's contract ended in February 1908, and Zemlinsky returned to the Volksoper, but no longer as music director, but as first conductor. Zemlinsky subsequently applied for the position of first Kapellmeister in Mannheim , but in 1910 he was only likely to have worked there in phases. On April 29, 1910, Zemlinsky finally said goodbye to the Vienna Volksoper with the performance of Tannhäuser . After a brief engagement at the operetta festival of Max Reinhardt's Munich Art Theater in the summer of 1911, Zemlinsky followed the call of the New German Theater (today: Státní opera Praha ) in Prague that same year , which hired him as music director from September.

Zemlinsky as music director in Prague

The New German Theater was financed almost exclusively from private donations from the German-speaking part of the population. Czech opera-goers were hardly to be found here. Zemlinsky's first performances of Fidelio , Tannhäuser and Der Freischütz were a complete success. Zemlinsky himself received positive reviews, especially for his way of stepping back behind the work. As a result, he expanded the repertoire more and more, but hardly got into composing himself. Instead, his opera Es war once ... was performed as the first novelty of the season in the 1912/13 season, but the premiere of his opera Der Traumgörge 1914/15 had to be canceled because of the outbreak of war. Despite the success with the critics, Zemlinsky and the opera director of the New German Theater, Heinrich Teweles , were not satisfied with the quality of the performances and in 1912 dismissed numerous artists and technicians. Due to the heavy workload, Zemlinsky had hardly gotten to composing since the summer of 1910. It was not until 1913 that he found time again and began with his 2nd string quartet, which he dedicated to Schönberg, but was only able to finish in 1915. There was also incidental music for William Shakespeare's Cymbeline . He then immediately devoted himself to work on his one-act opera A Florentine Tragedy based on the drama by Oscar Wilde in the German translation by Max Meyerfeld , the short score being completed in just nine weeks. However, the outbreak of war led to major problems at the New German Theater. Numerous ensemble members were called up for military service, others were dismissed due to the budgetary situation. Zemlinsky himself tried to get the position of music director in Mannheim and Frankfurt am Main during the war , but failed, also because of his salary expectations.

After the end of the First World War , Zemlinsky tried to return to Vienna, but could not find a suitable position. He stayed at the New German Theater, which had been confiscated by the Czechoslovak state, but now also received state funding. In 1920 the German minority in Prague founded the German Academy for Music and Performing Arts in Prague and appointed Zemlinsky as rector, who also taught composition and conducting. In the post-war years from 1919 to 1921, Zemlinsky worked in Prague on a second one-act opera based on a subject by Oscar Wilde ( The Birthday of the Infanta ). The dwarf was premiered in Cologne in 1922 under the direction of Otto Klemperer , but no longer corresponded to the zeitgeist and had only moderate success. In 1922/23 Zemlinsky composed the Lyric Symphony in seven songs for soprano, baritone and orchestra . The inspiration for this composition were poems by Rabindranath Tagore , who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. Tagore completed a European tour in 1921, which had also taken him to Prague. Zemlinsky's “Lyric Symphony” is a reflection on his unhappy love for Alma Mahler . Zemlinsky was inspired by Gustav Mahler's “ Das Lied von der Erde ” and refused to have his work premiered together with Mahler's unfinished 10th Symphony, which was Mahler's reaction to Alma's affair with the architect Walter Gropius . The death of his sister Mathilde in 1923 prompted Zemlinsky to compose his 3rd string quartet in 1924. After its world premiere in October of the same year in Prague, the string quartet was also included in the program for the IGNM festival in Siena in 1928. This performance ultimately also fostered Zemlinsky's international recognition. In the mid-1920s, Zemlinsky had earned a reputation as an excellent conductor beyond his place of work in Prague. In addition to sporadic concerts in Vienna, in 1924 he also accepted an invitation to two concerts in Rome, and in 1926 he conducted the Orquestra Pau Casals in Barcelona . In Prague, however, the reputation of the New German Theater waned. Due to budgetary fears, the new opera director Leopold Kramer relied on operettas and cheap revues. The increasing criticism of the New German Theater finally led to Kramer and Zemlinky's resignation in December 1926. After composing his string quartet in 1924, lean years followed due to a lack of inspiration. Zemlinsky gave up work on the opera Der Heilige Vitalis , which began in 1926, in 1927. The composition for a string quartet, begun in 1927, also remained unfinished. It was not until 1994 that the two movements for string quartet that had been preserved were published and performed.

