Erich Wolfgang Korngold
by Paul A. Schons

Originally published by the Germanic-American Institute in March, 2002

Kulturecke in March: Bruno Walter conducted the premiere of Erich Korngold’s opera, Der Ring des Polykrates on March 28, 1916.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold won the Academy Award in 1936 for the best original score for Anthony Adverse and again in 1938 for The Adventures of Robin Hood. He was nominated again in 1939 for the music to The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex and once again in 1940 for The Sea Hawk. He wrote the music for an additional 16 Hollywood films during his career in the United States. The most recent was the music for Magic Fire in 1956. He is highly respected for setting the standard for quality music in film. “Music is music”, he said, “whether it is for the stage, rostrum or cinema...Fine symphonic scores for motion pictures cannot help but influence mass acceptance of finer music...All musicians should see the screen as a musical opportunity.”

His early work in Austria was devoted to the composition of music in the classical tradition and he continued throughout his life to write what he called “serious music”, despite his satisfaction with and success with film music. His last symphonic piece was the Symphony in F Sharp op. 40 which premiered in 1954.

Korngold was born in Brünn, Austria on May 29, 1897. His father was the influential misic critic, Julius Korngold. He began his piano lessons at age 5. By age 7 he had written his first cantata, “Gold”. He performed his piece for Gustav Mahler in 1904. Mahler was sufficiently impressed with the child’s potential to arrange for him to study with the composer, Alexander von Zemlinsky. Korngold was 11 when he composed his first ballet, Der Schneemann (The Snowman). Korngold’s Snowman was the season’s rage in Vienna when it was performed there in 1910 when he was 13. In his early years (in addition to the impression he made on Gustav Mahler) Richard Strauss and Giacomo Puccini heard his music and added their amazement and praise to the talents of the youngster.

Korngold was still in his teens when he composed his first opera, Der Ring des Polykrates. The premier of the opera was in Munich on March 28, 1916. It was conducted that night by Bruno Walter. The success of that opera encouraged him to write an opera which has been his most enduring, Die Tote Stadt (The Dead City). That opera was premiered simultaneously in Hamburg and Cologne in 1920. (The libretto for Die Tote Stadt was written by Paul Schott, who, as it turns out, was Korngold’s father writing under a pen name.)

Erich Korngold married Luise von Sonnenthal in 1924. He continued to compose operas and instrumental music. In a short time he was one of the most frequently performed composers in Europe. He began in the twenties to teach opera and composition at the Vienna State Academy of Music.

Korngold was 37 and at the peak of his career in Europe when in 1934 the film director, Max Reinhardt, invited him to come to Hollywood to adapt Felix Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for a film version he was directing. The film, which stared Mickey Rooney as Puck, was released in 1935. He returned to Europe after the film but was soon back in Hollywood writing the score for Captain Blood. He went on to compose the music for Anthony Adverse for which he won the Academy Award in 1936. Warner Brothers’ Studios kept the successful composer quite busy thereafter. He won his second Academy Award in 1938 for The adventures of Robin Hood. Soon thereafter Austria was annexed by Hitler’s Germany. The combination of the war in Europe and success in Hollywood ruled out an immediate return to Europe. During the next years he wrote the music for at least one major film each year. In 1939 he did both Juarez and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex.

When the war was over, Korngold tried to return to his original career in Europe composing “serious music” as he himself termed it. He released his String Quartet No. 3, his Violin Concerto op. 35 and his Cello Concerto op. 37. But he had lost momentum in that part of his career. In 1949 he returned to Vienna to premier his Symphonic Serenade op. 39. At the first performance it was conducted by the great Wilhelm Furtwängler, but enthusiasm in Europe could not be reawakened. He returned to Hollywood. In 1954 he returned to Europe once again to present his Symphony in F Sharp. But the world of success in classical music would not reopen its door for him to resume his career. His last movie, Magic Fire was released in 1956.

Despite his setbacks, Korngold would not be discouraged. At age 60, living in Hollywood, he was working with determination on a new opera when he suffered a cerebral thrombosis. He died in Hollywood on November 29, 1957. His grave in Los Angeles County is marked with a simple flat stone. His wife, Louise, lived until 1962 and is buried next to him.

In recent years both his traditional music and his film music have experienced new enthusiasm among international audiences. A new award, the “Erich-Wolfgang-Korngold-Preis” has been created by a music festival in Bonn. The award is given for artistic lifetime work in film music. The award for 2002 will be given in Bonn to Mikis Theodorakis.