Erich Wolfgang Korngold

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Undated recording (ca.1912)
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Erich Wolfgang Korngold ( May 29, 1897 in Brno ; November 29, 1957 in Los Angeles ) was an Austro-American composer , conductor and pianist . As a composer he achieved great fame with the opera Die tote Stadt from 1920 and saw himself as a representative of modern classical music . He came to the United States in 1934 to compose film music. In 1938, because of his Jewish origins and National Socialism, he decided to stay with his family in the USA for good. There he received for the filmsA restless life and Robin Hood, King of the Vagabonds - his most famous film score - two Oscars .

Life

Child prodigy Korngold

Erich Wolfgang Korngold was the son of the music critic Julius Korngold , brother of Hans Robert Korngold and nephew of the theater actor and writer Eduard Kornau (actually Eduard Korngold ). His first teacher was Robert Fuchs . He later became a student of Alexander von Zemlinsky and Hermann Graedener .

The young Erich Wolfgang was considered a child prodigy in Vienna. At the age of eleven, he caused a sensation by composing the pantomime ballet Der Schneemann . The original piano work was orchestrated by Alexander von Zemlinsky and premiered in 1910 in the choreography by Carl Godlewski under the direction of Franz Schalk at the Vienna Court Opera. Afterwards Korngold was promoted by the Viennese aristocracy. When he was thirteen he wrote piano sonatas . A drama overture and a sinfonietta followed . His youthful works were often performed by prominent musical personalities of the early 20th century , e. B. Bruno Walter , Artur Schnabel , Arthur Nikisch , Wilhelm Furtwängler , Felix Weingartner and Richard Strauss .

Success with Die tote Stadt

The dead city at the Graz Opera, 2015

Korngold's opera compositions Der Ring des Polykrates and Violanta (both 1916), Die tote Stadt (1920), and Das Wunder der Heliane (1927) had great success in their time and made him - alongside Richard Strauss  - the most performed opera composer in Austria and Germany . His most important success was the opera Die tote Stadt .

In 1924 Korngold married Luise ( Luzi ) Sonnenthal (1900–1962), the granddaughter of Adolf von Sonnenthal , with whom he had two sons. In 1926 he received the Art Prize of the City of Vienna.

Korngold saw himself as a representative of modernism. His G major violin sonata op. 6 was played on March 9, 1919 in Schoenberg's association for private musical performances . However, he never left the tonality. In the 1920s he increasingly adopted the views of his father, who was an outspoken opponent of modern music. In 1931 he composed Four Little Caricatures for Children, Op. 19, in which he caricatured the styles of Arnold Schönberg , Igor Stravinsky's , Béla Bartók and Paul Hindemith's .

Between 1932 and 1937 Korngold set to music the basic material of the novel Die Magd von Aachen ( Zsolnay Verlag , 1931) by Heinrich Eduard Jacob (1889–1967) for the opera Die Kathrin . The libretto or the draft text comes from Ernst Décsey (1870–1941). The premiere took place on October 7, 1939, Jacobs' 50th birthday, in Stockholm. It was not until October 19, 1950 that the opera had its Austrian premiere in Vienna.

Korngold was not only an opera composer, he was also inclined to operetta. He edited the operetta Rosen from Florida from Leo Fall's estate and successfully brought it to the stage. The first performance was on February 22nd, 1929 in the Theater an der Wien . Based on the operetta The lace shawl the Queen of Johann Strauss (son) he created by reworking the instrumentation and Expansion of harmony in the style of the 1920s, the stage work The Song of Love , in 1931 at the Berlin Metropol Theater came out.

Hollywood

1934 was followed by Korngold during the time of Austrofascism the invitation of Max Reinhardt to Hollywood in order for the film A Midsummer Night's Dream ( A Midsummer Night's Dream ), the film music by Mendelssohn's incidental music to arrange. Korngold had already worked with Reinhardt in Europe on the adaptation of the operettas Die Fledermaus and La Belle Hélène . With his work on Midsummer Night's Dream, Korngold set new standards in the still young history of film music : he enlarged the orchestra from dance band strength to symphony orchestra strength. He partially intervened in the direction to adapt the language of the actors to the rhythm of the music. In some cases he wrote dialogues himself. Korngold adapted Mendelssohn's music to Reinhardt's dramaturgy, composed wide passages in Mendelssohn's style, as Mendelssohn's music was far from being sufficient in terms of time, sometimes using motifs from other Mendelssohn's works. The reviews of the film prompted Reinhardt not to make another film. Korngold's music was unanimously praised.

