 |
ALEXANDER ZEMLINSKY (1871 - 1942)
The Austrian composer and conductor Alexander von Zemlinsky was born in Vienna in 1871. His reputation has to some extent been overshadowed by the controversial and influential achievements of his brother-in-law Arnold Schoenberg, with Alban Berg and Anton Webern, on the one hand, and by those of his older contemporary Gustav Mahler. Zemlinsky continues the tradition of Viennese classicism, the influence of Wagner never leading him to abandon tonality. In some measure he represents a generation of Viennese composers who were able to combine the apparently divergent tendencies of Brahms and Wagner.
Zemlinsky was trained at the Vienna Conservatory, where he was a composition pupil of Johann Nepomuk Fuchs, himself a pupil of Sechter, who had taught Schubert briefly, and of Bruckner, in the intervals of writing his daily fugue. Always a fine craftsman, Zemlinsky was able to instruct Schoenberg, whom he met in the amateur orchestra Polyhymnia in 1895, in counterpoint, and gave him advice on his earlier work. He was to remain for some time a strong influence both on Schoenberg and on younger composers in Vienna. He also taught Alma Schindler, later the wife of Mahler, who in 1897 became conductor at the Court Opera in Vienna
Zemlinsky’s close association with Schoenberg, a relationship strengthened when the latter married Zemlinsky’s sister Mathilde, brought early collaboration in the opera Sarema, for which Schoenberg assisted with the libretto. Both men were indebted to Mahler for practical encouragement. It was Mahler who presented Zemlinsky’s second opera Es war einmal at the Court Opera in 1900, and accepted his next opera Der Traumgörge for performance. Later operas included two works based on Oscar Wilde, Eine Florentinische Tragödie, and Der Zwerg, a version of The Birthday of the Infanta.
In addition to these and other stage works, Zemlinsky wrote songs, chamber music and four symphonies. The last of these, the Lyrische Sinfonie of 1923, using a text from Rabindranath Tagore, was quoted by Berg in his own Lyric Suite, as a sign of respect and affection.
Zemlinsky’s career was essentially in opera. In 1899 he became Kapellmeister at the Carltheater in Vienna, and later conducted also at the Volksoper, where he was Kapellmeister from 1906 until 1911, with a break during Mahler’s last season, 1907-08, when he conducted at the Court Opera. From 1911 until 1927 he was conductor at the Deutsche Landestheater in Prague, where he employed Schoenberg’s pupils Webern, Jalowetz and Karl Horowitz. This period was followed by appointment as Kapellmeister at the Kroll Theatre in Berlin, under Klemperer, and the continuation of his work as a teacher, which he had carried out in Prague, at the Berlin Musikhochschule. At the accession to power of Hitler in 1933, Zemlinsky made his escape to Vienna, and at the Anschluss in 1938 moved first to Prague and then to the United States, where he died in 1942.
|
Art and Music: Klimt - Music of His Time |
Naxos 8.558146 |
Orchestral
|
BRAHMS / FUCHS / ZEMLINSKY: Cello Sonatas (Brahms and his Contemporaries, Vol. 1) |
SWR Classic CD93.206 |
Chamber Music
|
Chamber Music (String Quartets) - HAYDN, J. / BRAHMS, J. / ZEMLINSKY, A. (LaSalle Quartet) |
SWR Classic CD94.228 |
Chamber Music
|
