Erich Wolfgang Korngold
20th Century · 1897–1957
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was a Viennese child prodigy of alarming gifts. Born in Brno in 1897, the son of a powerful music critic, he played a cantata for Gustav Mahler at age nine and left the older composer astonished. By 23 he had written Die tote Stadt, an opera that houses across Europe rushed to stage.
Then history intervened. Invited to Hollywood in the 1930s to arrange and compose for films, he was there when the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938, and he stayed. He treated film scoring as seriously as opera, won two Academy Awards, including one for The Adventures of Robin Hood, and effectively taught Hollywood how a symphonic film score works. After the war he returned to concert music, weaving themes from his film scores into it.
Start with the Violin Concerto in D major, which does exactly that and glows from first note to last, then sample Die tote Stadt.
78 works in the catalog, across 5 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.
Chamber
- Mariettas Lied zur Laute, for violin and piano
- Much Ado About Nothing, suite from the incidental music for violin and piano, op. 11
- Piano Quintet in E major, op. 15
- Piano Trio in D major, op. 1
- Romance-Impromptu, for cello and piano
- Serenade, for violin and piano
- Sextet for Strings in D major, op. 10
- String Quartet no. 1 in A major, op. 16
- String Quartet no. 2 in E flat major, op. 26
- String Quartet no. 3 in D major, op. 34
- Suite for 2 Violins, Cello, and Piano, op. 23
- Tanzlied des Pierot, for violin and piano
- Violin Sonata in G major, op. 6
Keyboard
- 4 Waltzes
- Der Schneemann, 4 easy pieces
- Don Quixote, 6 pieces
- Geschichten von Strauss, op. 21
- Kleine Karikaturen, 4 pieces, op. 19
- Märchenbilder, 7 pieces, op. 3
- Piano Sonata no. 1 in D minor
- Piano Sonata no. 2 in E major, op. 2
- Piano Sonata no. 3 in C major, op. 25
- Was der Wald erzählt, suite
Orchestral
- Sinfonietta in B major, op. 5
- Violin Concerto in D major, op. 35
- Baby Serenade, op. 24
- Cello Concerto in C major, op. 37
- Concerto for Piano Left-Hand and Orchestra, op. 17
- Military March in B flat major
- Schauspiel Overture, op. 4
- Straussiana, for orchestra
- Sursum Corda, symphonic overture, op. 13
- Symphonic Serenade, op. 39
- Symphony in F sharp major, op. 40
- Tanzchen im alten Stil
- The Adventures of Robin Hood, symphonic suite from the film score
- Theme and Variations, op. 42
- Tomorrow, for alto, chorus and orchestra, op. 33
Stage
- Die tote Stadt, op. 12 Opera
- The Sea Hawk
- Another Dawn
- Between Two Worlds
- Captain Blood
- Das Lied der Liebe
- Das Wunder der Heliane, op. 20 Opera
- Deception, film score
- Der Ring des Polykrates, op. 7 Opera
- Der Schneemann
- Devotion
- Die Kathrin, op. 28 Opera
- Die Stumme Serenade, op. 36
- Escape Me Never
- Juarez
- King's Row
- Much Ado About Nothing, op. 11 Incidental music
- The Adventures of Robin Hood
- The Prince and the Pauper
- The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
- The Sea Wolf
- Violanta, op. 8 Opera
Vocal
- 3 Lieder, op. 22
- 4 Lieder from Shakespeare, op. 31
- 5 Lieder, op. 38
- 12 Lieder, 'So Gott und Papa will', song cycle
- Abschiedslieder, op. 14
- Angedenken, for voice and piano
- Der Geniale, for voice and piano
- Die Gansleber im Hause Duschnitz, for voice and piano
- Die Geniale, for voice and piano
- Drei Lieder, op. 18
- Einfache Lieder, op. 9
- Nachts, for voice and piano
- Passover Psalm, op. 30
- Reiselied, for voice and piano
- Sonett Für Wien, op. 41
- Songs of the Clown, song cycle, op. 29
- Unvergänglichkeit, song cycle, op. 27
- Vesper, for voice and piano
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