Erich Wolfgang Korngold

From Grokipedia

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (29 May 1897 – 29 November 1957) was an Austro-Hungarian-born composer and conductor who gained renown as a child prodigy in Vienna, achieved operatic success in Europe during the interwar period, and pioneered symphonic film scoring in Hollywood after fleeing Nazi persecution. Born into a Jewish family in Brünn, Moravia (now Brno, Czech Republic), Korngold moved to Vienna at age four and began composing by age six, earning praise from Gustav Mahler as a genius by age nine. Studied under Alexander Zemlinsky and Robert Fuchs, his early works included the ballet-pantomime Der Schneemann (1910), performed at the Vienna Court Opera. His operas, such as Die tote Stadt (1920), enjoyed widespread acclaim across Europe, establishing him as a leading voice in post-Romantic music.

With the rise of Nazism threatening his family, Korngold relocated to the United States in 1934 at the invitation of Max Reinhardt, signing with Warner Bros. in 1935 to score films. He composed scores for 18 films, elevating the art form by integrating Wagnerian orchestration and leitmotifs into cinematic narratives, as in Captain Blood (1935) and The Sea Hawk (1940). Korngold won Academy Awards for Best Original Score for Anthony Adverse (1936) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), marking him as the first composer credited individually for a film score win. After the 1938 Anschluss, his family escaped Austria, but he lost property and faced professional exile.

Retiring from films in 1946, Korngold returned to concert works, including his Violin Concerto (1945, revised from film themes) and Symphony in F-sharp (1952), though his reputation waned temporarily in Europe due to disdain for his Hollywood association amid elitist classical music circles. He died in Hollywood from cerebral thrombosis at age 60, with renewed interest in his oeuvre emerging in the 1970s through recordings and performances. His legacy endures as a bridge between operatic tradition and modern film music, influencing generations despite initial postwar neglect by academic tastemakers.

In brief

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (German: [ˈeːʁɪç ˈvɔlfɡaŋ ˈkɔʁnɡɔlt]; May 29, 1897 – November 29, 1957) was an Austrian composer and conductor, who left Europe in the mid-1930s and later adopted US nationality. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential composers in Hollywood history. He was a noted pianist and composer of classical music, along with music for Hollywood films, and the first composer of international stature to write Hollywood scores.

When he was 11, his ballet Der Schneemann (The Snowman) became a sensation in Vienna; his Second Piano Sonata, which he wrote at age 13, was played throughout Europe by Artur Schnabel. His one-act operas Violanta and Der Ring des Polykrates were premiered in Munich in 1916, conducted by Bruno Walter. At 23, his opera Die tote Stadt (The Dead City) premiered in Hamburg and Cologne.