Marx, Joseph (Rupert Rudolf)
Marx, Joseph (Rupert Rudolf)
Marx, Joseph (Rupert Rudolf), Austrian composer, pedagogue, and music critic; b. Graz, May 11, 1882; d. there, Sept. 3, 1964. He was a student of Degner and took courses in musicology at the Univ. of Graz (Ph.D., 1909, with the diss. Über die Funktion von Intervallen, Harmonie und Melodie beim Erfassen von Tonkomplexen). In 1914 he became a prof, of theory and composition at the Vienna Academy of Music, where he was made director in 1922. After it was made the Hochschule für Musik in 1924, he served as its first director until 1927. He continued to teach there until 1952. From 1931 to 1938 he was music critic of the Neues Wiener Journal. Following World War II, he was music critic of the Wiener Zeitung. From 1947 to 1957 he was an honorary prof. at the Univ. of Graz. Marx established his reputation as a composer early in his career with his songs, of which he wrote about 120. They are in a late Romantic vein à la Hugo Wolf.
Writings
(all publ. in Vienna):Harmonielehre (1934; 3rd ed., 1948); Kontrapunkt-Lehre (1935); Betrachtungen eines romantischen Realisten (1947); Weltsprache Musik (1964).
Works
orch.: Romantische Klavierkonzert (1919–20); Eine Herbstsymphonie (1920–21; Vienna, Feb. 5, 1922); Naturtrilogie: Eine symphonische Nachtmusik, Idylle, and Eine Frühlingsmusik (1922–25); Nordlands-Rhapsodie (1928–29); Castelli Romani for Piano and Orch. (1930); Alt-Wiener Serenaden (1941–42; Vienna, April 14, 1942); Sinfonietta in modo classico for Strings (1944; also as the 3rd string quartet); Feste im Herbst (1945); Sinfonia in modo antico for Strings (1947; also as the 2nd string quartet). chamber: Ballade for Piano Quartet (1911); Scherzo for Piano Quartet (1911); Quartett in Form einer Rhapsodie for Piano Quartet (1911); Frühlingssonate for Violin and Piano (1913); Trio Phantasie for Piano Trio (1913); 3 string quartets: No. 1, Quartetto in modo chromatico (1937), No. 2, in modo antico (1938; also as the Sinfonia in modo antico for Strings), and No. 3, in modo classico (1941; also as the Sinfonietta in modo classico for Strings). vocal:Morgengesang for Men’s Chorus, Winds, and Organ (1910; also for Men’s Chorus and Orch., 1934); Lieder und Gesänge (3 vols., 1910–17); Herbstchor an Pan for Chorus, Children’s Chorus, Orch., and Organ (1911); Italienisches Liederbuch (3 vols., 1912); 5 Lieder for Voice and Orch. (1921); Verklärtes Jahr, 5 Songs for Medium Voice and Orch. (1930–32).
Bibliography
J. Bistron, J. M. (Vienna, 1923); A. Liess, J. M.: Leben und Werk (Graz, 1943); E. Werba, J. M. (Vienna, 1964); J. Meyers, The Songs of J. M. (diss., Univ. of Mo., 1972); T. Leibnitz, Österreichische Spätromantiker: Studien zu Emil Nikolaus von Rezniöek, J. M., Franz Schmidt und Egon Kornauth (Tutzing, 1986).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire