
Karl Goldmark
Romantic · 1830–1915
Karl Goldmark was born in 1830 in Keszthely, Hungary, one of many children of a poor Jewish cantor, and had little formal training; he learned much of his craft on his own while scraping by as a theater violinist in Vienna. That city became his home, and he gradually rose from obscurity to become one of its established musical figures, a friend of Brahms and a respected teacher.
Fame arrived in 1875 with his opera The Queen of Sheba, which held the Vienna stage for decades. His concert music blends warm Romantic melody with a taste for the exotic and the picturesque, and for a time it was played everywhere. He lived to 84, long enough to see tastes move past him, and died in Vienna in 1915.
Start with the Rustic Wedding symphony, a genial set of country scenes, then the Violin Concerto no. 1 in A minor, still a favorite of violinists hunting beyond the standard concertos.
23 works in the catalog, across 5 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.
Chamber
- Ballad, for violin and piano
- Cello Sonata in F major, op. 39
- Piano Quintet in B flat major, op. 30
- Piano Quintet in C sharp minor, op. 54
- Piano Trio in B flat major, op. 4
- Piano Trio in E minor, op. 33
- Romance, for violin and piano in A major, op. 51
- Sonata in D major, for violin and piano, op. 25
- String Quartet in B flat major, op. 8
- Suite, for violin and piano, op. 11 in D
Keyboard
- 6 Piano Pieces, op. 52
Orchestral
- Rustic Wedding in E flat major, op. 26 Symphonic poem
- Violin Concerto no. 1 in A minor, op. 28
- Im Frühling, op. 36
- In Italien, op. 49
- Penthesilea, op. 31
- Prometheus Bound, op. 38
- Sakuntala Overture, op. 13
- Symphony no. 2 in E major, op. 35
Stage
- Die Königin von Saba, op. 27 Opera
- Merlin, Opera
Vocal
- 4 Lieder, op. 21
- 12 Gesänge, op. 18