October 14, 2013.Alexander von Zemlinsky and Camille Saint-Saëns.The Austrian composer Alexander von Zemlinsky was born on this day in 1871.Zemlinsky’s music, tonal in its core, was influenced by Brahms and, to an extent, by Mahler.Quite influential in the first half of the 20th century, Zemlinsky lost some of his appeal in the era of the atonal and twelve-tonal music popularized by the followers of the Second Viennese school.Lately, however, he’s experienced a minor comeback and is being played more often.Zemlinsky was born in Vienna into an unusual family: his father was a Roman Catholic; his mother was born in Sarajevo to a Sephardic Jewish father and a Bosnian Muslim mother.Eventually the whole family converted to Judaism, and Alexander was raised Jewish.The noble “von” addition to the family name was his father’s invention and not bestowed by the Emperor.Zemlinsky studied piano as a child, played organ in a synagogue, and went to the Vienna Conservatory at the age of 13.Johannes Brahms, upon hearing his Symphony in D, became a supporter and introduced the young composer to his publisher, Simrock, as he did 20 years earlier with the young Dvořák.In 1895 Zemlinsky met Arnold Schoenberg and they became fast friends (some years later Schoenberg married Zemlinsky’s sister Mathilde).Zemlinsky was just three years older than Schoenberg, but he was a natural teacher and gave him several lessons in counterpoint, the only music lessons Schoenberg ever received.In 1900 Zemlinsky fell in love with his student, 21 year-old Alma Schindler.For two years they conducted a passionate (but apparently unconsummated) affair, until Alma decided to break up with Zemlinsky and marry Gustav Mahler, who was then 42 but famous.The fact that Zemlinsky was Jewish also played a role; Mahler, born Jewish, had converted to Catholicism five years earlier.In 1905 Zemlinsky wrote the symphonic poem Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid); the musicologist Antony Beaumont writes that it was an attempt to heal the trauma caused by the break-up.This being Vienna, it had an unusual psychological twist: Zemlinksy saw himself as a mermaid and Alma as the Prince.You can listen to Die Seejungfrau in the performance by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ricardo Chailly conducting.
The portrait of Zemlinsky, above, was made in the summer of 1907 by one Richard Gerstl, a young Austrian painter. Gerstl joined Zemlinksy and the Schoenbergs on vacation in Gmunden on lake Traunsee. He made several portraits of the Schoenbergs and one of Zemlinsky and even taught Arnold to paint. At some point during the summer Gerstl became Mathilde Schoenberg’s lover. One year later, all of them were back in Gmunden, with the love affair in full swing. One day Arnold found them in a compromising situation, and Mathilde and Gerstl escaped to Vienna. Anton Webern, Schoenberg’s pupil and friend of the family, convinced Mathilde to return to Arnold. Gerstl found himself ostracized and completely isolated. On October 4th of 1908 he set his studio on fire and hanged himself in front of a mirror.
Camille Saint-Saëns was born last week (his birthday is October 9, 1835) but we were too busy celebrating Verdi’s 200th anniversary.Saint-Saëns lived a long life: he died in 1921.To put it into perspective: in 1849, when Chopin died, Saint-Saëns was 14 and had already written several pieces; by the time of Saint-Saëns’s death in 1921 Stravinsky and Schoenberg had already written some of their most important, transformative compositions.No wonder that Saint-Saëns, who started as a pioneer, embracing the music of Wagner and Liszt, ended up being an arch-conservative, fighting even Debussy and Ravel (he stormed out of the first concert performance of The Right of Spring and declared Stravinsky “mad”).Saint-Saëns’s music was never very deep, but he wrote wonderful melodies and often managed to create coherently developed musical structures.Quite a number of his compositions remain popular, for example The Carnival of the Animals, the Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso for violin and orchestra, some of his piano concertos (he wrote five), and his opera Samson.You can hearIntroduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28 in the performance by the great violinist Jascha Heifetz, with RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg conducting.
