Ernst Krenek Totally Explained

Everything about Ernst Krenek totally explained

Ernst Krenek (August 23 1900 – December 22 1991) was an Austrian born (and from 1945 an American) composer of Czech ancestry; throughout his life he insisted that his name be written Krenek rather than Křenek, and that it should be pronounced as a German word. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including Music Here and Now (1939), a study of Johannes Ockeghem (1953), and Horizons Circled: Reflections on my Music (1974).

Life

Krenek was born in Vienna. He studied there and in Berlin with Franz Schreker before working in a number of German opera houses as conductor. During World War I, Krenek was drafted into the Austrian Army, but he was stationed in Vienna, allowing him to go on with his musical studies. In 1922 he met Gustav Mahler's daughter, Anna, and her mother, Alma, who asked Krenek to complete her late husband's Symphony No. 10. Krenek helped edit the first and third movements but went no further. In 1924 he married Anna, only to divorce her before the first anniversary.
His journalism was banned and his music was targeted in Germany by the Nazi Party in 1933. On March 6, one day after elections in which the Nazis gained control of the Reichstag, Krenek's incidental music to Goethe's Triumph der Empsindsamkeit had to be withdrawn in Mannheim, and eventually pressure was brought to bear on the Vienna State Opera, which cancelled the commissioned premiere of Karl V. The jazz imitations of Jonny spielt auf were included in the 1938 Degenerate art exhibition in Munich. He moved to the United States of America in 1938 where he taught music at various universities, including Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota from 1942-1947. He became an American citizen in 1945. His students included George Perle, Robert Erickson, Halim El-Dabh, Will Ogdon, Thomas Nee, and Richard Maxfield. He died in Palm Springs, California.

Musical style

Krenek's music is in a variety of styles. His early work is in a late-Romantic idiom, showing the influence of his teacher Franz Schreker. He later embraced atonality, but a visit to Paris, during which he became familiar with the work of Igor Stravinsky and Les Six, led him to adopt a neo-classical style. His opera Jonny spielt auf (Johnny Strikes Up, 1926), which is influenced by jazz, was a great success in his lifetime, playing all over Europe. In spite of Nazi protests, it became so popular that even a brand of cigarettes, still on the market today in Austria, was named "Johnny". He then started writing in a neo-Romantic style with Franz Schubert as a model, with his Reisebuch aus den österreichischen Alpen as prime example, before using Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique; the opera Karl V (1931-33) is entirely written using this technique, as are most of his later pieces. In the Lamentatio Jeremiae prophetae (1941–42) he combined twelve-tone writing with 16th century techniques of modal counterpoint. He also composed electronic and aleatoric music.

Notable works

Operas

Die Zwingburg op. 14 (1922, premiere Berlin 1924, UE)
Der Sprung über den Schatten, op. 17 (1923, Frankfurt 1924, UE)
Orpheus und Eurydike, op. 21 (1923, Kassel 1926, UE)
Bluff, Operette op. 36 (1924/5; Ms)
Jonny spielt auf, op. 45 (Leipzig 1927, UE)
Der Diktator op. 49 (Wiesbaden 1928, UE)
Das geheime Königreich op. 50 (Wiesbaden 1928, UE)
Schwergewicht, oder Die Ehre der Nation op. 55 (Wiesbaden 1928, UE)
Leben des Orest, op. 60 (1929, Leipzig 1930, UE)
Kehraus um St. Stephan op. 66 (1930, Bärenreiter)
Karl V, op. 73 (1933, Prague 1938; revised 1954. UE)
Cefalo e Procri op. 77 (Venice 1934, UE)
Tarquin op. 90 (1940, Cologne 1950, UE)
What Price Confidence? op. 111 (1945, Saarbrücken 1960,Bärenreiter)
Dark Waters op. 125 (Los Angeles 1950, publ. 1951 Bärenreiter)
Pallas Athene weint op. 144 (Hamburg 1955, Schott/Universal)
The Bell Tower op. 153 (1956, Urbana 1957, Bärenreiter)
Ausgerechnet und verspielt op. 179 (Vienna 1962, Bärenreiter)
Der goldene Bock, op. 186 (1963, Hamburg 1964,Bärenreiter)
Der Zauberspiegel, op.192 (Munich 1966, Bärenreiter)
Sardakai, oder Das kommt davon, op. 206 (1969, Hamburg 1970, Bärenreiter)
Flaschenpost aus Paradies, Fernsehstück mit elektronischer Musik op. 217 (1973, ORF Wien, unpublished)

