Otto Jokl

Otto Jokl (born January 18, 1891 in Vienna , † November 13, 1963 in New York City ) was an Austrian composer , music theorist and music teacher , music director , publisher at Universal Edition and Associated Music Publishers (AMP) and a student of Alban Berg .

Life

Otto Jokl was born on January 18, 1891, the son of Anton and Mathilda Jokl, née Mandeltort, in the St. Ulrich district of Vienna . His siblings were Georg Jokl (born July 31, 1896 in Vienna , † November 13, 1954 in New York City ), also a composer, and Grete Jokl, whose existence only emerges from a dedication in a composition. He received his musical education at the Vienna Conservatory (today: University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna ) with Hermann Grädener , where he received his doctorate in 1918, and continued his studies from 1926 to 1930 with the composer Alban Berg . Then Jokl worked as a music teacher and piano teacher in his hometown . With an orchestral suite he won the Emil Hertzka Prize in Vienna. At this time, Jokl developed into one of Berg's most important assistants. During this time he also composed his most important works, such as the Serene Suite, Op. 24, the Sonatina for Violin and Piano, Op. 11, the Piano Sonatina, Op. 21, his 1st String Quartet, Op. 25 and the 2nd String Quartet, Op. 28, the orchestral suite op. 26 and the Yugoslavian Folk Melodies . Jokl also worked as Kapellmeister in Vienna and at the Kroll Opera in Berlin .

A further development of the highly gifted talent then prevented the complete isolation of German musical life since the National Socialists came to power from everything that had to do with the Schönberg circle. The annexation of Austria to the German Reich ultimately condemned the composer to silence, especially since he was also of Jewish descent. On June 14, 1939, Jokl converted to Catholicism , his godfather was Anton von Webern .

In February 1940 Jokl and his wife Ilona emigrated to New York in order to escape the Nazis for good. In 1945 he received full American citizenship . With his 2nd String Quartet, Op. 28, he made his first appearance in the USA on December 4, 1948 under the pseudonym Anthony Garden. Over the years (even in Europe) Jokl also worked for music publishers . He worked at Schott , Doblinger, Universal Edition (UE), Associated Music Publishers (AMP) (today: G. Schirmer / AMP) and at the Coleman-Ross Company. At AMP in New York, he took the position of editor.

Jokl was friends with the composer Richard Mohaupt , who had also fled Germany to New York in 1939. Mohaupt dedicated his symphony No. 1 "Rhythmus und Variationen", published by AMP, to him: The work with the dedication "To my dear friend Otto Jokl" was published on March 5, 1942 by the New York Philharmonic under Eugène Aynsley Goossens in Carnegie Hall New York premiered.

Jokl died in New York in 1963.

Pseudonyms

Jokl wrote some works mainly after his emigration under the following pseudonyms :

• Anthony Garden
• Jack Mason
• Lionel Jones
• Gabriel Johnston
• James Kelliot

Compositional style

Jokl's personal style is strongly influenced by his teacher and mentor Alban Berg and the Second Vienna School . Many reviews emphasize his contrapuntal skills and the parodic-ironic element that characterizes his well-crafted music. Jokl has his strengths especially in the field of melody, which lead his clearly structured works, which are filled with a fine sense of sound and inventiveness. In addition to compositions with dodecaphonic textures, which prove Schoenberg's origins, his oeuvre also shows expressionist features and echoes of Johannes Brahms . Critics complained that Jokl's compositions lacked depth and wit and that his compositions seemed strange and banal due to the radical implementation of the twelve-tone technique.

Competitions

In 1931 Jokl took part in the music festival of the International Society for New Music (IGNM) in Oxford. Rita Kurzmann-Leuchter , pianist and secretary of the IGNM, who was responsible for the performance of the Austrian compositions at the 9th IGNM Music Festival in 1931, presented his sonatina for piano op.21, with which Jokl initially achieved little success as a composer:

" Thereupon Rita Kurzmann, a Viennese pianist, played us a Sonatina by Otto Jokl, which sounded conscientious to a fault. I couldn't help feeling that the polyphonic interest demanded a contrast in timbre, and that the work would have been more effective as a trio. "

- Edwin Evans (1874–1945) : An entire festival review of the performance in the Musical Times

“ A piano Sonatina by Otto Jokl (Austria), well played by Rita Kurzmann, was terribly earnest and graceless, good to study, perhaps, but unflattering to the ear. "

- Eric Blom (1888–1959) : Report on the music festival

He was awarded the Emil Hertzka Prize twice: in 1933 for his 1st string quartet op. 25 and in 1934 for the orchestral suite op. 26. The jury members included Alban Berg , Anton von Webern and Ernst Krenek . In a résumé written by hand for an application, Jokl also mentions a chamber music prize that he won in 1948 under the pseudonym Anthony Garden for his 2nd string quartet op. 28.

Other artistic activities

Otto Jokl also turned to other artistic fields. In the estate there are a number of drawings and watercolors by Jokl, which, in addition to self-portraits, show sparse cityscapes and still lifes. In addition, Jokl worked intensively as a writer. The poems, radio ketches, fairy tales and stories contained in the estate date exclusively from the time before his emigration. In quantitative terms, the largest share is taken up by the poetry collections, which are entitled, for example, with natural songs , first-person songs or love songs .

