Erich Wolfgang Korngold, possibly the most phenomenal musical prodigy of all time, fled Europe in the 1930s to become one of the most important and influential composers in Hollywood history. As the film historian Tony Thomas writes, “Korngold not only had the background but also had the gift of melody, an innate sense of theatre, and the skills to manipulate sentiment, emotion, humour, and excitement.” Korngold attempted to return to Vienna, but the winds of change ushered in new attitudes toward music. Not until the 1990s was Korngold granted the recognition he so richly deserved.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: “Sea Hawk” Suite
Los Angeles
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
The Korngolds resided at 9936 Toluca Lake Avenue, in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, just a couple of blocks from Warner Brothers Studio. Korngold returned to Europe for a second time in 1954, but it was almost impossible for his music to be performed. Brendan G. Carroll writes, “the general zeitgeist and post-war attitudes towards music demanded first of all a complete break with the past, especially the lavish late romanticism in which Korngold had grown up; and secondly a purity of outlook untainted by commercial concerns.”
Korngold had been a highly important influence on the emergence of film music, essentially bringing the techniques of Puccini, Wagner and Strauss into the film studio. He treated each film as an opera, with each character assigned its own leitmotif. André Previn famously said, “if Korngold sounds like film music, that is because film music sounds like Korngold.” Yet he was faced with cultural expectations and prejudices that essentially banished his music from the concert halls.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Symphony in F-sharp Major, Op. 40, “Adagio” (Philadelphia Orchestra; Franz Welser-Möst, cond.)
Depression and Disease
Luzi and Erich Wolfgang Korngold
In her biography of Korngold, Jessica Duchen reprinted the impressions of music critic Karl Schumann when he interviewed Korngold in 1955. “He seemed to be appallingly weary, this man who had been through emigration and the mill of the film studio. That he was suffering from heart disease was obvious; so was his heartsickness. In the end, he died…more so of a broken heart. He never reconciled himself to the fact of his expulsion from Vienna, from the good old days, from the fin-de siècle atmosphere, art nouveau, symbolism, the cult of music, worship of the opera, and the coffeehouse.”
Korngold was starting to feel unwell in October of 1956. He told his wife that there was something wrong with his language “and that he could not express what he wanted to say.” His condition seemed to be improving, but a couple of days later, it became clear that he had suffered a stroke. As his condition worsened and paralysis set in, Korngold was admitted to hospital. As Duchen writes, “he could not speak, move his right side, or remember the names of his family, although strangely, he could still recall the names of composers and musicians.”
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: 4 Songs of Farewell (Linda Finnie, contralto; BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Edward Bownes, cond.)
Birthday and Death
Korngold celebrated his sixtieth birthday on 29 May 1957 at his residence in Los Angeles. Old associates and colleagues sent telegrams, and his wife Luzi was arranging for birthday tributes in Vienna and London. Korngold, partially disabled, lived for another 6 months before dying of a brain haemorrhage on 29 November 1957. He passed away at North Hollywood Hospital, and the funeral service was held on 2 December at the Hollywood Cemetery Chapel.
At the time of his death, Korngold believed himself forgotten. It took until 1959 before a Memorial Concert was arranged in his honour. The performance of chamber music and songs was framed by a tribute from Bruno Walter and messages from a number of musicians. As the critic for the Los Angeles Examiner wrote, “A memorial concert to Erich Wolfgang Korngold brought to our attention a musical voice which may be regarded, when the smog of controversy rolls away, as one of the most civilised and gracious of the twentieth century.”
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Die Tote Stadt, “Marietta’s Lied”
Rehabilitation
Erich Korngold’s Die tote Stadt
Korngold’s instrumental music all but disappeared from the repertory following his death. His widow Luzi worked hard to keep the memory of his music alive, including the publication of her memoirs in 1967. As she wrote in her will, “I beg my sons to do their best to keep alive their father through his works and not grow weak in the struggle.”
In the 1970s, Charles Gerhardt recorded extracts from Korngold’s film scores, and isolated production of his operas took place in the 1960s and 70s. Two major biographies, by Brendan G. Carroll and Jessica Duchen were published in the 90s, and by the time of his centenary in 1997, Korngold’s music was once again gaining popularity. In recent years, his music has experienced an extraordinary rehabilitation, however, and the Violin Concerto and the opera Die tote Stadt have become repertoire works.
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