Erich Wolfgang Korngold
A reappraisal of the work of the composer of 'film music'.
Jessica Duchen
- Offers a reappraisal of the life and work of Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957), for so long dismissed as a 'film composer' in the classical music world
- Shows how he bridged the worlds of serious music, operetta and film music from his childhood in Vienna to his exile in Hollywood
- Argues that through his film music Korngold was one of the most influential composers of the 20th century
Paperback
156 x 220 mm, 6 1/8 x 8 5/8 in
240 pp
80 black and white illustrations
ISBN 9780714831558
0714831557
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) was an extraordinary figure who bridged the worlds of serious music, operetta and film music. He worked with such disparate artists as Mahler and Errol Flynn. As a child prodigy of a composer in Vienna, he achieved legendary status, but personal pressure later drew him into operetta arrangement and thence to Hollywood where he spent the war years becoming a highly influential composer of film music.
Ignoring the changing tides of musical fashion, Korngold continued to write in his own lush, romantic idiom. Now, as his music is currently enjoying a great revival of interest, this study offers an in-depth reappraisal of his unique life and work.
Jessica Duchen is a freelance music journalist whose work appears frequently in the Guardian and BBC Music Magazine. Founding Editor of Piano magazine, she is the author of Gabriel Fauré, also in the 20th-Century Composers series.
'This is an inspired choice in this still early round of Phaidon's excellent, well-presented and illustrated 20th-Century Composers Series.' (Classical Music)
'Jessica Duchen's admirable biography will do much to advance the cause of Korngold.' (Jewish Chronicle)
'As a series, Phaidon's 20th Century Composers has brought remarkable variety and a welter of information, both necessary and delightfully trivial. Intended both for the general reader and for the more enthusiatically musical...' (The Scotsman)