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Gottfried von Einem (24 January 1918 in Bern – 12 July 1996) was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by the music of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as by jazz. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ.
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[edit] Biography
Einem was born in Bern, Switzerland, into an Austrian diplomat family. According to Einem's publisher, his father was William von Einem, a part of the Austrian military attaché in Bern.[1] According to another source, however, he was adopted by Einem, his natural father being the Hungarian aristocrat Count László von Hunyadi.[2] After his school days he went to Berlin, where he studied with Boris Blacher and became a répétiteur for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Through Blacher, Einem met his first wife, Lianne von Bismarck, whom he married in 1946 [1]. They had a son, Caspar Einem (born 1948), who is now a former Austrian cabinet minister who still sits in the National Council on the Social Democratic bench. In 1953, the family moved back to Vienna.
Lianne von Bismarck died in 1962. In 1966 Einem married his librettist, the renowned Austrian playwright and author Lotte Ingrisch. Apart from Vienna, the couple spent much of their time in the Waldviertel of Lower Austria (specifically, at Oberdürnbach and Rindlberg/Großpertholz), a virtually pristine region that clearly inspired not only his own work, but also the literature of Ingrisch.
The composer died in Oberdürnbach in 1996.
[edit] Works
Gottfried von Einem composed mainly operas based on dramas. He was internationally recognized after the premiere of his opera Dantons Tod at the Salzburg Festival of 1947. His last operas, starting with Jesu Hochzeit, are based on libretti of his wife.
In 1973 he wrote as a commission of the UN to commemorate the 30th anniversary of its foundation the cantata An die Nachgeborenen for mezzo-soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra, based on diverse texts. The title is taken from a poem of Bertolt Brecht, translated as To Those Who Follow in Our Wake.[3] The premiere in 1975 in New York with Julia Hamari, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, the Chorus of Temple University and the Wiener Symphoniker was conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini.[4]
[edit] Awards
- 1958: Preis der Stadt Wien für Musik
- 1965: Großer Österreichischer Staatspreis für Musik
- 2002: posthumously Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem [2], for helping save the life of musician Konrad Latte [3].
[edit] Selected operas
- Dantons Tod (1947) after Georg Büchner
- Der Prozeß after Franz Kafka
- Der Zerrissene after Johann Nestroy
- Kabale und Liebe after Friedrich Schiller
- Der Besuch der alten Dame (1971) after Friedrich Dürrenmatt
- Jesu Hochzeit
- Der Tulifant
- Luzifers Lächeln
[edit] References
- ^ "Gottfriend von Einem". Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.. http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?composerid=2721&ttype=BIOGRAPHY&ttitle=Biography. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
- ^ Erik Levi, "Einem, Gottfried von", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers).
- ^ "Brecht ‘To Those Who Follow in Our Wake’". Harper's Magazine. 2008. http://harpers.org/archive/2008/01/hbc-90002129. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
- ^ "Einem, Gottfried von: An die Nachgeborenen". Boosey & Hawkes. http://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Gottfried-von-Einem-An-die-Nachgeborenen/6121. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
[edit] External links
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