Krenek, Ernst

Krenek, Ernst

(1900–91) composer; born in Vienna, Austria. Having attracted attention in Germany as a composer, his 1925–26 "jazz opera" Jonny spielt auf was an international success and remains his best-known work. Turning to a more rationalized 12-tone idiom around the time of the opera Karl V (1931–33), he came to the U.S.A. in 1937, where he became an influential avant-garde composer and teacher.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Křenek, Ernst

 

Born Aug. 23, 1900, in Vienna. Austrian composer.

Křenek studied with F. Schreker, first at the Vienna Academy of Music and then at the Berlin Higher School of Music. During 1928–37 he lived mainly in Vienna; in 1938 he moved to the USA.

Křenek’s fame developed in the mid-1920’s, with the production of the operas Der Sprung Über Den Schatten (1924) and Jonny Spielt Auf (1927), both of which were also staged in the USSR. He evolved from the late romantic style, through an infatuation with urbanism and constructivism, to a mastery of dodecaphony. He became an active propagandist of dodecaphony. Křenek’s first important dodecaphonic work was the opera Karl V (produced in 1938). He wrote 15 operas, five symphonies, and other works in many genres. He is a music theorist and critic and has lectured at US universities.

REFERENCES

Glebov, Igor’ (Asaf ’ev, B. V.). “Kshenek i Berg, kak opernye kompository.” Sovremennaia muzyka, 1926, nos. 17–18.
Ernst Kshenek i ego opera “Dzh’onni naigryvaet.” [Moscow, 1929.]

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.