Korngold, Erich (Wolfgang)

Korngold, Erich (Wolfgang) (b Brünn, 1897; d Hollywood, Calif., 1957). Austrian-born composer and conductor (Amer. cit. 1943). Son of mus. critic Julius Korngold. Child prodigy as pianist and composer. His Der Schneemann was a sensation at the Vienna Court Opera 1910 and Schnabel played a pf. sonata he wrote at 13. His one-act operas Violanta and Der Ring des Polykrates were premièred in Munich in 1916 cond. by Bruno Walter. In 1920 his opera Die tote Stadt (The Dead City) had simultaneous premières in Hamburg and Cologne. Cond., Hamburg Opera 1921. Prof., Vienna State Acad., 1931. Settled in USA 1934, writing mus. for many successful films until 1947. Prin. works:STAGE: Der Schneemann (pantomime, orch. Zemlinsky) (1910); Der Ring des Polykrates (1916); Violanta (1916); Die tote Stadt (1919–20); Das Wunder der Heliane (Hamburg, 1927); Die Kathrin (1937, f.p. Stockholm 1939); Die stumme Serenade (1946).ORCH.: sym. in F♯ major (1951–2); Schauspiel-Ouvertüre (1911); Sinfonietta (1912); Symphonic Serenade for str. (1947); pf. conc. for left hand (1923); vn. conc. (1945); vc. conc. (1946).PIANO: Fairy-Tale Pictures (1910); pf. sonatas: No.1 (1908), No.2 (1910), No.3 (1931).CHAMBER MUSIC: str. qts., No.1 in A (1924), No.2 in E♭ (1935), No.3 in D (1945); pf. trio (1910); vn. sonata; pf. quintet; str. sextet.FILM MUSIC: Give Us This Night, Captain Blood, The Prince and the Pauper, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, Between 2 Worlds, Devotion, etc.

In the 1920s Korngold re-orchestrated, re-arr., and practically re-comp. (for Theater an der Wien) operettas by Strauss (incl. Eine Nacht in Venedig), Offenbach, and Fall.