KORNGOLD, Erich Wolfgang

Born in Brno, May 29, 1897
Died in Hollywood, CA, Nov 29, 1957

• Korngold was a child prodigy who impressed Mahler, Richard Strauss, Puccini and many other with his youthful compositions.
• Korngold was a successful composer, conductor and teacher of opera in Europe before he began his Hollywood career in the 1930s.
• In addition to The Sea Hawk (1940), Korngold’s symphonic film scores include Anthony Adverse (1936), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Of Human Bondage (1946).
• After WWII, Korngold focused on concert music, and his works were given premieres by the likes of Heifetz (Violin Concerto, 1937/45) and Furtwängler (Symphonic Serenade, 1947-52).¹
• Style: Korngold’s film scores make use of Wagnerian leitmotif, assigning a motif to each character. This film scoring technique would become hugely influential for Hollywood, found again in scores by John Williams and others.

“Korngold saw his films as ‘operas without singing’ and drew no distinction between writing in this genre and any other. He brought techniques of Wagner, Strauss, and Puccini into the cinema and, along with his fellow emigres in Hollywood… helped turn film music into an art in its own right.”

Jessica Duchen, BBC Music Magazine Vol. 30, No. 9

Learn More
Korngold Intro from Erich Korngold Society website

1. Brendan G. Carroll, “Korngold, Erich Wolfgang,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed October 31, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000015390.