Over the next few years he spent the winters in California as a film composer for the Warner Brothers . For Warner Brothers, Korngold's engagement meant a gain in prestige and he received more freedom than other film composers, so he was largely free to choose his projects and received a generous salary. For the 1936 film Anthony Adverse he received the Oscar the following year , the second in 1938 for The Adventures of Robin Hood . These and his other works were formative for the entire industry, for example he also influenced the music of John Williams for Star Wars . Between 1935 and 1946 he wrote the music for 19 films, especially for adventure flicks such as The Lord of the Seven Seas (1940) and The Sea Wolf (1941).

At the time of connection of Austria to Nazi Germany Korngold was in Hollywood with the work of Robin Hood busy. His contacts with Warner Brothers enabled him to bring his family and parents to the United States.

In 1946 he largely stopped working on film scores and turned back to classical orchestral music. The Cello Concerto op. 37 was written in 1946 and the Violin Concerto in D major in 1947 . Between 1949 and 1951 he stayed in Austria, where he was received positively by the public but not by the music critics. During this time, the Symphonic Serenade in B flat major, op. 39 , was premiered by the Vienna Philharmonic under Wilhelm Furtwängler, as well as the Silent Serenade, op. 36, both in Vienna. During a second trip to Europe in 1954/55, his only symphony in F sharp major op. 40 was premiered in October 1954 by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra as part of a radio concert after the Society of Friends of Music had refused to perform.

The attempt to return to absolute music after 1946 was largely unsuccessful. His late work was accompanied by the contemporary reception in the USA and Europe with strong criticism and frequent disregard. As a result, Korngold's music was increasingly forgotten. He died on November 29, 1957 after a heart attack and was buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. His wife Luzi followed him in 1962. The simple grave slab adorns the note quotation Glück, which remained to me from his famous opera Die tote Stadt .

After his works were reissued in the USA in 1972, Korngold's compositions experienced an international renaissance.

plant

Korngold's works include film scores, piano works, songs, operas, as well as orchestral and chamber music.

Piano works

  • 1908: Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor
  • 1910: Piano Sonata No. 2 in E major, Op. 2
  • 1931: Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major op.25
  • 1926: Four little caricatures for children, op.19
  • 1927: Stories by Strauss op.21

Chamber music

  • 1909–1910: Piano Trio in D major, Op. 1
  • 1912–1913: Violin Sonata in G major op. 6
  • 1914–1916: String sextet in D major op.10 . First performance on May 2, 1917 in Vienna by the Rosé Quartet and Franz Jellinek (viola) and Franz Klein (cello).
  • 1920–1923: Piano Quintet in E major, Op. 15 . First performance on February 3, 1923 in Hamburg by the Bandler Quartet and Erich Wolfgang Korngold (piano).
  • 1921–1922: String Quartet No. 1 in A major op. 16 . Dedicated to the Rosé Quartet . First performance on January 8, 1924 in Vienna by the Rosé Quartet.
  • 1930: Suite for 2 violins, cello and piano for the left hand alone op.23 . First performance on October 21, 1930 in Vienna by Paul Wittgenstein (piano) and the Rosé Quartet .
  • 1933: String Quartet No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 26 . First performance on March 16, 1934 in Vienna by the Rosé Quartet.
  • 1945: String quartet No. 3 in D major op.34 . Dedicated to Bruno Walter .

Songs (selection)

