Erich Wolfgang Korngold
was born on May 29th, 1897 in Brno and grew up in Vienna where his fame of
child prodigy was approved by great masters as Gustav Mahler and Richard
Strauss and his compositions were interpreted for renown virtuous of the early twenty
century. although Being so young Korngold's
music was accepted for the public and critics and was compared with Mozart.
His composition of that
time cover a wide spectrum of genre from camera music to opera, piano sonatas,
symphonies and adaptations of already composed music demonstrated the
flexibility and skills of the young composer to attempt almost any form and
genre of artistic expression. The increase of political tension in Europe and
the beginning of the persecution of Jewish accelerated his decision of move
with his family to America where he helped
to establish a language and method of composition to films.
His wisdom to maneuver
dramatic elements, his knowledge and experience in opera and his extraordinary
richness of orchestration makes his scores the landmark of the Golden Age of
Hollywood alongside with Max Steiner and others European Composers.
Captain Blood (1935),
Anthony Adverse (1936), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Prince and the
Pauper (1937), Juarez (1939), The Sea Hawk (1940), The Sea Wolf (1941), Kings
Row (1941), and Deception (1946) scores
are examples of the prolific genius of Korngold
to write incidental music and in my opinion are truly masterpieces that should
be included more often in the programming of symphonic orchestras around the
world as other great pieces of film music.
Many composers
from Europe arrived to USA in the 1930s
persecuted for their political or religious thought. They had a deep training
in composition, orchestration and conducting with high levels of knowledge in
the music of the 18th and 19th centuries specially opera, symphonic and chamber music.
Men as Max
Steiner, Enrich Korngold from Austria, Miklos Rozsa from Hungary, Branislav
Kaper from Poland and Franz Waxman from Germany are great examples of composers
that emigrated to America and contributed to establish an industry that was
constantly expanding and they helped to
arrived to its "Golden Age"
(1930-1950).
Max Steiner
Erich Korngold
This
contribution was, in my opinion determinant to develop a film score language
that became the hallmark of Hollywood and that is the base of all we have and
enjoy now. I think the knowledge and expertise that these men had in the
dramatic path of opera was very important to establish the creative canon and
criterion that composers follow
today in order to write an
appropriate score to a film production.
The way
these Masters composed, orchestrated, conducted became the standard of the industry and was imitated and enriched
by the next generations of composers.
Miklos Rosza
A lot of
compositing techniques and styles have been added to the film scoring language
from these years until now, but we have to recognize that these Masters have a
great place in the Olympus of film composers.
His composition of that
time cover a wide spectrum of genre from camera music to opera, piano sonatas,
symphonies and adaptations of already composed music demonstrated the
flexibility and skills of the young composer to attempt almost any form and
genre of artistic expression. The increase of political tension in Europe and
the beginning of the persecution of Jewish accelerated his decision of move
with his family to America where he helped
to establish a language and method of composition to films.