Change to Berlin

In mid-1927 Zemlinsky switched to the Berlin Kroll Opera . At that time it was set up as a center for experimental music theater, but could only play modern music to a limited extent for budgetary reasons. However, Zemlinsky was only hired as the first conductor and had to work under his younger colleague Otto Klemperer. His work found respect and recognition in Berlin. Zemlinsky was not honored here as in Prague. As the first Kapellmeister of a state-subsidized theater, however, Zemlinsky earned considerably more than during his time as music director in Prague. His work on the Kroll Opera also gave him considerably more time. He had only three premieres per season and no other repertoire commitments. This gave him time for numerous guest appearances as a conductor, which took him to Barcelona, ​​Brno, Paris, Rome, Warsaw, Leningrad and other cities. Zemlinsky also often worked with the Czech Philharmonic . After the death of his wife Ida in 1929, Zemlinsky composed the Symphonic Chants op. 20 and in 1930 married his lover Louise Sachsel. As a wedding present, Zemlinsky composed a new opera in 1930–32, Der Kreidekreis, based on the play by Klabund . As a result of the global economic crisis , the Kroll Opera had to close its doors in 1931. Zemlinsky took the opportunity and devoted himself to composing his new opera and made guest appearances in Leningrad and Prague. Returned to Berlin, Zemlinsky began rehearsals for the opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Kurt Weill . The production, rejected by right-wing circles and highly controversial, became a commercial success. The following political changes and the seizure of power by the National Socialists, however, poisoned the climate for Jewish artists. Zemlinsky left Berlin in the spring of 1933 and moved to Vienna.

Return to Vienna

Music Mile Vienna

After Zemlinsky returned to Vienna, he took a position as music director of the Vienna Concert Orchestra . His most urgent task, however, was overseeing the rehearsals for the world premiere of his opera Der Kreidekreis in Zurich . The world premiere, which took place on October 14, 1933, did not bring the great success hoped for, but was well received by the critics. The opera was created between 1930 and 1931 on the basis of the drama Der Kreidekreis von Klabund .

If the originally scheduled premiere in German cities was canceled due to the political upheaval, contractual obligations for theatrical performances that had been concluded before 1933 could be fulfilled in a phase of consolidation of the Nazi regime. In 1934 the chalk circle could be listed in several German cities. The opera was performed 21 times in Berlin, a success that Zemlinsky had not seen for several decades. In 1934 the Zemlinskys moved into their own house for the first time. The property at Kaasgrabengasse 24 in the XIX district ( Döbling / Grinzing ) was registered in the name of his wife Louise, who also supervised the construction work. The house was designed by Walter Loos . Other artists such as Egon Wellesz , Hugo Botstiber and Hans Gál lived in the immediate vicinity . Zemlinsky used the time in Vienna to compose, and he also made guest appearances as a conductor, often with the Czech Philharmonic. In January 1934 he composed the Six Songs, Op. 22, after which he began work on the Sinfonietta, Op. 23. This orchestral work was Zemlinsky's only major work that he wrote during his five-year stay in Vienna and that was performed during his lifetime . After its premiere in Prague in 1935, the Sinfonietta was also played in Vienna, Paris, Barcelona and Lausanne. Also in 1935 Zemlinsky set the 13th Psalm to music for choir and orchestra, and he also began work on his new opera The King Kandaules . After the death of his friend Alban Berg on Christmas Eve 1935, Zemlinsky composed his 4th string quartet in his memory.