Work overview

Vocal works

Singing with orchestra or chamber ensemble

• Evening op.1a. Baritone, choir and small orchestra
• Apart from op. 17. 6 songs (texts: Baudisch, Dauthendey , Fleischer, Holz, Illner). Singing, clarinet, bassoon, viola, cello, double bass
• Choirs op. 18. Mixed choir or male choir with flute, 2 trumpets, 2 horns and percussion
• One forsaken op. 20 / 1. Male choir with chamber ensemble
• One night. Dramatic fantasy. 3 voices, 2 violins, violoncello and piano
• Neurotic songs (text: G. Hartwig). Medium voices and small orchestra
• The dying of Jesus. Soloists, choir and orchestra
• We think we live right for a long time. Male choir with brass accompaniment

A cappella and choir with piano accompaniment

• It calls. Solo soprano and female choir
• The homeless (text: Theodor Fontane ). mixed choir
• Song of the voices within us. mixed choir
• Love, life and after. Cantata for female choir with orchestra
• Prayer (text: Buscho-Klabund). mixed choir
• Psalm. Mixed choir with piano
• Round dance. Women's choir with piano
• The reply. mixed choir
• So take my hands (text: Julie Hausmann ). mixed choir
• To wisdom. 3 movements for mixed choir

Singing with the piano

Approx. 110 songs based on texts and a. by Abrahams, Adler , Baumbach , Becher, Bonsels , Buscho-Klabund, Carossa , Carryl, Claudius , Conkling, Däubler , Darwin, Dauthendey , Dehmel, Dickinson , Fau, Fontane , Fried, Ginzkey , Goethe , Grogger , Hartl, Heine , Hesse , Wood, Cellar, Liliencron , Luschnat, Masters , Mikoletzky, Resa, Rieger, Robinson, Vischer, Wedekind , Weitbrecht, Werfel .

Incidental music

• The imaginary patient ( Molière ). Flute, viola and harpsichord (or piano).

Instrumental works

For orchestra

• Eight-minute symphony
• 5 joints
• Longing for home. For oboe and string orchestra
• Passacaglia
• Prelude and Fugue op.7
• Scherzo-bizzaro
• Sinfonietta
• Sinfonietta seria op.27
• 2 pieces for string orchestra op.12
• 2 suites for orchestra
• Funeral March (1922)

Chamber music

• Dance of the puppets. Piano quartet
• Duo for violin and violoncello (1925)
• Cheerful Suite op. 24. For alto saxophone, trumpet, trombone, violin, piano and percussion
• Quartet for flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon
• 4 string quartets
• 1 string quintet
• Sonatina for violin and piano op.11
• Sonata for violoncello and piano op.13
• Sonata for violin and piano op.29
• Piece for violin and violoncello (1927)
• Suite on Yugoslav folk songs for string quintet
• Trio for oboe, clarinet and horn
• Trio for violin, violoncello and piano op.10

Works for piano

• The bear
• The day of an American baby
• fantasy
• Fantastic improvisation
• The frames of mind
• Jazz variations
• melody
• Sonatina Op. 21
• Sonata op.14
• 11 pieces
• Piece for two pianos
• 5 dance pieces
• Variations for piano op.8
• The hikers. Gap

Edits

• of works by Alban Berg , Giacomo Meyerbeer , Robert Schumann , Karl Maria von Weber , Kurt Weill and Anton von Webern .

Literature (selection)

• Helmut Hell, Sigrid von Moisy, Barbara Wolff: Sources on the history of music in the 20th century. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek 2005, ISBN 0976492598 , pp. 34–38.
• Doctor Jennifer: The BBC and Ultra-Modern Music, 1922-1936. Shaping a Nation's Taste. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN 052166117X
• Sophie Fetthauer: Music publishers in the "Third Reich" and in exile , (= Music in the "Third Reich" and in exile, vol. 10, Hanns-Werner Heister, Peter Petersen (ed.))., Hamburg: von Bockel, 2004, (2nd edition, Hamburg: von Bockel, 2007) ISBN 3932696743
• Österreichisches Musiklexikon , 5 vol., Rudolf Flotzinger (ed.), Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2002 ff. ISBN 3700130678
• Walter Pass, Gerhard Scheit, Wilhelm Svoboda: Orpheus in exile . The expulsion of Austrian music from 1938 to 1945, (= anti-fascist literature and exile literature. Studies and texts, vol. 13, Association for the promotion and research of anti-fascist literature (ed.)), Vienna: Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik, 1995 ISBN 385115200X

Web links

• LexM, University of Hamburg, Otto Jokl
• Austrian Music Lexicon, Jokl, Brothers
• Rita Kurzmann-Leuchter, part 1
• The estate is in the Bavarian State Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Prayer to St. Francis ( Paula Grogger ). Melodrama by OTTO JOKL . Autograph around 1930. Dedication on title: "(for my sister Grete)"
2. ↑ Exact location unknown.
3. ^ Helmut Hell, Sigrid von Moisy, Barbara Wolff: Sources for the history of music in the 20th century. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek 2005, p. 34.
4. ↑ http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/work/1064/30835# . Retrieved October 1, 2015.
5. ↑ Program of the concert ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in the archives of the New York Philharmonic . Retrieved September 12, 2015. 
6. ↑ ^{a b} See the Otto Jokl estate in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich: BSB Ana 497 ( https://opacplus.bsb-muenchen.de/search?id=BV041825092&db=100 )
7. ↑ ^{a b} Quoted in: Rita Kurzmann-Leuchter, Part 1 . Retrieved June 26, 2014.