| Summary: | Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) was the last compositional prodigy to emerge from the Austro-German tradition of Mozart and Mendelssohn. While his auspicious career in the early 1900s spanned chamber music, opera, and musical theater, his decision to score Warner Bros.' cinematic adaptation of A midsummer night's dream in 1935 - what must have seemed like a lark at the time - turned out to be a career-defining moment, as the hostilities that led to World War II prompted Korngold's move to Hollywood, where he remained until the end of his life. Lauded in his youth by everyone from Mahler to Puccini, Korngold is best known today for the Hollywood films he scored between 1935 and 1956, despite his attempts to reconnect with Europe's concert scene after the war. In his story, we see a struggle to reconcile the musical language of his Viennese upbringing with American popular song and cinema, and his efforts to adapt to a new life after wartime emigration. Korngold and his world provides a substantial reassessment of Korngold's life and accomplishments, including chapters on his operas and film scores, the critical reception of his music, and his place in the milieus of both the Old and the New Worlds. It includes numerous historical documents, some of which are previously unpublished - including essays by the composer as well as memoirs by his father, the renowned music critic Julius Korngold, and by his wife, Luzi Korngold, most of which are presented here for the first time in English translation.
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