Background
Krenek was born on August 23, 1900 in Vienna, Austria, the son of a Czech soldier in the Austro-Hungarian army.
(When Glenn Gould performed his last public piano recital ...)
When Glenn Gould performed his last public piano recital in Los Angeles on April 10, 1964, he included Ernst Kreneck's Piano Sontata No. 3- alongside works of Bach. This is a clear indication of Kreneck's significance as a twentieth-century composer. This new release also presents Kreneck's seven part cycle from Echoes from Australia- an homage to the homeland which drove him out and in which he is still underrated today.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00824IVHU/?tag=2022091-20
(The piano concertos of Ernst Krenek (190091) are major co...)
The piano concertos of Ernst Krenek (190091) are major contributions to the twentieth-century repertoire, comparable to those of Bartók, Prokofiev, Schoenberg and Shostakovich, but astonishingly two of them have never had commercial recordings an omission this series seeks to redress. Piano Concertos Nos. 13, written between 1923 and 1946, show Krenek throwing off the constraints of tonality in favour of a freewheeling, individual use of twelve-tone technique, brimming with colour and often animated with a keen sense of wit.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B2W7TDA/?tag=2022091-20
(Almost 20 years ago CPO recorded Krenek's symphonies and ...)
Almost 20 years ago CPO recorded Krenek's symphonies and released them in rapid succession. Following the recent discovery of the score of Symphony No. 4 in the U.S., CPO also released this work, which had been regarded as lost. And now, they are proud to present the complete recordings of Krenek's symphonic works featuring all five symphonies in a box set. The NDR Radio Philharmonic, certainly one of the most inquisitive German radio orchestras, holds in store precise and atmospherically rich interpretations.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HOEZZI/?tag=2022091-20
Krenek was born on August 23, 1900 in Vienna, Austria, the son of a Czech soldier in the Austro-Hungarian army.
Krenek studied in Vienna and then in Berlin with Franz Schreker. During World War I, he was drafted into the Austrian army, but he was stationed in Vienna, allowing him to go on with his musical studies.
Krenek's first important compositions, appearing shortly after World War I, established him as a leader among young German composers seeking new means of expression, and his use of dissonant counterpoint marked his idiom as highly individual. Krenek turned early to stage music, and two of his operas and a scenic cantata had been produced before 1927, the year his most famous work, the opera Jonny spielt auf ("Johnny Strikes Up"), was performed in Leipzig. This work, a curious mélange of serious music and rhythmic cabaret tunes, resembling a revue more than an opera, brought its composer world-wide attention. His later compositions reveal ingenious use of 12-tone serial techniques. He has also been active in the field of electronic music. In 1937 Krenek came to the United States, becoming a citizen in 1945. He held teaching positions at Vassar College from 1939 to 1942, and at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, from 1942 to 1947. Among his published books are: Music, Here and Now, 1939; Studies in Counterpoint, 1940; Tonal Counterpoint, 1958; Modal Counterpoint, 1959; and Zur Sprache gebracht (1958; Exploring Music, 1966). .
He died on December 22, 1991, at Plam Springs, California.
(The piano concertos of Ernst Krenek (190091) are major co...)
(When Glenn Gould performed his last public piano recital ...)
(Almost 20 years ago CPO recorded Krenek's symphonies and ...)
(Berkeley 1974 1st University of California. 8vo., 167pp.,...)
Honorary Citizen of the City of Vienna (1981), Honorary Citizen of the City of New Orleans (1984)
In 1922 Krenek met Alma Mahler, widow of Gustav Mahler, and her daughter, Anna, whom he married in March 1924. That marriage ended in divorce before its first anniversary. In Saint Paul, Minnesota he met and married his student and composer Gladys Nordenstrom.