Zemlinsky's path into exile

After the "Anschluss" of Austria on 11/12. In March 1938, Zemlinsky's wife Louise decided to go to the American embassy the next day to get a visa. Her husband decided to leave the country after a day to think about it. However, Zemlinsky was a broken man because of the events. For weeks he did nothing at all; In mid-April he began to have his parentage certified. Before he could submit his Aryan certificate, however, he had to get his father's marriage certificate and his own birth certificate. However, these were kept in the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde and now in the hands of the Gestapo . Zemlinsky now recognized his dilemma: he had no choice but to leave the country. On May 7, he applied for an entry permit to Prague, which was issued on June 9. However, it was difficult to leave the country because all passports and ID cards had to be renewed after the connection. In addition, the authorities demanded a flight tax of 30% on the movable property. After paying RM 27,612 , the Zemlinskys were issued new passports. The Grinzinger property fell to the state (in 1958, after several years of legal back and forth, Zemlinsky's wife sold it for the small sum of $ 5,000 ). On September 15, Zemlinsky left the country with his wife. After a long wait, the two received the US visas they had applied for in November. On December 23, 1938, they reached New York by ship; two boxes of household items followed on January 25, 1939.

Living in the United States

Grave of Alexander Zemlinsky in the Vienna Central Cemetery, group 33 G, number 71 (Dec. 2014)

After their furniture arrived, the Zemlinskys moved to an apartment at 46 West 83rd Street. Due to the circumstances of the escape and the experiences of the past few months, the composer's health was badly affected and he was unable to teach or conduct. So composing was the only source of income for him. He started a new opera, Circe . After Zemlinsky had already started the second act in April, he suffered a serious nervous disease that caused him severe pain. The events and what he experienced in Vienna had triggered a nervous breakdown in the musician . The serious illness made the family's precarious financial situation even worse. In order to earn at least some money, Zemlinsky was persuaded to write popular songs, of which Three Songs (based on texts by Irma Stein-Firner) were published in 1939. Although the Three Songs should be published under the pseudonym "Al Roberts", they appeared under Zemlinsky's name. The composer also wrote a hunting piece and a humoresque ( Rondo ) for wind quintet for the publisher Hans Heinsheimer , who wanted to put together a repertoire for schools. After completing the humoresque in early July, Zemlinsky suffered a severe stroke ; he had previously suffered from high blood pressure and arteriosclerosis . The result was left-sided paralysis, and in December he suffered another minor stroke. The original plan to move to California failed because of the health of Zemlinsky and his brother-in-law, who had since arrived. Instead, he, his wife and her brother moved to New Rochelle , 30 kilometers away , until the country house in neighboring Larchmont was completed. However, Zemlinsky's health deteriorated more and more, so that the composer became a nursing case. Shortly after moving to the new house, Zemlinsky developed hypostatic pneumonia . Zemlinsky died on March 15, 1942, his ashes were transferred to a grave of honor in the Vienna Central Cemetery (Group 33 G, number 71) in 1985 .

Street sign of Zemlinskygasse in Vienna

In 1957 the Zemlinskygasse in Vienna- Liesing was named after him.

Private life

In 1914 or 1915 Zemlinsky met Luise (from 1926: Louise) Sachsel (1900–1992). She took singing lessons from him and entered the Prague Art Academy in 1918. Around 1920 the relationship between Zemlinsky and Luise deepened. In 1921, however, she was accepted at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts. Only in 1924 did she return to the New German Theater in Prague. In 1926 she moved to the Volksoper. Luise's career soon ended, however, and she would later keep declaring that she had given up her career because of her husband. Luise von Zemlinsky had also become pregnant when he was still married to his wife Ida. To avoid scandal, he insisted on an abortion. Because of his wife's poor health and his daughter's compulsory schooling, Zemlinsky refrained from divorce. After Ida's death from leukemia in January 1929 , Zemlinsky married his lover Louise on January 4, 1930 in Berlin. A little later his daughter moved to Vienna to become a tailor. Louise von Zemlinsky was also very talented in painting and left numerous paintings, watercolors and drawings. After the death of her husband, she made a living as a social worker and gave drawing lessons for laypeople. After Zemlinsky's works were rediscovered, performed a lot and thus earned royalties, she set up a foundation for musicians in need. She died in New York on October 19, 1992.