  • Six simple songs for voice and piano op. 9 (1911–1916)
    Snowdrop , Night Walker , Serenade , Love Letter , The Hero's Grave on the Prut , Summer .
    Dedicated to Luise von Fraenkel-Ehrenstein. Based on poems by Joseph von Eichendorff , Elisabeth Honold, Siegfried Trebitsch and Heinrich Kipper.
  • Songs of Farewell, Op. 14 (1921)
    Sterbelied , this one can hold my longing never , Moon, so you go again , Combined farewell .
    Based on poems by Christina Rossetti - Alfred Kerr , Edith Ronsperger and Ernst Lothar . First performance on November 5, 1921 in Hamburg by Maria Olszewska and the composer.
  • Three songs based on poems by Hans Kaltneker , op. 18 (1924)
    Into my intimate night ,     do away with pain , temptation .
    First performance on March 11, 1926 in Vienna by Rosette Anday and the composer.
  • Three songs for voice and piano, Op. 22 (1928-1929)
    What you are to me ... , let alone with you ... , the world is still asleep ...
    Based on poems by Eleonore van der Straten and Karl cobalt. First performance on December 9, 1928 in Vienna by Margit Angerer and the composer.
  • Immortality, Liederkreis op. 27 (1933)
    Immortality , The hurrying brook , The sleeping child , stronger than death , immortality .
    Based on poems by Eleonore van der Straten . First performance on October 27, 1937 by Dési Halban .
  • Songs of the Clown op.29 (1937)
    Come Away, Death , O Mistress Mine , Adieu, Good Man Devil , Hey, Robin , For the Rain, It Raineth Every Day .
    Based on William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night or What You Will". First performance on June 28, 1941 in Los Angeles by Nanette Fabray and the composer.
  • Four Shakespeare Songs op. 31 (1937–1941)
    Desdemona's Song , Under the Greenwood Tree , Blow, Blow, Thou Winter wind , When Birds Do Sing .
    Based on William Shakespeare's “Othello” and “As You Like It”. First performance on June 28, 1941 in Los Angeles by Nanette Fabray and the composer.
  • Five songs for medium voice and piano op. 38 (1948)
    Congratulations , The Sick , Old Spanish , Old English , No Sunshine in the Eye . Dedicated to
    Maria Jeritza . Based on poems by Richard Dehmel , Joseph von Eichendorff , Howard Koch and William Shakespeare . First performance on February 19, 1950 in Vienna by Rosette Anday and the composer.
  • Sonett für Wien (In memoriam) for mezzo-soprano and piano op. 41 (1953)
    Dedicated to Gretel Kralik. Based on a poem by Hans Kaltneker . Originally the opening credits for the film "Escape Me Never" (1947).
  • During his lifetime, unreleased songs:
    Evening landscape , remembrance , views , The Girl , The Messenger of Peace , The Genius , The sparrows , Reiselied , Sangesmut , Vesper , from the mountain , forest solitude , winter night .
    Based on poems by Joseph von Eichendorff .

Choral works

  • Passover Psalm op. 30 (1941)

Orchestral works

  • 1911: Drama Overture op.4
  • 1911–1912: Symphonic overture “Sursum corda” op. 13
  • 1912: Sinfonietta in B flat major op.5
  • 1924: Piano concerto for left hand alone in C sharp major op.17
  • 1928: Baby Serenade op.24
  • 1945: Violin Concerto in D major op.35
  • 1946: Concerto for cello and orchestra in C op.37 in one movement
  • 1946–1947: Symphonic Serenade for String Orchestra in B flat major op. 39
  • 1952: Symphony in F sharp op.40 (premier 1954)
  • 1953: Theme and Variations op.42
  • 1953: Straussiana

Stage works

Film music

Awards for his film scores

Erich Wolfgang Korngold Prize

Since 1995, the Deutsche Kinemathek Foundation, together with the German Music Council, the German Phono Academy and the Film Foundation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, has awarded this award for an “artistic life's work”.

Award winners

literature

Radio documentation

Documentary film

  • A Viennese in Hollywood. The adventures of the composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold (original title: Between Two Worlds: Erich Wolfgang Korngold ). American TV documentary by Peter P. Pachl (book), Karl Erhard Thumm (book) and Barrie Gavin (director) from 2001, 90 minutes

Web links

Commons : Erich Wolfgang Korngold  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on the work at Klassika .
  2. ↑ World premiere of the ballet Der Schneemann unter Schalk .
  3. ↑ a b Anonymous: Erich Wolfgang Korngold . Chronology. Austrian Music Magazine, No. 7, 2007, pp. 26–27. ISSN  0029-9316
  4. ↑ Arne Stollberg: In the smoke. Erich Wolfgang Korngold and the music war of the 20th century . Austrian music magazine, No. 7, 2007, pp. 5–14. ISSN  0029-9316
  5. ↑ Stefan Frey: Leo Fall. Mocking rebel of the operetta . Edition Steinbauer, Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-902494-45-0 .
  6. ↑ a b c Brendan G. Carroll: Film music as an art form. Korngold's music for “A Midsummer Night's Dream” . Austrian Music Magazine, No. 7, 2007, pp. 15–25. ISSN  0029-9316
  7. ↑ a b Erich Wolfgang Korngold | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos | AllMovie. Retrieved November 29, 2017 .
  8. ^ A b Leopold Schmidt :  Erich Korngold's operas. The world premiere in Munich. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt (No. 18552/1916), April 15, 1916, p. 1 ff. (Online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp
  9. ↑ Das neue Operettenbuch III, Mainz, p. 40
personal data
SURNAME Korngold, Erich Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austro-American composer, conductor and pianist
DATE OF BIRTH May 29, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Brno , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH November 29, 1957
Place of death los Angeles