Erich Wolfgang Korngold Bio/Wiki, Net Worth, Married 2018
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (May 29, 1897 – November 29, 1957) was an American composer of Austro-Hungarian birth. While his late Romantic compositional style was considered well out of vogue at the time he died, his music has more recently undergone a reevaluation and a gradual reawakening of interest. Along with such composers as Max Steiner and Alfred Newman, he is considered one of the founders of film music. Korngold's 1938 Academy Award for his score to The Adventures of Robin Hood marked the first time an Oscar was awarded to the composer rather than the head of the studio music department (as had occurred, for example, with Korngold's award-winning score to Anthony Adverse in 1936).
[on his tenure at Warners] I feel very happy as an artist here. No one tells me what to do. I do not feel part of a factory. I take part in story conferences, suggest changes in the editing when it is dramatically necessary to coincide with a musical structure. It is entirely up to me to decide where in the picture to put music. But I always consult thoroughly with the music-chief... I also keep the producer well-informed and always secure his consent for my musical intentions first. But in none of my pictures have I 'played' my music first to either the music-chief, the director, or the producer. And the studio heads never make the acquaintance of my music until the day of the sneak preview. As for my working habits, I like the idea of perfection. If a thing is not right, it is done over and over again.
2
[when encountering Bette Davis on the Warner lot after scoring the remake of "Of Human Bondage"] After twelve years some of the scenes in the old version seem a little ridiculous, but we, with our new version, are ten years ahead of time because we are ridiculous already.
3
[on his work on "Magic Fire"] I made a three minute montage of "The Ring's" sixteen hours of music. But when the picture had to be shortened , we cut the montage to two and-a-half minutes. That was too short!
4
[on the death of his father in 1945 and the expiration of his Warner contract in 1946] I will be fifty next May. I feel it is a turning point... Fifty is very old for a child prodigy. I feel I have to make a decision now, if I don't want to be a Hollywood composer the rest of my life.
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Fact
1
Korngold's first score was "A Midsummer Night's Dream" for William Dieterle in 1935 and came out of retirement to work for the director for "Magic Fire" a decade later.
2
Korngold served in the Austrian army during World War I, but the former wunderkind was stationed in a small suburb of Vienna and his military duties consisted of composing marching songs.
3
Hugo Friedhofer on Korngold: His contribution was enormous, and he influenced everyone working at that time. He was the first to write film music in long lines, great flowing chunks, that contained the ebb and flow of mood and action, and the feeling of the picture.
4
Composed at the piano while letting a projectionist run the various scenes. He was one of the first to write motifs for each of the leading characters in the film.
5
He disdained the thought of being regarded merely as a film composer. After leaving Warners in 1947, he returned to 'serious music'. Ironically, his popular Violin Concerto in D and a symphonic serenade with strings are among several later works made up almost entirely of movie themes.
6
Performed four-handed piano arrangements with his father from the age of five. Composed his first major work, the ballet "Der Schneeman", at the age of eleven. It was performed in front of the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef at the Vienna Court Opera. Korngold's most famous work, "Die Tote Stadt", is still regarded as one of the major operas of the 20th century.
7
Specialised in period dramas and swashbucklers, for which he composed stirring, dramatic scores, which often relied on a powerful string section.
8
His association with Warner Brothers began, when he was invited by Max Reinhardt to arrange Mendelssohn's music for A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935). Warner's then approached Korngold directly with an offer to score Captain Blood (1935), which he did after completing his opera "Die Kathrin" in Vienna and co-writing several operatic numbers for what turned out to be a critical and box-office flop, Give Us This Night (1936). For "Captain Blood", he was expected to compose over an hour of symphonic music in just three weeks. As this deadline was impossible to meet, Korngold ended up supplementing the score with music by Franz Liszt. As a result, he insisted on the final credits to read "Musical Arrangements by Erich Wolfgang Korngold".
9
Usually worked in tandem with Hugo Friedhofer who was his orchestrator.
10
Became an American citizen in 1943.