Chamber Music Arrangements - BRUCKNER, A. / MAHLER, G. / REGER, M. / ZEMLINSKY, A. / BUSONI, F. / DEBUSSY, C. (Linos Ensemble) (8-CD Box Set) |
Capriccio C7265 |
Vocal
|
COMPOSERS IN EXILE - ZEMLINSKY, A. von / SCHREKER, F. / SCHULHOFF, E. / ULLMANN, V. / HINDEMITH, P. / SCHOENBERG, A. / MILHAUD, D. |
Capriccio C67097-99 |
Orchestral
|
ENNA: Lille pige med svovlstikkerne (Den) / ZEMLINSKY: Die Seejungfrau |
Dacapo 8.226048 |
Orchestral
|
FAMOUS AUSTRIAN COMPOSERS - STRAUSS / MOZART, W.A. / SCHUBERT, F. / BEETHOVEN, L. van / HAYDN, J. / HAYDN, M. / ALBRECHTSBERGER, J.G. |
Capriccio C49370 |
Orchestral
|
FUCHS, R.: 7 Intermezzi / SINGER, P.: Notturno / ZEMLINSKY, A.: Serenade in A Major (Wien um 1900) (Denisova, Kornienko) |
Gramola Records Gramola98776 |
Chamber Music
|
GOLDMARK, K.: Piano Trio, Op. 33 / GAL, H.: Piano Trio, Op. 49b / ZEMLINSKY, A.: Piano Trio, Op. 3 (Irnberger, Cernitori, Sinaiski) |
Gramola Records Gramola98933 |
Chamber Music
|
Gustav Klimt and the Music of His Time |
Gramola Records Gramola98954 |
Chamber Music
|
LYRIC ORCHESTRAL SONGS |
Capriccio C5101 |
Vocal
|
Marco Polo - The Label of Discovery: Sampler 1 |
Marco Polo 8.223001 |
Orchestral
|
Orchestral Music - DEBUSSY, C. / HINDEMITH, P. / IVES, C. / JANÁČEK, L. / PETRASSI, G. / RAVEL, M. (Michael Gielen Edition, Vol. 7 (1961-2006)) |
SWR Classic SWR19061CD |
Choral - Sacred
|
SCHOENBERG, A.: Chamber Symphony No. 1 / ZEMLINSKY, A.: Gesänge / BUSONI, F.: Berceuse élégiaque (arr. for chamber ensemble)(Kushpler, Linos Ensemble) |
Capriccio C5138 |
Vocal
|
SCHUCH, Herbert: Oehms Classics Recordings (The) (8-CD Box Set) |
Oehms Classics OC012 |
Chamber Music
|
SZYMANOWSKI, K.: Violin Concerto No. 1 / ZEMLINSKY, A. von: Lyric Symphony (Vähälä, J. Winkel, M. Nagy, Polish National Radio Symphony, Liebreich) |
Accentus Music ACC-30470 |
Vocal
|
Violin Recital: Irnberger, Thomas Albertus - GOLDMARK, K. / KORNGOLD, E.W. / ZEMLINSKY, A. / SCHOENBERG, A. (Wien im Fin de siecle) |
Gramola Records Gramola98833 |
Chamber Music
|
Vocal and Orchestral Music - GERSHWIN, G. / LEHÁR, F. / ZEMLINSKY, A. (Leichte Muse) (Raimondi, Junge Philharmonie Wien, Lessky) |
Gramola Records Gramola99173 |
Vocal, Orchestral, Vocal
|
Vocal Music - STENHAMMAR, W. / ZEMLINSKY, A. / LANGGAARD, R. / HENRIQUES, F. / DELIUS, F. / PETERSON-BERGER, W. (Sange af J.P. Jacobsen) |
Naxos 8.572070 |
Vocal
|
Vocal Recital (Tenor): Ebenstein, Thomas - STRAUSS, R. / SCHOENBERG, A. / ZEMLINSKY, A. / KORNGOLD, E.W. |
Capriccio C3007 |
Vocal
|
Vocal Recital: Allen, Thomas Michael - BEETHOVEN, L. van / FAURÉ, G. / ZEMLINSKY, A. / BRITTEN, B. / BARBER, S. / EISLER, H. / WEILL, K. (Far Away) |
Capriccio C5194 |
Vocal
|
Vocal Recital: Ernst, Norbert - SCHREKER, F. / ZEMLINSKY, A. / KIENZL, W. / SALAMON, M. (Wohl fühl ich, wie das Leben rinnt) |
Gramola Records Gramola99010 |
Vocal
|
Vocal Recital: Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich - PFITZNER, H. / SCHNABEL, A. / STRAUSS, R. / WEBERN, A. / ZEMLINSKY, A. |
Orfeo C390951B |
Vocal
|
Vocal Recital: SCHUMANN, R. / ZEMLINSKY, A. / BRAHMS, J. / MOZART, W.A. / WAGNER, R. / MENDELSSOHN, Felix (Meinem Kinde) (Ziemer, Riem) |
Gramola Records Gramola99056 |
Vocal
|
Vocal Recital: Stiefermann, Kay - SCHUMANN, R. / SCHUBERT, F. / LISZT, F. / LOEWE, C. / WOLF, H. / ZEMLINSKY, A. (German Ballads) |
Capriccio C3002 |
Vocal
|
Vocal Recital: Ziesak, Ruth - MAHLER, G. / MAHLER-WERFEL, A.M. / ZEMLINSKY, A. |
