Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (
May 29,
1897 –
November 29,
1957) was a 20th century neoromantic
composer.
Born in an assimilated
Jewish home in
Brünn,
Austria-Hungary (now
Brno,
Czech Republic), Erich was the son of the music critic
Julius Korngold. He studied music under
Alexander von Zemlinsky and
Robert Fuchs.
Mahler, upon meeting the young Erich, called him a "musical genius."
Richard Strauss also spoke very highly of the youth.
He had success in Europe with his opera
Die tote Stadt (1920), among other pieces, before moving in
1934 to the
United States. There he composed a number of
film scores that have been recognized ever since as classics of their kind. For the rest of his life he continued to write concert music in a rich, chromatic
late Romantic style, with the
Violin Concerto among his notable later works. In
1943, he became a
naturalized citizen of the United States. He died in
Los Angeles.
Despite his achievements and considerable popularity with the musical public, Korngold for years attracted almost no positive critical attention, but considerable critical disdain. Then in the 1990s two full-scale biographies of him appeared almost simultaneously. One is Jessica Duchen,
Erich Wolfgang Korngold 1996 (Phaidon Press, 20th Century Composers series). The other is Brendan G. Carroll,
Erich Korngold: The Last Prodigy (Amadeus Press, 1997); Carroll is President of the International Korngold Society.
Orchestral and vocal works
Sinfonietta, Op. 5 (composed
1912)
Songs of Farewell, Op. 14 (composed
1920; first performed
1921; orchestral version first performed
1923)
Piano Concerto (composed
1923; first performed
1924)
Songs of the Clown (
1937)
Violin Concerto (composed
1945; first performed
1947)
Cello Concerto (
1946, expanded from a work written for the 1946 film
Deception)
Symphony in F sharp major, Op.40 (composed
1947â€"52; first performed
1954)
Chamber works
Piano Trio, op. 1 in
D major (composed and first performed
1910)
Piano Sonata No. 1 in
D minor with concluding
passacaglia (composed
1908; first performed
1908–
9)
Piano Sonata No. 2, op. 2 in
E major in three movements (composed
1910; first performed
1911)
Violin Sonata, op. 6 in
G major (composed
1912; first performed
1916)
String Sextet, op. 10 in D major (first performed
1917)
Quintet for two violins, viola, violoncello and piano in E Major, op. 15 (composed
1920–
21; first performed
1923)
String Quartet No.1, op.16 in
A major (composed
1923; first performed
1924)
Suite for 2 violins, cello & piano left hand, op 23 (composed
1930; first performed ?)
Piano Sonata No. 3, op. 25 in
C major (composed
1931; first performed
1932) ([
1])
String Quartet No.2, op.26 in
E-flat major (composed
1933; first performed
1934)
String Quartet No.3, op.34 in D major (composed
1945; first performed
1946)
Operas
Der Ring des Polykrates (
1916)
Violanta (
1916)
Die Tote Stadt (
1920)
Das Wunder der Heliane (
1927)
Die Kathrin (
1939)
Arrangements for operettas
Eine Nacht in Venedig (
A Night in Venice) (
1923)
Cagliostro in Wien (
Cagliostro in Vienna) (
1927)
Rosen aus Florida (
Roses from Florida) (
1929)
Die Fledermaus (
The Bat) (
1929)
Walzer aus Wien (
Waltzes from Vienna) (
1930)
Die schöne Helena (
1931)
Das Lied der Liebe (
The Song of Love) (
1931)
Die geschiedene Frau (
1933)
Rosalinda (
1942)
The Great Waltz (
1949)
Film soundtracks
A Midsummer Night's Dream (
1935) (after Mendelssohn)
Captain Blood (
1935)
Give Us This Night (
1936)
Hearts Divided (
1936)
The Green Pastures (
1936)
Anthony Adverse (
1936)
The Prince And The Pauper (
1937)
Another Dawn (
1937)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (
1938)
Juarez (
1939)
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (
1939)
The Sea Hawk (
1940)
The Sea Wolf (
1941)
King's Row (
1942)
The Constant Nymph (
1943)
Between Two Worlds (
1944)
Devotion (
1946)
Of Human Bondage (
1946)
Deception (
1946)
Escape Me Never (
1947)
The Magic Fire (
1956) (after Wagner)
*
Unofficial Korngold Society