Works

Orchestral works

  • Symphony in E minor [No. 1] (1891) [fragment]
  • Symphony in D minor [No. 2] (1892/92; UA Vienna 1893)
  • Suite for orchestra: Legende , Reigen , Humoreske (ca.1895; premiered Vienna 1885)
  • Comedy overture (to Warteneggs The ring of Ofterdingen ) (1894/95)
  • Symphony in B flat major [No. 3] (1897; UA Vienna 1899)
  • Three ballet pieces (suite from the ballet Der Triumph der Zeit ) (1902; premiered Vienna 1903)
  • The mermaid . Fantasy for orchestra (1902/03; WP Vienna 1905)
  • Lyric symphony in seven songs for soprano, baritone and orchestra based on poems by Rabindranath Tagore op.18 (1922/23; premiered Prague 1924)
  • Sinfonietta op.23 (1934; premiere Prague 1935)

Operas
1. Original Viennese version: comic opera in one prelude and three acts (1907-09; Kl.-A. 1910)
2nd revised Viennese version: musical comedy in one prelude and three acts (revision: 1910; Kl.-A. 1910 [ sic ]; premier Vienna Volksoper 1910)
3. Prague version: musical comedy in one prelude and two acts (revision: 1922; premier Prague 1922)

Other stage works

  • A ray of light . Mimodrama with piano, text by Oskar Geller (1901, rev. 1902)
  • A dance poem . A dance poem in one act by Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1901-04; UA Zurich 1992) [final version of the unfinished ballet Der Triumph der Zeit (1901)]
  • Incidental music for Shakespeare's Cymbeline for tenor, speaker and large orchestra (1913–15)

Choral works

  • Minnelied ( Heinrich Heine ) for male choir, two flutes, two horns and harp (approx. 1895)
  • Wedding song (“Baruch aba”; “Mi adir”). Motet for cantor , mixed choir and organ (1896)
  • Spring funeral ( Paul Heyse ) for soprano, baritone, choir and orchestra (1896/97, rev. Ca.1903; premiere original version: Vienna 1900, rev.version: Cologne 1997)
  • Spring Faith ( Ludwig Uhland ) for mixed choir and string orchestra (1896; WP Cologne 1988)
  • Secret (poet unknown) for mixed choir and string orchestra (1896, orchestrated by Antony Beaumont; premiered Vienna 1995)
  • The 83rd Psalm, for soloists, choir and orchestra (1900; WP Vienna 1987)
  • The 23rd Psalm op.14, for choir and orchestra (1910; premier Vienna 1910)
  • Aurikelchen ( Richard Dehmel ) for women's choir (approx. 1920)
  • The 13th Psalm op.24, for choir and orchestra (1935; premiered Vienna 1971)

Orchestral songs

  • Forest Talk ( Joseph von Eichendorff ) for soprano, two horns, harp and strings (1896; premiered Vienna 1896)
  • Two chants for a male voice and orchestra (1900/01, orchestrated by Antony Beaumont; WP Cologne 1999)
  • May flowers bloomed everywhere ( Richard Dehmel ) for soprano and string sextet (ca.1902/03)
  • Six chants based on poems by Maurice Maeterlinck op. 13 (comp. 1913, instr. 1913/21; premier no. 1–3 and 5: Vienna 1913, no. 4 and 6: Prague 1921)
  • Symphonic chants for a baritone or alto part and orchestra, Op. 20. Sings texts from Africa. A selection of new Afro-American poetry (1929; premiered in Brno 1935)
  • see also orchestral works: Lyric Symphony op.18

Songs with piano accompaniment

  • Songs from the estate
  • Songs op. 2 (1895/96)
  • Gesänge op.5 (1896/97)
  • Waltz chants based on Tuscan songs by Ferdinand Gregorovius op.6 (1898)
  • Irmelin Rose and other songs op.7 (1898/99)
  • Tower Guardian Song and Other Chants op.8 (1898/99)
  • Marriage Dance Song and Other Chants Op. 10 (1899–1901)
  • Six chants based on poems by Maurice Maeterlinck op.13 (1913)
  • Six songs op. 22 (1934; premier Prague 1934)
  • Twelve songs op.27 (1937)
  • Three Songs (under the pseudonym Al Roberts) ( Irma Stein-Firner ) (1939; WP Hamburg 1996)