Capriccio C5119 |
Vocal
|
ZEMLINSKY : Symphony in B-Flat Major |
Marco Polo 8.220391 |
Orchestral
|
ZEMLINSKY, A. von: Es war einmal … [Opera] |
Capriccio C60019-2 |
Opera
|
ZEMLINSKY, A. von: Konig Kandaules (Der) [Opera] |
Capriccio C60071-2 |
Opera
|
ZEMLINSKY, A. von: Kreidekreis (Der) [Opera] (Soltesz) |
Capriccio C60016-2 |
Opera
|
ZEMLINSKY, A. von: Serenade in A Major / BRAHMS, J.: Violin Sonata No. 3 / SCHUBERT, F.: Fantasy, Op. 159 (Contzen, Schuch) |
Oehms Classics OC596 |
Chamber Music
|
ZEMLINSKY, A. von: Symphonische Gesänge / 3 Ballet Pieces from Triumph der Zeit / Der Konig Kandaules (Grundheber, Hamburg State Philharmonic, Albrech |
Capriccio C10448 |
Vocal, Opera, Orchestral, Vocal, Orchestral, Opera, Vocal
|
ZEMLINSKY, A. von: Symphony No. 1 / Fruhlingsbegrabnis / Waldgesprach / Maiblumen bluhten uberall (Beaumont) |
Capriccio C10740 |
Orchestral, Choral - Secular, Vocal, Orchestral, Choral - Secular, Orchestral, Choral - Secular, Vocal
|
ZEMLINSKY, A. von: Traumgorge (Der) [Opera] |
Capriccio C10241-42 |
Opera
|
ZEMLINSKY, A. von: Traumgörge (Der) [Opera] (Protschka, P. Coburn, J. Martin, H. Welker, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, G. Albrecht) |
Capriccio C5395 |
Opera
|
ZEMLINSKY, A. von: Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano in D Minor / BRUCH, M.: 8 Pieces (Kriikku) |
Ondine ODE760-2 |
Chamber Music
|
ZEMLINSKY, A.: 7 Lieder von Nacht und Traum / Chamber Symphony (Carlstedt, Lapland Chamber Orchestra, Storgårds) |
Ondine ODE1272-2 |
Vocal, Chamber Music, Vocal, Chamber Music, Vocal, Chamber Music
|
ZEMLINSKY, A.: Florentinische Tragödie (Eine) [Opera] (W. Koch, H. Brunner, Vienna Radio Symphony, de Billy) |
Capriccio C5325 |
Opera
|
ZEMLINSKY, A.: Kreidekreis (Der) [Opera] (Behle, Berlin Radio Symphony, Soltesz) |
Capriccio C5190 |
Opera
|
ZEMLINSKY, A.: Lyric Symphony (Goerne, Schafer, Orchestre de Paris, Eschenbach) |
Capriccio C71081 |
Vocal
|
ZEMLINSKY, A.: Lyric Symphony / BERG, A.: 3 Pieces from the Lyric Suite (Robinson, Trekel, Houston Symphony, Graf) |
Naxos 8.572048 |
Vocal
|
ZEMLINSKY, A.: Piano Trio, Op. 3 / BLOCH, E.: 3 Nocturnes / KORNGOLD, E.W.: Piano Trio, Op. 1 (Pacific Trio) |
Capriccio C5221 |
Chamber Music
|
ZEMLINSKY, A.: Seejungfrau (Die) / Sinfonietta (Helsinki Philharmonic, Storgårds) |
Ondine ODE1237-5 |
Orchestral
|
ZEMLINSKY, A.: Seejungfrau (Die) / Sinfonietta (New Zealand Symphony, Judd) |
Naxos 8.570240 |
Orchestral
|
ZEMLINSKY, A.: String Quartet No. 2 / SCHOENBERG, A.: String Quartet in D Major (Artis Quartet) |
Orfeo C194901A |
Chamber Music
|
ZEMLINSKY, A.: String Quartets, Vol. 1 (Escher String Quartet) - Nos. 3 and 4 |
Naxos 8.572813 |
Chamber Music
|
ZEMLINSKY, A.: String Quartets, Vol. 2 (Escher String Quartet) - Nos. 1 and 2 |
Naxos 8.573088 |
Chamber Music
|
ZEMLINSKY, A.: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 (Rajter, Seipensbusch) |
Naxos 8.557008 |
Orchestral
|
ZEMLINSKY: Rustic Dances, Op. 1 / Four Fantasies, Op. 9 / A Ray of Light |
Naxos 8.557331 |
Instrumental
|
ZEMLINSKY: Symphony No. 1 / Das Glaserne Herz |
Marco Polo 8.223166 |
Orchestral
|
ZEMLINSKY: Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano / Cello Sonata / 3 Pieces |
Naxos 8.570540 |
Chamber Music, Instrumental, Chamber Music, Instrumental, Chamber Music, Instrumental |
|
|
 |
|
 |