Ballets

Mammon op. 37 (1925)

Der vertauschte Cupido op. 38 (1925)

Eight Column Line op. 85 (1939)

Vocal Music

Choral

Die Jahreszeiten (Hölderlin), op. 35 (1925)

Kantate von der Vergänglichkeit des Irdischen, op. 72 (1932)

Lamentatio Jeremiae prophetae, op. 93 (1941–2)

Santa Fe Timetable, op. 102 (1945)

Missa duodecim tonorum, op. 165, mixed choir and organ (1957–8)

O Holy Ghost, op. 186A (1964)

Three Madrigals, SSA a cappella (1960)

Solo vocal (with piano unless otherwise indicated)

Lieder, op. 19 on texts by Otfried Krzyzanowski and Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock

O Lacrymosa op. 48 (1926); text written for Krenek by Rilke, also orch. ver. op. 48a

Reisebuch aus den österreichischen Alpen (text by the composer), op. 62 (1929)

The Ballad of the Railroads op. 78 (1944, text by the composer)

Sestina (text by the composer), op.161, soprano and 8 instruments (1957)

Orchestral

Symphonies

Symphony no. 1, op. 7 (1921)

Symphony no. 2, op. 12 (1922)

Symphony no. 3, op. 16 (1922)

Symphony for winds and percussion, op. 34 (1924-25)

Little Symphony op. 58 (1928)

Symphony no. 4, op. 113 (1947)

Symphony no. 5, op. 119 (1949)

Symphony "Pallas Athene", op. 137 (1954)

Concertos and concertante works

Violin concerto no. 1, op. 29

Little concerto for harpsichord, organ and chamber orchestra, op. 88

Concerto for violin, piano and small orchestra, op. 124

Concerto for harp and chamber orchestra, op. 126

Violoncello concerto no. 1, op. 133

Violin concerto no. 2, op. 140

Capriccio for cello and orchestra, op. 145

Violoncello concerto no. 2, op. 236

Four piano concertos

Organ concertos including concerto op. 230 for organ and string orchestra, op. 235 with full orchestra

Chamber works

String quartets

String quartet no. 1, op. 6

String quartet no. 2, op. 8

String quartet no. 3, op. 20

String quartet no. 4, op. 24

String quartet no. 5, op. 65 in E-flat

String quartet no. 6, op. 78

String quartet no. 7, op. 96

String quartet no. 8, op. 233

Sonatas

For piano

No. 1, op. 2 in E-flat (1919)
No. 2, op. 59
No. 3, op. 92, no. 4 *
No. 4, op. 114
No. 5, op. 121
No. 6, op. 128
No. 7, op. 240

For violin

Two with piano (no. 1 op. 3 in F-sharp minor, no. 2 op. 99)
Two solo (opp. 33 and 115)

Other works

Serenade for clarinet and string trio, op. 4

Suite for cello solo, op. 84

Suite for guitar, op. 164

String trio, op. 118

String trio Parvula Corona Musicalis: ad honorem Johannis Sebastiani Bach, op. 122

String trio in 12 Stations, op. 237

Monologue for clarinet solo (1956)

Electronic music

Spiritus Intelligentiae, Sanctus, op. 152, two solo voices and tape (1956)

San Fernando Sequence, op. 185 (1963)

Exercises of a Late Hour, op. 200 (1967)

Orga-Nastro, op. 212, organ and tape (1971)

They Knew What They Wanted, op. 227, narrator, oboe, piano, percussion and tape (1977) *The rest of op. 92 contains works for other instrumental combinations, including solo viola and solo organ.

Bibliography

Bowles, Garrett H: Ernst Krenek : a Bio-bibliography (New York and London) 1989

Stewart, J L: Ernst Krenek, the Man and His Music (Berkeley) 1991

Sources

Krenek, Ernst by Charlotte Purkis, in 'The New Grove Dictionary of Opera', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7Further Information

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