11
Was assigned to score Adventures of Don Juan (1948) when shooting began in 1945 and even sketched some themes. When production was postponed until 1947 (due to Errol Flynn's illness and other problems), Max Steiner replaced Korngold because, by then, he had announced his retirement from motion pictures. In October 1947 he suffered a heart attack and, in spite of pleas from Leo F. Forbstein, Music Chief at Warners, Korngold refused to return to the studio.
12
Pictured on one of six 33¢ USA commemorative postage stamps in the Legends of American Music series, honoring Hollywood Composers, issued 21 September 1999. Issued in panes of 20 stamps. Others honored in the set were Max Steiner, Dimitri Tiomkin, Bernard Herrmann, Franz Waxman, and Alfred Newman.
13
He is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery just a few steps away from another film composer, Walter Jurmann (famous for writing the song "San Francisco"). Korngold is also known for his swashbuckling scores, such as The Sea Hawk (1940) that starred Errol Flynn, and is buried only a a short walk away from another two great romantic leading men, Tyrone Power and Rudolph Valentino.
composer: additional music - bridging scenes - uncredited / conductor - uncredited / music arranger
A Dream Comes True
1935
Documentary short music adaptor - uncredited
Strauss' Great Waltz
1934
musical arrangement - as E. W. Korngold
Ronny
1931/II
music arranger - uncredited
Ronny
1931/I
music arranger - uncredited
Noah's Ark
1928
composer: stock music - 1957 reissue, uncredited
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
A Late Quartet
2012
writer: "Marietta's Song from Die Tote Stadt The Dead City"
Hollywood in Vienna 2011
2011
TV Special music: "KINGS ROW FANFARE"
Lawrence Jones y la mesa del Rey Salomón
2009
Short writer: "Arrest of Lady Marian"
I Love You, Beth Cooper
2009
writer: "The Battle, The Duel, The Victory"
Hilary Hahn: A Portrait
2005
TV Movie documentary music: "Concerto for Violin in D major, Op. 35"
The Majestic
2001
writer: "Sand Pirates of the Sahara" fictional film
The Big Lebowski
1998
performer: "Glück das mir verblieb" / writer: "Glück das mir verblieb"
Mannequin: On the Move
1991
"The Sea Hawk"
Slaves of New York
1989
music: "Glück, das mir verblieb"
A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon
1988
writer: "THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD"
Aria
1987
music: "The Lute Song Glück, das mir verblieb"
The Cats Bah
1954
Short music: "O Nene" - uncredited
Deception
1946
music: "Hollenius' Cello Concerto"
The Constant Nymph
1943
"Tomorrow", uncredited
The Sea Hawk
1940
music: "Strike for the Shores of Dover" 1940, "Old Spanish Song" - uncredited
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
1939
music: "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love Come Live With Me and Be My Love" posthumous 1599 - uncredited / performer: "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love Come Live With Me and Be My Love" posthumous 1599 - uncredited
The Prince and the Pauper
1937
writer: "The Roost Song" - uncredited
Anthony Adverse
1936
writer: "I'll Wait For You My Love Angela's Song" - uncredited
Give Us This Night
1936
music: "I Mean to Say I Love You", "Fisherman Song", "Music in the Night and Laughter in the Air", "My Love and I", "Sorrento Song", "Sweet Melody of Night"
Rose of the Rancho
1936
music: "Ride 'til the Sun Will Arise"
Captain Blood
1935
arranger: "Fugal Episode from Prometheus" 1850, revised 1855 - uncredited
A Midsummer Night's Dream
1935
"A Midsummer Night's Dream: Overture and Incidental Music" 1826, "Scottish Symphony: Final Movement" 1842, "Spinning Song" 1847, "Philomel", "Cradle Song", "Scherzo in E-Minor", "Italian Symphony: 3rd Movement" 1833, "Lullaby", uncredited / arranger: "Over Hill, Over Dale, Through Bush, Through Brier", "Hand In Hand With Fairy Grace" - uncredited
$600,000