Zemlinsky Saint-Saëns 2013
October 14, 2013. Alexander von Zemlinsky and Camille Saint-Saëns. The Austrian composer Alexander von Zemlinsky was born on this day in 1871. Zemlinsky’s music, tonal in its core, was influenced by Brahms and, to an extent,
by Mahler. Quite influential in the first half of the 20th century, Zemlinsky lost some of his appeal in the era of the atonal and twelve-tonal music popularized by the followers of the Second Viennese school. Lately, however, he’s experienced a minor comeback and is being played more often. Zemlinsky was born in Vienna into an unusual family: his father was a Roman Catholic; his mother was born in Sarajevo to a Sephardic Jewish father and a Bosnian Muslim mother. Eventually the whole family converted to Judaism, and Alexander was raised Jewish. The noble “von” addition to the family name was his father’s invention and not bestowed by the Emperor. Zemlinsky studied piano as a child, played organ in a synagogue, and went to the Vienna Conservatory at the age of 13. Johannes Brahms, upon hearing his Symphony in D, became a supporter and introduced the young composer to his publisher, Simrock, as he did 20 years earlier with the young Dvořák. In 1895 Zemlinsky met Arnold Schoenberg and they became fast friends (some years later Schoenberg married Zemlinsky’s sister Mathilde). Zemlinsky was just three years older than Schoenberg, but he was a natural teacher and gave him several lessons in counterpoint, the only music lessons Schoenberg ever received. In 1900 Zemlinsky fell in love with his student, 21 year-old Alma Schindler. For two years they conducted a passionate (but apparently unconsummated) affair, until Alma decided to break up with Zemlinsky and marry Gustav Mahler, who was then 42 but famous. The fact that Zemlinsky was Jewish also played a role; Mahler, born Jewish, had converted to Catholicism five years earlier. In 1905 Zemlinsky wrote the symphonic poem Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid); the musicologist Antony Beaumont writes that it was an attempt to heal the trauma caused by the break-up. This being Vienna, it had an unusual psychological twist: Zemlinksy saw himself as a mermaid and Alma as the Prince. You can listen to Die Seejungfrau in the performance by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ricardo Chailly conducting.
The portrait of Zemlinsky, above, was made in the summer of 1907 by one Richard Gerstl, a young Austrian painter. Gerstl joined Zemlinksy and the Schoenbergs on vacation in Gmunden on lake Traunsee. He made several portraits of the Schoenbergs and one of Zemlinsky and even taught Arnold to paint. At some point during the summer Gerstl became Mathilde Schoenberg’s lover. One year later, all of them were back in Gmunden, with the love affair in full swing. One day Arnold found them in a compromising situation, and Mathilde and Gerstl escaped to Vienna. Anton Webern, Schoenberg’s pupil and friend of the family, convinced Mathilde to return to Arnold. Gerstl found himself ostracized and completely isolated. On October 4th of 1908 he set his studio on fire and hanged himself in front of a mirror.
Camille Saint-Saëns was born last week (his birthday is October 9, 1835) but we were too busy celebrating Verdi’s 200th anniversary. Saint-Saëns lived a long life: he died in 1921. To put it into perspective: in 1849, when Chopin died, Saint-Saëns was 14 and had already written several pieces; by the time of Saint-Saëns’s death in 1921 Stravinsky and Schoenberg had already written some of their most important, transformative compositions. No wonder that Saint-Saëns, who started as a pioneer, embracing the music of Wagner and Liszt, ended up being an arch-conservative, fighting even Debussy and Ravel (he stormed out of the first concert performance of The Right of Spring and declared Stravinsky “mad”). Saint-Saëns’s music was never very deep, but he wrote wonderful melodies and often managed to create coherently developed musical structures. Quite a number of his compositions remain popular, for example The Carnival of the Animals, the Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso for violin and orchestra, some of his piano concertos (he wrote five), and his opera Samson. You can hear Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28 in the performance by the great violinist Jascha Heifetz, with RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg conducting.