Bio of Franz Schreker, Composer
Austrian Conductor, Teacher, Founder of Vienna Philharmonic Choir
Brief biography of Monaco-born Austrian composer Franz Schreker, founder and conductor of Vienna Philharmonic Choir and famous for Der Ferne Klang (The Distant Sound).
Franz Schreker (1878-1934), was a Monaco-born Austrian composer, conductor and teacher. He was famous for his operas Der Ferne Klang (The Distant Sound) and Der Schatzgraeber (The Treasure Digger), and ballet Der Geburstag de Infantin (The Infanta's Birthday).
He was known as one of the free-thinking composers who embodied the cosmopolitan and liberal traditions of the late 19th-century. His works, popular in the 1920s, were late Romantic in expression. He died of a heart attack after dismissal from the Prussian Academy of Arts following accession to power of the Nazi.
Early Life
Schreker was born in the Principality of Monaco on March 23, 1878 and died aged fifty-five, in Berlin, two days before his birthday, in 1934. His parents were Austrian Jewish. Aged fourteen, he entered Vienna Conservatory to study with Fuchs.
Director, Professor, Founder and Conductor
In 1911 Franz Schreker founded and conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Choir. He also and taught composition in Vienna Academy. He conducted the first performance of Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder (Songs of Gurra) in 1913.
He directed the Berlin Academy of Music until he was forced by the Nazis to resign in 1933.
The Composer
His biggest success as a composer was his opera Der Ferne Klang (The Distant Sound) which influenced Berg’s own popular opera Wozzek. Der Ferne Klang followed an earlier success, his ballet Der Geburstag der Infantin (The Infanta’s Birthday), establishing his mastery of orchestral style.
His other operas include Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin (The Music Box and the Princess), 1913, rev. 1920, Die Gezeichneten (The Stigma Bearers), Der Schatzgraber (The Treasure Digger), the other one considered to be a major work, and Christophorus, unperformed in his lifetime and dedicated to Schoenberg. He also wrote Chamber Symphony, 1916, works for strings, and about 50 songs.
It is for his radical and sensuous operas Der Ferne Klang and Der Schatsgraber that won him acclaim; ironically, which also caused his head-on conflict with the German authorities. Despite the persecution he suffered during his time, he was regarded as a brilliant and innovative composer.
Schreker's Major Works
- Ballet, Der Geburtstag der Infantin ('The Infanta's Birthday'), 1908
- Der Ferne Klang ('The Distant Sound'), opera, 1912
- Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin ('The Music Box and the Princess'), opera, 1913
- Chamber symphony, orchestral, 1916
- Die Gezeichneten ('The Stigma Bearers'), opera, 1918
- Der Schatzgraeber ('The Treasure Digger'), opera, 1920
- Irrelohe ('Flames of Madness'), opera, 1924
- Christophorus, opera, 1924
For more information, visit Franz Schreker Foundation.
Sources:
Dictionary of Composers and their Music, by Eric Gilder, Sphere Reference (1987)
The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, edited by Stanley Sadie, Macmillan (1994)