Chamber music

  • Three pieces for cello and piano (1891; WP Vienna 2006)
  • String quintet o.O. for 2 violins, 2 violas and violoncello in D minor (1895)
  • String Quartet in E minor (1893; WP Berlin 1998)
  • Sonata in A minor for violoncello and piano (1894; WP Vienna 1894)
  • Two movements for string quintet in D minor (1894, 1896)
  • Serenade (Suite) in A major for violin and piano (1895; WP Vienna 1896)
  • Trio in D minor op.3 for clarinet (or violin), violoncello and piano (1896; premiered Vienna 1896)
  • String Quartet No. 1 in A major op.4 (1896; WP Vienna 1896)
  • String Quartet No. 2 op.15 (1913–15; WP Vienna 1918)
  • String Quartet No. 3 op.19 (1924; premiere Leipzig 1924)
  • Two movements for string quartet (1927; WP Toblach 1994)
  • String Quartet No. 4 (Suite) op.25 (1936; WP Vienna 1967)
  • Quartet (two fragments) for clarinet, violin, viola and violoncello (1938/39; WP Hamburg 1996)
  • Jagdstück for two horns and piano (1939)
  • Humoresque (Rondo). School piece for wind quintet (1939)

Piano works

  • Rural Dances op. 1 (ca.1891; premier 1892)
  • Four ballads: 1. Archibald Douglas , 2. The King of Thule , 3. The Aquarius , 4. Intermezzo (1892/93)
  • Album sheet ( memories from Vienna ) (1895)
  • Sketch (1896)
  • Fantasies on Poems by Richard Dehmel op.9 (1898)
  • Minuet (from The Glass Heart ) (1901)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Walter Dobner : Mahler, Zemlinsky and Almas various Amouren http://diepresse.com/home/kultur/klassik/688307/Mahler-Zemlinsky-und-Almas-vielfaeltige-Amouren

literature

  • Stefan Schmidl: Zemlinsky, Alexander von. In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 5, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-7001-3067-8 .
  • Antony Beaumont: Zemlinsky. Faber and Faber, London 2000, ISBN 0-571-16983-X (English). The German translation was published by Zsolnay, Vienna, in September 2005, ISBN 3-552-05353-0
  • Alexander Zemlinsky: Correspondence with Arnold Schönberg, Anton Webern, Alban Berg and Franz Schreker , ed. by Horst Weber (= correspondence of the Vienna School, Volume 1). Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1995, ISBN 3-534-12508-8
  • Christoph Becher: The variant technique using the example of Alexander Zemlinsky (=  Wiener Schriften zur Musikgeschichte , Volume 2). Böhlau, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 1999, ISBN 3-205-98931-7
  • Katharina John: Alexander von Zemlinsky and the modern age . Berlin, 2009. ISBN 978-3-89479-574-0
  • Pamela Tancsik: The Prague opera is called Zemlinsky. Theater history of the New German Theater Prague in the Zemlinsky era from 1911–1927 . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne and Weimar 2000, ISBN 3-205-99068-4
  • Horst Weber: Alexander Zemlinsky. A study (= Austrian composers of the 20th century, vol. 23). Elisabeth Lafite / Österreichischer Bundesverlag, Vienna 1977, ISBN 3-85151-060-7
  • Ulrich Wilker: "The most beautiful is hideous". Alexander Zemlinsky's one-act opera The Dwarf . (= Writings of the Arnold Schönberg Science Center, Vol. 9). Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne and Weimar 2013, ISBN 978-3-205-79551-3
  • Uwe Sommer: Alexander Zemlinsky's opera 'Der König Kandaules'. Analysis and interpretation. (= Heinz-Klaus Metzger, Rainer Riehn (Ed.): Music Concepts 92/93/94 ). edition text + kritik, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-88377-546-0
  • Klaus Stübler, Christine Wolf: Harenberg composers lexicon . MAYERS Lexikonverlag, Mannheim 2004, ISBN 3-411-76117-2 , p. 495,497,567,827,1024,1043 .

Theater and film

Web links

Commons : Alexander von Zemlinsky  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Alexander von Zemlinsky  - Sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Zemlinsky, Alexander von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Roberts, Al (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian composer and conductor
DATE OF BIRTH October 14, 1871
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH March 15, 1942
Place of death Larchmont , New York