Erich 'Wunderkind' Korngold

Composers Datebook

Synopsis

Most composers have to wait for years before their works get performed by a major orchestra or opera company, but not Erich Wolfgang Korngold, a child prodigy who grew up in the Vienna of Gustav Mahler. After hearing the 9-year-old play through one of his compositions, Mahler declared Korngold a genius.

At 13, Korngold’s pantomime, The Snowman, was performed at the Vienna Court Opera, and on today’s date in 1916, when he was just 18, two of Korngold's one-act operas, Violanta and Polycrates’ Ring, were premiered at Munich’s National Theater.

Korngold came to Hollywood in the 1930s and wrote scores for 17 classic films, including several starring Errol Flynn. Korngold, in his thick Austrian accent, called those action films “SVASH-booklers”. His contract let him retain all rights to his music, and in the 1940s he began recycling bits of film scores into concert works, like a 1945 Violin Concerto, written for Jascha Heifetz.

Despite early fame in Europe and success in Hollywood, after World War II, Korngold’s music started to seem old-fashioned and fell into neglect, but two decades after his death in 1957, a major Korngold revival began, sparking new interest in — and recordings of — his well-crafted and appealing scores.

Music Played in Today's Program

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957): ‘The Snowman’; BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Matthias Bamert, cond. Chandos 10434

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957): ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’ film score; London Symphony; John Williams, cond. Sony 62788