Fin de Siècle#

Erich Wolfgang Korngold: String Sextet#

Erich Wolfgang Korngold

The Oscar-winner, Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897 Bruenn/Moravia - 1957 Los Angeles), was capable of producing more than the typical Hollywood-sound. In a European survey taken in 1923, he ranked as the most important composer after Schoenberg. He crossed the border between filmmusic and serious music by exchanging materials, and employing tried and true methods of each as a part of his musical vocabulary. The example from the beginning of his Streichsextett (String Sextet) of 1917, displays his mastery of the complex techniques of chamber music. Innovation was not only achieved by abandoning traditional procedures, it could also be the result of a new evaluation of musical materials and freer use of the harmonic means. (M. Saary)

Sound Clip#